The tales of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson have enthralled readers and listeners for almost one hundred and forty years. Countless film versions of the stories have been produced, but a tranquil reading of the classic tales while reclined in the comfort of an easy chair beneath the soft glow of a table lamp in a shadowed room is a private pleasure no film adaptation can reproduce. Movies impose on us the static interpretations of actors, directors, and producers, and are subject to budgets and time constraints. Only reading can unleash all the creative aspects of a story and fully stimulate the boundless imagination that a good tale demands. Every character, every action, every setting, looks and sounds and feels precisely as each listener will have it. The rich details reminiscent of Doyle's writing style and a few quiet hours are all that we need to seat ourselves unseen beside the hearth at 221-b Baker Street.

The stories in this third volume of Dr. Watson's chronicles have been fashioned by the author to reproduce in every aspect the form, style, and substance of A. C. Doyle's fifty-six original works. The degree to which this book and its two predecessors have succeeded rests entirely within the judgement of those who know and love the exploits of the inimitable team of Holmes and Watson. The author has done his utmost to create a gallery of tales that hark back in form and function to the original narratives of the beloved canon. The story lines herein are varied: an international arms dealer does battle with a greengrocer; Scotland Yard compromises one of its own; an American Ambassador to Britain is ill-used; Chaucer's Canterbury Tales help solve a Christmas puzzle; a riotous young royal gets his comeuppance; the life of a local shopman is upturned; and the young survivor of a fire is saved for a second time.