The best Sherlock Holmes stories, as selected and introduced by Arthur Conan Doyle himself "When this competition was first mooted I went into it in a most light-hearted way, thinking that it would be the easiest thing in the world to pick out the twelve best of the Holmes stories. In practice I found that I had engaged myself in a serious task . . ." In 1927, Strand magazine challenged its readers to guess which of his Sherlock Holmes stories Arthur Conan Doyle himself rated as his very best. (Mr R. T. Newman of Spring Hill, Wellingborough, won £100 for successfully guessing 10 of the 12 stories correctly.) Doyle revealed his choice and, in his own inimitable way, explained his reasoning in an article for the magazine.
