The Unofficial Stories of Sherlock Holmes (SH #10)

Classified as Sherlock Holmes volume 10/10, this is the final instalment and for SH completists only. It's about half the size of other volumes and feels more like out-takes compiled by fans, for fans and masochists alike.

The stories are precursors to better Arthur Conan Doyle work and don't seem consistently great due to the massive writing timeframe of four decades from oldest to newest.

Everything written by Arthur Conan Doyle is decent in quality, that's a given, but the narratives here are not written from the perspective of Dr Watson and his normal way of communicating with Holmes, so the stories lack the usual banter, friendship and coyness found in other volumes, but still follow a similar structure of unfolding events with predictable and unpredictable conclusions.

There's even a story in play format near the end of this volume, a rehash of a previous story – The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone – from volume #9, The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.

It's hard to find standalone copies of this volume, which seems to be exclusively available as part of Complete Collection or similar.

Give yourself a massive pat on the back if you make it this far and through volume #10. Hooray! RIP. Long live Sherlock Holmes.