Reading the Sherlock Holmes books in publication order allows readers to experience the stories in the same way as Doyle's original audience, starting with A Study In Scarlet in 1887 and concluding ...
Holmes and Watson, having made their debut in Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet in 1887, were famous enough by 1891 for Doyle’s friend JM Barrie to publish the first of several Sherlock skits.