Frustrated with the success of his own creation and the constant demand for Sherlock Holmes stories that kept him from writing other works, Arthur Conan Doyle killed off the great detective in 1893. With the exception of the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, pre-dating Holmes's death, it would be another ten years before Conan Doyle relented and began regularly publishing his detective stories again. This collection assembles the first batch of 13 newer stories, beginning with "The Empty House," in which Holmes reappears after three years' absence to an astounded John Watson. Also included are "The Golden Pince-Nez," "The Abbey Grange," and "The Second Stain," one of Doyle's personal favorites.