The stories were published in the Strand Magazine in Britain and Collier's in the United States.

[2] The book was first published in February 1905 by McClure, Phillips & Co. (New York).

Having published The Hound of the Baskervilles, set before Holmes's "death", in 1901–1902, Doyle had come under intense pressure to revive the character.

The first story, set in 1894, has Holmes returning in London and explaining the period from 1891–1894.

[9] Other adaptations of the stories in The Return of Sherlock Holmes have also been produced.