Lately, due to a Barnes and Noble sale, I’ve been reading the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. One hundred and ten years after being written, these stories are still intriguing and fun to read.

Holmes is even inspiring new television shows and Hollywood blockbusters. Why the enduring popularity?

I believe it’s because the Holmes mysteries are simple. Anybody can pick one up and read it because the style is straightforward and fairly easy to understand.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also makes his stories exciting. Many of Holmes’s cases involve dramatic murders or burglaries. The stories that don’t involve such events are often boring and make me skip to the end.

Also, no matter how complex the mystery becomes, the solution always makes sense. Very rarely does Doyle take the easy way out and give a completely unreasonable solution that frustrates the reader.

Only in one major instance does Doyle resort to an easy fix, and that’s when he resurrects Holmes after “The Final Problem.” Holmes supposedly died at the waterfalls facing off against Moriarty.

The character of Sherlock himself is very intriguing as well. Holmes is described as a loner, not because he cannot make friends, but because his mind is too complex for most potential allies to understand.

Although the reader both admires and pities him, Holmes’s deductions are nevertheless enjoyable.

Readers looking for excitement and accessibility should try The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and they won’t be disappointed.