Originally posted by Terry Leatherwood:
He [Sherlock Holmes] was resurrected in "The Adventure of the Empty House". His explanation for his survival and subsequent hiatus is often seen to be pretty lame; but readers were so excited by having new SH stories available that they tended to be pretty forgiving of that.
If you can find it in your local library or used bookstore, "The Seven Percent Solution" by Nicholas Meyer is a fascinating modern explanation of what really happened during that three-year hiatus.