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In addition to the characters of Holmes and Watson, this is what keeps readers returning to the Holmes tales: no matter how many times they are read, they remain fresh and engaging, full of vivid characters, ingenious plot twists, flashes of darkness and dread and the hint of the otherworldly, yet always grounded in the reassuring familiarity of the sitting-room of 221B Baker Street, where the fire crackles, the gas-lamp burns, the fog swirls past the window, and Holmes and Watson are settled in their chairs, ready for the next client to appear. We know that however bizarre and terrible their case may be, however puzzling and frightening events may seem, all will be well. It is a reassuring image, one that has endured for more than one hundred and twenty years, and that will undoubtedly endure for at least as many more to come. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson: fixed points in a changing age. Long may they live, and long may readers continue to enjoy their wonderful world where it is always 1895.