"I started with The Valley of Fear a while back and then went back to the start, with A Study in Scarlet, and have now finished The Sign of Four. Great entertainment and so of their time. It always seems to me, with his attention to clothing, contemporary events, references to real places, attention to nuances of dialect, etc, that Conan Doyle must have felt very sharp and contemporary to read at the time. The Sign of Four is especially notable as the one where Sherlock is happily shooting up cocaine because he gets bored easily..." said SnowyJohn in last week's Tips, Links and Suggestions. Photograph: Penguin

"So which one would be the best one to read first? The Hound of the Baskervilles is the most famous but is it best?" asked fat_hamster. This front cover of the 1901 novel was illustrated by EA Abbey. Photograph: Mary Evans Picture Library

Several readers agreed that a chronological approach is the simplest and best way to start reading Sherlock Holmes' stories. "I'd just start at the start. A Study in Scarlet is the first one and is a good read", continued SnowyJohn. Here, a poster for the stage production of the book from the Southwark Playhouse. Photograph: Southwark Playhouse

The recent TV series has put Sherlock Holmes back in the spotlight. But which screen adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective is the best? Peter Cushing was one of the first actors to embody Holmes for the small screen. Here, he appears in the episode A Study in Scarlet for the 1960s BBC series. Photograph: BBC

Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch offer a modern Sherlock that has little to do with Conan Doyle's originals, according to Sara Richards: "Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch is not Sherlock Holmes. He is a 21st-century adaptation and comes suitably equipped with digital aids plus a phenomenal memory … The two are therefore totally different and should be viewed as such." Even though most plots in the series aren't based on the books, this frame is from the web-age The Hounds of Baskerville. Photograph: Colin Hutton/BBC

Most readers agreed that Jeremy Brett is the one and only TV Holmes. "Brett was the definitive Sherlock Holmes, and his dramatisations were the truest to the originals. Personally, I can no longer visualise Holmes (or Watson) differently. I guess I'd also say 'read them in order', but my favourite has always been The Sign of Four," said ItsAnOutrage2. Photograph: ITV/Rex Features

"Where I live, in Moscow, most people would prefer Vasily Livanov [pictured] in the 1980s Soviet TV series and tell me, as if this is some kind of proof, that Livanov was given an MBE by our sovereign for his portrayal. Check him out on YouTube. But no, I can't stand that Soviet series, for me (language issues aside) it suffers from [Basil] Rathbone syndrome – Holmes looks and sounds the part but is surrounded by fools, Watson and Lestrade are portrayed as bumbling ignoramuses in order to show up the great man's talent. It's all wrong," said frustratedartist. Photograph: Alamy

Speaking of Rathbone, here he is in the 1939 film of The Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Sydney Lanfield. Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext

For some, the Brett series is actually so enduring that they can't separate the actor from the character: "I think the only ones I've actually read are The Valley of Fear and The Blue Carbuncle, both of which are excellent. Though (...) I can't help reading them with the voices of Brett and either of the two who played Watson ringing in my head", said judgeDAmNation Photograph: Guardian