The Firsts of Holmes Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Scandal in Bohemia

This case is remarkable for many reasons. It is the first Sherlock Holmes story written by Doyle. The client was from a royal family. It's one of the few cases in which Holmes wishes he had brought the "business to a more successful conclusion". It was "entirely free of any legal crime". And most important, it drastically changed Holmes's opinion about the cleverness of the fair sex. 'The woman' is none other than Irene Adler.

Answer: The Red-headed League

In this, Holmes detects and defeats "in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts at bank robbery". Here it is the criminal who has royal blood in him.
The plot of "The Stock-broker's Clerk" is quite similar, though "The Red-headed League" is far more superior in my opinion.

Answer: The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb

It was 'so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details' that Watson thought it 'worthy of being placed upon record', even though it gave Holmes 'fewer openings for those deductive methods of reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results'.
"Colonel Warburton's Madness" is one of the unchronicled cases, and the only other which Watson brought to Holmes's notice rather than the other way round.
The plot of "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" is quite similar to that of "The Greek Interpreter" which also happens to be the case in which the reader is introduced to Sherlock's elder brother, Mycroft.

Answer: The Final Problem

In this, Doyle made Holmes history, and the rest, as they say, is history. The public found it difficult to digest Holmes's death, and Doyle was forced to resurrect Holmes in "The Adventure of the Empty House". The next time Doyle felt he had had enough of Holmes, he preferred to retire him, but the public still wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and Holmes had to make 'repeated farewell bows'.
"The Adventure of the Dying Detective", though not much critically acclaimed, is one of my personal favorites, because of Holmes's sense of humor which is much pronounced in it.

Answer: The Adventure of the Priory School

In this, both Holmes and Watson earn six thousand pounds each. That's at least one advantage of being the sidekick of an internationally famous private consulting detective.

Answer: The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

This is one of the only two stories written by Holmes himself, the only other being "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane". "The Musgrave Ritual" and "The Gloria Scott" (some of Sherlock's earliest cases), though narrated entirely by Holmes to Watson, were still technically written by Watson only for the benefit of the general public.

Answer: The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

This is the only story, other than "His Last Bow", written as if by a third person. It is also one of my personal favourites, again because of Holmes's sense of humour in it.

Answer: The Adventure of the Three Gables

Okay, so I expect everyone to score on at least this question.
You might have noticed that the opening line of this story is quite similar to that of "The Adventure of the Priory School".
I like this story, and I've got tired of saying this again and again, because of Holmes's sense of humor; for example "I was wondering whether he could have buried something. Of course, when people bury treasure nowadays they do it in the Post-Office bank. But there are always some lunatics about. It would be a dull world without them."

Answer: The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

In this story, Holmes forms his 'conclusions as to the case' simply from the newspaper clippings, because he had 'notes of several similar cases'. Now that's what I call expertise!

Answer: The Man with the Twisted Lip

This story is a marked departure from the client-in-distress-calls-upon-Holmes format. Watson goes to an opium den to recover Isa, only to find Holmes in disguise, not that he could see through the disguise. Again, this is a story 'entirely free of any legal crime'.