Doyle has used several approaches in presenting a story to the reader.

The most common one is where Holmes and Watson are in it from
beginning to end, along with the reader also, from the point the adventure
is defined (which typically involves narration by the client) to the point
where it is solved (or not). These kind of stories are the best of breed of
the canon according to me. Examples - All the four novels, the Speckled Band,
the Dancing Men...

The second type is where Holmes is already on to something and
Watson (and hence the reader) is involved in it halfway (Milverton,
, either very much towards the conclusion of it ("The Dying Detective",
"The Mazarin Stone" , "Empty House" etc). Personally, I do not have
much affinity towards them since the reader is not present the final
bits of the case and is not fully involved in the unraveling of it.

The third type is where Holmes and/or Watson do not have a lot to do
and come right at the fag end of a case. They typically have a lot of flashback
(Veiled Lodger, Red Circle) which culminates in a final scene involving
some quick action, but not much deduction.

The fourth type are historical recounts of Holmes, either presented to
Watson as the listener ("Gloria Scott", "Musgrave Ritual" etc) or directly
to the reader in first person (There is only one such as far as I can
recall - the Lion's Mane). Though they do not occur in the present tense
of the story, they still are good enough to capture the attention of the reader,
since the story is almost presented like it is unraveling in the
present ("Gloria
Scott" is the best example).

And of course, "Final Problem" is in a league of its own, since it does not
fall in any of these broad categories since it is almost a biographical story
of Holmes himself and his battle with Moriarty, as presented by Watson to the
reader.

I have found that of these, the most brilliant and best stories are those in
which Watson is very much involved, either in a lot of the investigation itself,
or right from the beginning of the puzzle. I guess this is a psychological
thing, since the readers experience the story vicariously through Watson
and sometimes identify themselves with him. The ones in which Watson
is either last into the game or is not present at all are the most dull.

There are also those stories which promise a lot either with their title
or their initial presentation but fails to live up to it at the end. I would add
"Sussex Vampire", "Copper Beeches" etc to it.

Of course, this is not the only factor in trying to find out which is the best
story in the canon, but one of the most important ones, I feel. And the
best story is going to vary with reader perception and personal choice.
For example, the brilliance in detection demonstrated by Holmes is a
very important factor.

Thus according to me the best stories would be "The Hound", "The Sign of Four",
"Speckled Band", "Dancing Men", "Silver Blaze", "Bruce Partington Plans" and
"Lady Frances Carfax".

Also worth mentioning are "Golden Pince-Nez" (demonstrating brilliant reasoning
and very effective use of cigar ash) , "Beryl Coronet" , "Resident Patient",
"Thor Bridge" (My list seems to be growing more than what I initially
had in mind...!)

By the same measure, according to me the most dull ones are "Crooked Man",
"Mazarin Stone", "Blue Carbuncle", "Three Gables", "Yellow Face", "Missing
three quarter", "Engineer's Thumb", "Wisteria Lodge", "Stockbroker's Clerk" etc.

--Anand


On Nov 29, 2007 8:17 PM, sumalsn <no_reply@...> wrote:
> Dear Holmesians,
> What about The adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton?
> Sumalsn
>
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> Yahoo! Groups Links
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--
-Anand