"His Last Bow" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The recent J.M. Barrie trend kind of continues this week, as we look at the final two collections of Sherlock Holmes stories. Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle were actually great friends, playing on the same cricket team and even collaborating on the failed comedic opera, "Jane Annie." In way of apologizing for the failure, since Doyle only got involved to help Barrie out of a jam, Barrie wrote a remarkably funny parody of Sherlock Holmes and sent it to his friend the very next morning. It's a little gem featuring the two authors consulting the great detective to find out why no one went to see their opera. It's brilliant. Sadly, it's also far superior to any of the Holmes stories Doyle produced during his final years. But more on that later.

In way of a quick history lesson, the character of Sherlock Holmes made his debut in the 1887 novel " A Study in Scarlet." The second Holmes novel, " The Sign of Four," was published in 1890. Regular Holmes stories began running in the Strand magazine in 1891, prompting the publication of the first Holmes collection, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," in 1892. " The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" followed one year later, with Holmes and his archenemy Professor Moriarty apparently falling to their deaths in perhaps the best Holmes story, "The Final Problem."

Doyle was glad to be liberated from the bonds of his famous creation, hoping it would allow him to devote his full attention to serious literature. In fact, Doyle's proudest achievement, and the book which he thought secured his legacy, was "The White Company," a tale of romance and adventure set in 14th-Century England. And if you're anything like me, you read that last line and thought, "The what company?" History chooses its own legacies.

At the time, the public was up in arms about the great detective's demise, begging and pleading for more Holmes stories. Doyle's resolve didn't waver until 1902 when he published "The Hound of the Baskervilles," a novel set before the events depicted in "The Final Problem" some nine years earlier. The overwhelming success of the book led to more Holmes stories running in the Strand, with a third collection, " The Return of Sherlock Holmes," appearing in 1905.

Beginning in 1908, Doyle continued to contribute occasional stories to the Strand,, but the world was becoming a much different place; war was on the horizon and Doyle wanted to use the Holmes stories to address more serious themes. In "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge," the first of eight stories collected in "His Last Bow," Doyle tells of an evil dictator who ruined his country and escaped with untold wealth before being murdered in revenge for his past atrocities. It's Doyle's comment on how the people of the Congo suffered under Belgian rule during the early 1900s. It's also wicked dull.

"The Adventure of Bruce-Partington Plans" has Holmes trying to retrieve the stolen blueprints for a new submarine. The culprit comes from the inside, as Doyle attempts to warn Britain about the security of its defense department. It's a solid effort, with several interesting points surrounding the discovery of a dead body.

"The Adventure of the Dying Detective" is unique for deviating from many of the standard Sherlock Holmes conventions. The story doesn't open at Baker Street, a client doesn't come to inquire about the detective's services, there is no crime scene to investigate, and Holmes has never appeared less supremely confident, as he's languishing on his deathbed, the victim of some obscure disease. It's one of two very good stories, the other being "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box," which is more of a classic Holmes tale, with a severed ear arriving by post providing the basis for mystery. These two could sneak into the top twenty Holmes stories of all time.

All the stories were written between the years 1908 and 1917, with the final tale, also called "His Last Bow," featuring an aging Holmes and Watson going undercover to thwart a German espionage plot. The world was at war and Holmes had to do his part.

While the collection is a bit uneven, and there aren't any truly great stories, it's still nice to find Holmes and Watson near the top of their game.

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"The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: This is the fifth and final Holmes collection, consisting of 12 stories written between 1917 and 1927. Keep in mind, Doyle was in his 60s by this time and had written 44 Holmes stories and four full-length novels. Finding new plots was kind of tricky. Doyle even held contests for readers to write in with ideas for future Holmes tales. Combine this apparent creative desperation with the inferior quality of some of these later works, and there are those who doubt whether or not Doyle is the true author. But this is mere speculation, with no real evidence to support the claim.

The two most glaring culprits for conspiracy theory are "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" and "The Adventure of the Three Gables," easily the two worst stories in the Holmes canon. "Mazarin Stone" has Holmes miraculously switching places with a mannequin of himself in his own Baker Street rooms to retrieve a stolen jewel from two crooks. It's preposterous from start to finish. "The Three Gables" is even more bizarre for its characterization of Holmes, depicting him as a smart aleck punk, well below his usual pose as the dignified gentleman. There are also several racially insensitive remarks, making it all rather revolting.

"The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" seems like a forced attempt to cash in on the popularity of Dracula. It has a young mother being accused of vampirism after she's seen sucking blood from the neck of her baby. Holmes is called in to investigate. Of course, the whole mess could have been avoided if someone just asked her what she was doing. "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" is another inferior effort. In his quest to stay youthful for his young wife, an aging professor takes an experimental drug derived from monkeys. I know, I know, it sounds cool, but it isn't. Trust me.

"The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier," with Holmes trying to find a man's missing friend, and "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane," in which Holmes investigates the unusual death of a swimmer, are notable in that Holmes himself serves as narrator. And that's really the only interesting thing about either story.

"The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" is unique in that Holmes acts more as confessor than detective. He doesn't solve a crime; he merely hears the details of it from the gnarled mouth of one of the unfortunate perpetrators.

"The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" has an ingenious setup, with a man trying to find two others who share his unusual last name of Garrideb so all three can split an enormous inheritance from an unrelated namesake. Then again, perhaps I liked the plot so much because it's basically a slight variation on "The Red-Headed League," one of the very best Holmes tales.

While neither could be placed anywhere near Doyle's elite, the two best stories of the collection are probably "The Problem of Thor Bridge" and "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place." They each boast proven elements of mystery, and both work as exercises in misdirection.

Fans of the legendary sleuth will find some enjoyment in these final Holmes stories, but unless you spend your evenings in a deerstalker cap smoking a pipe, this case book can remain closed.

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