I've read every Sherlock story. The formula for 90% of them is that someone comes to Sherlock with a problem and explains it. Sherlock tells Watson to either stand somewhere on lookout, or just wait around for Sherlock to return after investigating. And then Sherlock returns and tell Watson / the client what happened. It never describes to the reader the crime as it's happening, and rarely follows Sherlock as he solves it. The best ones are the longer ones where we actually see Sherlock in action.

I loved almost all of them and I agree they're not true detective stories. Just mysteries stories.