Word count 5,795

A level 1 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. This version includes an audio book: listen to the story as you read. Retold for Learners of English by John Escott. Sherlock Holmes is the greatest detective the world has ever seen, and he knows it. As the famous bank-robber, John Clay, says to him, 'You think of everything, Mr Holmes. You're very clever.' People come to him with problems that no one, not even the police, can solve. Holmes sits, and thinks, and smokes his pipe, and in the end he finds the answer. In these plays, based on two of his stories, Holmes, helped by his old friend, Dr Watson, uses his great intelligence to solve two unusual and interesting cases.

Word count 5,795

Curated new collections. The fascination with Conan Doyle’s enigmatic anti-hero Sherlock Holmes, and his pompous narrator Dr Watson, has barely subsided over the years. Inspiring a long line of detective stories and Whodunnits, Holmes is a constant feature on TV, and movie screens, with new audio and radio shows joining the frenzy. The Holmes tales have earned their place amongst the most influential of popular fantasy, crime and gothic stories.

A level 1 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. This version includes an audio book: listen to the story as you read. Retold for Learners of English by Jennifer Bassett. Dr Huxtable has a school for boys in the north of England. When the Duke of Holdernesse decides to send his young son there, that is good news for the school. The Duke is a very important person, and Dr Huxtable is happy to have his son in the school. But two weeks later Dr Huxtable is the unhappiest man in England. Why? And why does he take the train down to London and go to Baker Street? Why does he need the help of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes? Because someone has kidnapped the Duke's son . . .

In 1888 Sherlock Holmes is languishing for a criminal case worthy of his powers, then one materializes, heralded by the spatter of gore and the shriek of headlines. For in vice-ridden Whitechapel, three female paupers of dubious morals have been murdered, their bodies hideously defiled. And in taunting letters their killer announces his intention to strike again—and signs his name "Jack the Ripper." As conceived by the award-winning mystery writer Michael Dibdin, The Last Sherlock Holmes Story is a brilliantly inventive updating of the Holmes legend. Pitting master detective against archfiend, steely rationalism against satanic depravity, Dibdin gives us a Holmes who is more complex, more human, and ultimately more fascinating than the one imagined by Arthur Conan Doyle. Here is a riveting combination of history and fiction that confirms Dibdin's reputation as one of the most imaginative and atmospheric crime writers now at work.

Word count 5,925