Sherlock Holmes reading order
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes canon in publication order — four novels and five story collections — with Hound’s later publication flagged and pastiches left optional.
Start here
A Study in Scarlet
It is the first Holmes novel (1887) and the meeting of Holmes and Watson. Do not start with The Hound of the Baskervilles because it is the famous one. Do not start with a Horowitz or Meyer pastiche because the spine says Sherlock.
The Doyle canon is four novels and fifty-six short stories gathered into five collections. That is the finished set. Publication order of those nine books is the first-read path.
Chronological reshuffles exist because The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear are set earlier than their publication dates. They were still issued to people who already knew Holmes. This house keeps them where they were published.
The nine books, in publication order
| # | Title | Form | Year | Notes | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  A Study in Scarlet | Novel | 1887 | Start here. | Amazon |
| 2 |  The Sign of the Four | Novel | 1890 | Also The Sign of Four. | Amazon |
| 3 |  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Collection | 1892 | Twelve shorts from The Strand. | Amazon |
| 4 |  The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | Collection | 1894 | Ends with the Reichenbach fall. | Amazon |
| 5 |  The Hound of the Baskervilles | Novel | 1902 | Set earlier. Published after the fall. Still fifth. | Amazon |
| 6 |  The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Collection | 1905 | The return, in print order. | Amazon |
| 7 |  The Valley of Fear | Novel | 1915 | Set earlier than some surrounding shorts. Still seventh. | Amazon |
| 8 |  His Last Bow | Collection | 1917 | Amazon | |
| 9 |  The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes | Collection | 1927 | US: The Case Book. Last Doyle Holmes. | Amazon |
House rule: read 1–4, then Hound, then the return. If you only want one novel after the meeting, Hound is the usual second visit — after you already know who Holmes is. It is not book one.
You do not need to read the shorts inside a collection in magazine-date order. The collection is the unit.
The “chronological” trap
Holmesians keep a career calendar. It is a hobby, not a first-read tool. Hound is set before Reichenbach and published after Memoirs. Valley of Fear sits in the middle of the life and at the end of the novel list. Publication order is how contemporary readers met those books. Chronology is a later argument.
Pastiches and screen orders — optional later
Anything not by Doyle is not the canon. That includes plays Doyle touched, apocrypha, and the modern novels that borrow the name.
| Title | Year | Notes | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|
 The House of Silk | 2011 | Authorized later novel. Optional. Not a new book one. | Amazon |
 A Study in Scarlet Women | 2016 | Retelling. Different door. | Amazon |
BBC Sherlock, the Rathbone films, and the RDJ films are cousins. Episode order is not a reading order. Elementary is another cousin.
Common mistakes
- Starting with Hound because it is the novel people remember.
- Starting with The House of Silk or a “complete Sherlock” omnibus that leads with a pastiche.
- Reading Memoirs last because “last” is in the title of a different collection.
- Using a timeline spreadsheet before A Study in Scarlet.
What to read next
- Agatha Christie paths (Agatha Christie) — If you want another finished detective shelf that is publication-first and refuses the famous-title on-ramp.
- James Bond (Ian Fleming) — If you want another British run where the films are a cousin, not a contents page.
- Rivers of London (Ben Aaronovitch) — If you want a modern London copper who keeps files the way Watson kept notes.
- Thursday Murder Club (Richard Osman) — If you want a short contemporary club instead of fifty-six shorts.
- Stop at Case-Book. The canon is finished. You do not owe a pastiche.
FAQ
Do I have to read every short?
For “the canon,” yes, eventually. For a first visit, Study, Adventures, and Hound are a complete introduction.
Is Hound a prequel?
It is set earlier than its publication. Read it fifth, or after you already know Holmes. Do not read it first.
Which collection spelling?
The Case-Book (UK 1927) is the same book as The Case Book.
Are the apocryphal Doyle pieces required?
No.
Sources
- Conan Doyle Info, list of Sherlock Holmes fiction — novels and the five collections with publication years. Opened 2026-09-13.
- The Sherlock Holmes Museum, the original stories — museum page for the Doyle stories. Opened 2026-09-13.
Same shelf
