Sir Arthur Conan Doyle actually answered this question himself (well, sort of). In a promo contest for the release of the last collection of 12 Sherlock Holmes short stories in 1927 (titled 'The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes), he selected his 12 favourite short stories from the first 44 also excluding the 4 novels. His first choice was 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band.' Check the link below.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.