Inside the illustrated edition
A light in Baker Street
Amber windows glow above a blue London night. Twelve paintings accompany the collection, one for each story.
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The extraordinary nearby
A quiet square, a shopfront, a second look. Even the pavement invites attention.
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Before the story begins
A hesitant visitor looks towards a window. Small gestures carry the feeling of an unfamiliar encounter.
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The country holds its silence
Reeds, pale water and distant trees. The stillness of the landscape rewards a closer look.
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A refuge from the storm
Outside, rain sweeps across the glass. Inside, reading and thought continue in the firelight.
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The city below the city
Worn steps descend towards a small lamp. Discover the deeper shadows of Victorian London.
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An ordinary object, another story
A battered hat waits beside the fire. The familiar becomes curious under a patient gaze.
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Beyond the spring branches
Old gables appear through a waking woodland. Beauty and unease share the same pale light.
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A lantern after midnight
An empty platform, a waiting carriage. The countryside takes on the atmosphere of a question.
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A visitor with a problem
Formal clothes, a guarded expression, a quiet room. Social ceremony meets attentive observation.
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The city in winter light
Snow brightens the street while a figure hurries past. A change of weather reveals another London.
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Beneath the copper leaves
Rich foliage shades a weathered house. The last painting invites you to linger beyond the threshold.
View artwork detailsRead. Listen. Stay in the story.
Hear the book come alive.
Distinctive voices, expressive narration and words that light up as you listen. Move between reading and listening in the Read Classics app, at your own pace.
Download the audio you have access to in the app, then listen offline.
Begin without a purchase
The opening is yours.
The title announcement, introduction and everything through the end of the first story, including any intervening preface or dedication, are included free.
The complete ebook is free in our launch collection. Audio beyond the opening is a separate purchase.
Continue with the complete audiobook, or buy single chapters. Eligible chapter purchases count towards completing your audiobook; your account shows the exact remaining price.
Read and listen in the Read Classics app: get it for Android now; the iPhone app is coming soon. The website has no player and no file downloads.
Twelve mysteries. A friendship at the heart of each.
An unexpected visitor, a puzzling advertisement, a secret behind a respectable door. Through Dr Watson’s eyes, Conan Doyle turns small observations into absorbing mysteries and gives us the pleasure of returning to Baker Street.
Discover the edition
With an original introduction, chronology and further reading. 12 paintings accompany the story.
Read the complete ebook in the Read Classics app, for Android now and for iPhone soon. The free audio opening is separate from ebook access. This website offers an excerpt from the introduction, not an interactive browser reader.
From the introduction
A visitor arrives in Baker Street with a problem that will not fit an ordinary explanation. Sherlock Holmes listens, asks an unexpected question, and notices something everyone else has passed over. Beside him is Dr Watson, friend, companion and recorder of the encounter. The twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes make this familiar arrangement surprisingly flexible: a marriage, an advertisement or a missing person can matter as much as a murder. Each adventure stands on its own. You do not need to have read the earlier novels, and there is no hidden reading order to master before beginning.
An excerpt from the original Read Classics introduction.
Baker Street at night
His rooms were brilliantly lit
Story 1 · Painting 1 of 12
A quiet corner of London
a few clumps of faded laurel-bushes
Story 2 · Painting 2 of 12
Before ringing the bell
her fingers fidgetted with her glove buttons
Story 3 · Painting 3 of 12
The stillness of Boscombe
a little reed-girt sheet of water
Story 4 · Painting 4 of 12
Shelter from the gale
the wind cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney
Story 5 · Painting 5 of 12
Along the river
a flickering oil-lamp above the door
Story 6 · Painting 6 of 12
A winter inquiry
the windows were thick with the ice crystals
Story 7 · Painting 7 of 12
Beyond the trees
the gray gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion
Story 8 · Painting 8 of 12
The last train
a single sleepy porter with a lantern
Story 9 · Painting 9 of 12
An aristocratic caller
swinging in his right hand the cord which held his golden eye-glasses
Story 10 · Painting 10 of 12
Baker Street in February
shimmering brightly in the wintry sun
Story 11 · Painting 11 of 12
A house behind the leaves
A clump of copper beeches immediately in front of the hall door
Story 12 · Painting 12 of 12
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
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