The Valley of Fear is even more odd, since the backstory features …
The story of an entirely different detective, solving an organized crime issue in the US!
The other two - the Sign of Four and the Hound of the Baskervilles - are justly rated higher.
He did seem to have an affection for or at least a fascination with the rugged and adventurous aspects of America and Australia. Cowboys, miners, stage coach robbers, mafia, Mormons and the klan pop in and out of his stories liberally.
Something else. People keep mentioning The Sign Of Four as another book and I just saw it listed as another book on Wikipedia. On my E-Reader it came as part of A Study In Scarlet. I just figured The Sign Of Four was the name of the second half of A Study In Scarlet.
That’s why I was asking about this Mormon backstory stuff being in the middle of the book.
Heh, I could see why that would be confusing. 
I presume they were just bundled together as a package for pricing purposes.
Free!
Pre 1923, out of copyright books are free on E-readers. That’s actually what got me started on this. Before this book I read The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz and I intend to read at least a few more out of that series as well (all for free).
It’s nitpicky and utterly meaningless, but it bugs me. The honorific “Sir” or “Dame” is used either with given name only or full name only. So he’d be Sir Arthur or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, just as Judi Dench is either Dame Judi or Dame Judi Dench, never Dame Dench.
The best part of “Study in Scarlet” to me is the following history-making line from an otherwise completely forgettable character:
I remember A Study in Scarlet as being my favorite Holmes novel, but I don’t remember the Mormon part. My favorite Holmes short story is The Diogenes Club where we are introduced to Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s smarter, older brother. I also like the idea of the Diogenes Club itself.
Free is even better.
I think the first story he appears in is The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter. As far as I know, there is no story called The Diogenes Club, although of course the club itself is mentioned.
As someone has remarked, it seems as if to Doyle the US was a dangerous place, filled with murderous secret societies – there was also the Chicago gang warfare in “The Damcing Men”. (Holmes also encountered the Mafia in “The Fibve Napoleons”, but it was straight from Sicily, with no US connection).
Don’t know about your suggestion. It’s possible, but I think Evil Criminal Organizations are intrinsically interesting and useful as villains, stereotypes or not. Look at S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
A Study In Scarlet is essential reading for Holmes fans because it explains how the Holmes-and-Watson team got started, but it’s not the best semi-full length novel (The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four are considerably more entertaining in my view).
If the prospect of a further “detour” of 40 pages looks horrific, you might want to try some brief stories to see if Holmes is your cup of tea.
I’d never heard that House was supposed to be based on Holmes, but based on my brief exposure to the show I’d say that the Holmes stories are far more firmly grounded in reality. And Holmes was never a slob, except when acting a part.
Psst…they’re all dead. They’ve been dead for more than a century. It’s all old dead guys and stuff that’s been out of date, like, forever.
I dunno about that - Watson states in several places that Holmes was the messiest and worst roommate imaginable, leaving papers and assorted chemical experiments (including poisions) all over the place, keeping tobacco in a persian slipper, occasionally pockmarking the wall with a patriotic “V R” in revolver bullet-holes …
You’re right, Greek Interpreter is my favorite short.
In his own quarters occasionally, yes, but I don’t recall him ever appearing unshaven and ratty-looking in public, or interviewing clients amid a personal mess.
"six napoleonsThe Adventure of the Six Napoleonsif I’m not wrong.
That one involved Italian crooks/gangsters, but I think they were immigrants from Italy to Britain, not Americans.
As, in fact, I state in post #31
Well I did exclude Baskervilles (which puts Holmes offstage in a different way); it’s a long time since I read “Sign” so perhaps my memory is misleading me…
I liked the Mormon part of A Study in Scarlet more than the Holmes part (not so much because it was great story writing as I found it an interesting view on the outside perception of Mormonism from relatively early in its history) so that was ok with me. But I took it as a sign and never got around to reading any other Holmes stories.