Question for the Holmesians

[neadods]

Just because I have about 10 other critical things that require my brainpower and effort doesn't mean that I'm not above asking questions about completely unrelated issues. So:


QUESTION FOR THE HOLMESIANS: Which 1 to 3 short stories would you recommend to people who want to start reading canon? (And why - because you like it, because you think it has specific objective merit, because it's the most exciting, explains the characters the best, etc.)


I have an idea percolating in the back of my head...

Comments

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventure of the Yellow Face, The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton. Because the source material has been corrupted so badly in recent years; because it offers a little glimmer of hope for human nature in a fairly dark time; and because it offers an interesting insight into the characters, respectively.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Yellow Face is racially problematic to rec to a racially diverse audience; the reader has to put up with a lot of outdated attitudes and wording before the sensitive resolution.