The Sherlock Holmes Companion

Here, in a witty and informed text, are plot summaries of every single Sherlock Holmes story, in the order in which they were written, and with good humored and even waspish assessments of their relative merits.  There are compact biographies of Holmes, Moriarty, Watson and of course Conan Doyle - whose own life and earnest preoccupations remain of enduring interest.  And there are many original interviews with some of the actors who've played Holmes, or written film or television scripts about him, over the years - as well as a comprehensive chronology of all the (often unlikely) thespians to have attempted a portrayal of Holmes, from Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett to Stewart Granger, no less.

If you want to know all the different kinds of firearms ever toted by Holmes, or when he first took to sporting a deerstalker, or how often the examination of footprints facilitated the successful solution of a case, or when Roger Moore played Holmes or Robert Duvall Watson (and why), then this is the book for you.  Beautifully illustrated throughout with more than 150 pictures - half in full color - ranging from period engravings, gorgeous theatre posters and book jackets to modern day location shots and film still from TV adaptations, this is a compnedious guide to all the stories, their author and the enigmatic pipe smoking creation at their heart.