Sherlock Holmes is the most famous fictional detective ever created. He and Dr Watson will forever be associated with the smog-filled streets of late 19th and early 20th century London. Yet the years between 1890 and 1914 were a godlen age for English magazines, most of which published detective fiction. The Holmes stories spawned countless imitators. Shelock Holmes did have his rivals and, as this collection of short stories shows, many of their adventures were as exciting and entertaining as those of the master himself.