'HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker Street would have failed to recognize him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter.' Set against the foggy backdrop of London and the English countryside, each story in this quintessential collection unravels an exciting new mystery, from mistaken identity and portentous omens to counterfeit currency and jewellery theft. We are also introduced to a character who gained Holmes' everlasting admiration, his equal in wit and intelligence - Irene Adler. Appearing in the Strand magazine between 1891 and 1892, these are the first Sherlock Holmes stories ever to be published, and they follow the famous detective and his partner Watson on the trail of some of their most enjoyable cases, including 'A Scandal in Bohemia', 'The Five Orange Pips' and 'The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle'. -- Publisher website.