In the three years since Sherlock Holmes’s death, Dr. Watson has attempted to use his friend’s methods to solve crimes, but without Sherlock’s success. When Watson goes to Park Lane to look into a man’s mysterious death, he bumps into an old man carrying books. Watson is overcome when the man later reveals himself to be his old friend, Sherlock Holmes. After explaining to Watson how he had survived at Reichenbach Falls, Holmes enlists Watson’s aid in setting a trap for a would-be assassin.

The crime at the beginning of this story is secondary to Holmes’s return, which is the real purpose of the story. It’s hard to imagine the impact on Holmes’s fans upon this story’s publication. Today’s readers know that Sherlock Holmes returned after his confrontation with Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. Contemporary readers only hoped for Holmes’s return. ( )

Gotta give this one to the novel, even though Granada showed more emotion ( )

Another Masterpiece. In this story, we are in April 1894, and Watson (now a widower) checks 427 Park Lane where a young gambler, the Honorable Ronald Adair, was shot in a closed room on the 30th of March. He bumps into a wizened old book collector, who follows him home to his Kensington practice study then drops his disguise – it is Holmes. Holmes apologizes for the deception needed to outwit his enemies, and describes his three years' exploits. He needed funds, so he confided in his brother Mycroft, who had preserved Sherlock Holmes's rooms.
Holmes is convinced that Adair was killed by Colonel Sebastian Moran, a surviving lieutenant of Moriarty. Holmes has set a trap: the empty house across from his Baker Street flat has a clear view of a wax bust of Holmes, which is moved regularly from below by Mrs. Hudson to simulate life. After a roundabout route, Watson and Holmes wait two hours until around midnight in the abandoned Camden House. Moran, who has taken the bait, fires a specialized air-gun to assassinate his foe. Watson knocks down the villain, while Holmes whistles for Inspector Lestrade and the police.
Back at Baker Street, Holmes explains. Adair planned to expose card-partner Moran whom he found cheating, and had locked himself in to count out the spoils he needed to return. Moran would have been ruined by the exposure and kills Adair instead.
I recommend this book to any reader who appreciate a well written mystery. ( )

This is the return story, where Sherlock Holmes comes back to life from his supposed plunge into the abyss of Reichenbach Falls at the hands of Moriarty after three years and causes Watson to faint for the only time in his life. The details of Holmes's return are of course the major point of interest here; the actual plot of the capture of Moriarty's lieutenant Colonel Sebastian Moran is fairly pedestrian by comparison and it seems implausible such a cunning man would be fooled by the wax dummy against the lighted window routine. It does set things up well for the resumption of Holmes and Watson's adventures together, along with the rather shockingly casual mention and immediate dismissal of the death of Watson's young wife Mary Morstan. ( )