Arthur Conan Doyle is unique in simultaneously bringing the curtain down on an era and raising one on another, ushering in a genre of writing that, while imitated and expanded, has never been surpassed

I first encountered him through an eccentric maths teacher who would read 'The Speckled Band' and other Conan Doyle adventures to us instead of teaching fractions. He also used to balance chairs on his chin, but that's another story. I'm still fond of Holmes to this day, especially now that I can see him as the crazed, controlling junkie that he clearly was

A wonderful Sherlock Holmes story from its sparkling first pages, through its vivid painting of darkest Dartmoor, its undertones of fear of the mind's depths, and on to the triumph of the rational

Holmes is probably the only literary creation since the creations of Dickens which has really passed into the life and language of the people

A Victorian whodunnit of brooding power

One of his best works

Now, as in his lifetime, cab drivers, statesmen, academics, and raggedy-arsed children sit spellbound at his feet... No wonder, then, if the pairing of Holmes and Watson has triggered more imitators than any other duo in literature

[Wexford] has become an old friend who gets better with age.

Psychologically acute and extremely disturbing, Ruth Rendell's work is outstanding.

It's not often you pick up a book where the plot is technically perfect, where the characters all come off the page perfectly formed and the writing is so good that it's impossible to spot an unnecessary word, but which still managed to be a damn good story. I was still reading at 2 o'clock this morning...

Patterson knows where our deepest fears are Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried... there's no stopping his imagination.buried... there's no stopping his imagination.

Patterson is in a class by himself.

Sharp, sassy and guaranteed to send shivers down your spine, this is a tense thriller

Cross is one of the best and most likeable characters in the modern thriller.