The Return of Sherlock Holmes

** probably the least favourite sherlock holmes collection I have read (so far this year) **

And I have read 6 Sherlock Holmes books in the last 40 days. (is this a cry for help? maybe)
Return of Sherlock Holmes starts with such a bang, we have the elusive and charming detective coming in from the cold. The tempo range of the mysteries seems to have increased. The bad guys are smarter, trying to provide a better match to the detectives genius, and yet the book feels like its written without its soul.

In the foreword, Stephen Fry mentions that one of the reasons Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed Sherly's character was to experiment and focus on his historical fiction writings. He wishes to expand his portfolio but they didn't quite fetch the readership (and revenue) as that of the detective. So the Return of Sherlock Holmes was a bit of fan pandering, of sorts? The writing and mysteries felt a bit repetitive and half-hearted. Or maybe I am overdosing on murder mysteries and find myself unamused.