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If you are a mystery buff, as I am, you might want to check these out:

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 2

The American Rivals of Sherlock Holmes.

They are anthologies of short stories, mostly from the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, by authors contemporaneous with Arthur Conan Doyle. Some of the stories are, shall we say, better than others. Also, do not be surprised when some of the stories perpetuate the prejudices of their times (I’m thinking specifically of “The Affair of the Tortoise,” chapter 17 of The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1).

Me, I’m currently (re-)reading the first Ellery Queen novel, The Roman Hat Mystery. I realize on rereading it what I did not remember from my first reading lo! those many years ago! It’s actually rather slow-moving and pedantic (but, then, so am I). I think the secret of its success, beyond the well-crafted mystery (and it is a well-crafted mystery) is the characterization, particularly the relationship between Ellery and his father, Inspector Queen.

In a way, that fits a theory of mine. I’ve long thought that the secret of a successful television series is the characters and their relationship. If the series pulls that off, fans will overlook the occasional lousy episode, because they like the characters. But I digress.