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Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Book Review - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Series: Sherlock Holmes: Book 3

Publisher: George Newnes

Genre: Crime, Mystery, Detective Fiction

First Publication: 1892

Language: English

Major Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson, Inspector Lestrade, Irene Adler

Setting Place: late 19th century London

Narration: First person

Preceded by: The Sign of the Four

Followed by: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand magazine, in which they were first published, and won immense popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including ‘The Red-Headed League’, ‘The Blue Carbuncle’, and ‘The Speckled Band’. Although Holmes gained a reputation for infallibility, Conan Doyle showed his own realism and feminism by having the great detective defeated by Irene Adler – the woman – in the very first story, ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collects the first twelve Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in The Strand magazine throughout 1891-1892. The first story in the collection, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” is the story that made Holmes and his creator a household name.

What this collection offers is a great look into the character of Holmes as a master of solving what seems to be the unsolvable: puzzling crimes, murders, mistaken identities and generally mysterious circumstances. Doyle really sets the bar and precedent for the detective genre with Holmes as his lead. Many mysteries in contemporary film and book have been influenced in some manner by Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

“As a rule, the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify.”

Some of the highlights in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle:

In “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Sherlock Holmes employs disguises in attempts to find a photograph that could ruin the potential marriage of the King of Bohemia. This story has a light mood and it is enjoyable to see Holmes battle wits with Irene Adler.

“The Boscombe Valley Mystery” has Holmes trying to prove the innocence of James McCarthy, whose father was found dead under odd circumstances. Holmes goes to Hatherly Farm, the scene of the murder, to investigate.

“The Man with the Twisted Lip”—Holmes and Watson try to discover the whereabouts of Neville St. Clair, who has disappeared without a trace after last being seen in, of all places, an opium den. Many signs point to a mysterious and deformed beggar as the lead culprit. Holmes’ investigation takes them into the dangerous East End opium den.

“It’s a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brain to crime it is the worst of all.”

I enjoyed “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” the most. It is a closed-room mystery at hand for Holmes to solve, as one woman’s sister dies under the most unusual and remarkable circumstances. With seemingly no explanation for the murder and no real clue as to a suspect, Holmes and Watson go to the room where the murder happened. The suspense and tension in the dark room towards the conclusion was top notch.

Also included: “The Red-Headed League”, “A Case of Identity”, “The Five Orange Pips”, “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”, “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb”, “The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor”, “The Adventure of Beryl Coronet”, and “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.”

Holmes’ methods of deducing are almost always fascinating and entertaining. He is an astute and keen observer of human behavior, and pays attention to every detail in his surroundings. Watson makes for a great sidekick and ally to Sherlock Holmes, and his narration really makes these stories tick and work in a way that would be much less effective with an outside narrator.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle is a wonderful collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, some of the most popular out there. A collection like this is the best way to start reading Holmes. Sherlock Holmes’ fans will want to also check out A Study in Scarlet as well as The Hound of the Baskervilles, full length novels.

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Book Review

Initial thoughts on the adventures of sherlock holmes.

7 Lessons from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Train yourself to see what others don’t.
The little things are often the most important.
Do not rely on general impressions, also concentrate on the details.
Practice shifting your point of view, you may be surprised that it’s pointing you in an entirely new direction.
Before making a decision, look at all the facts that present themselves.
After you have gathered the information needed to solve a problem or make a decision, rearrange the facts and information. Look at it from many different perspectives. If you find that you have insufficient facts and information, it’s time to gather more — or perhaps make some assumptions.
It’s better to acquire wisdom late, than never to acquire it at all.

Mentoring Yourself Strategy

To get the most from this SummaReview of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, after you have read the book review/summary, reflectively answer the following questions:

What can you learn from the ideas in the SummaReview?
What is one action that you can take as a result of reading this SummaReview ?
What are five takeaways from the SummaReview ?
What has made an impression on you while reading?
Is there a framework that you can use in your life and work?
How do the concepts in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes relate to what you already know?
How can you combine key ideas from the profile to what you already know to create a new idea?
Is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes a book you’d like to read for yourself? Why? Why not?

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, adventures sherlock holmes

I’ve been reading the literary classics, and from time-to-time, I have read some contemporary fiction. My objective is to gather ideas that may have been lost or forgotten, which are embedded in the classics. And one of the aims of The Invisible Mentor is to provide a bridge between ancient and modern wisdom.

Although I did not enjoy reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , there are specific stories I enjoyed among the 12 short stories. Maybe I didn’t enjoy the book because I read most of it when I was tired, or it could be that I have read too many Sherlock Holmes stories already ( Review: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ).

So what bothered me about The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ?

During my crankiness as a result of being tired, I started to look closely at Dr. Watson, and the role he plays in the stories. We know that one of his functions is to document the cases, and he also selected the best ones to create a memoir of Sherlock Holmes’s life. Many times during the stories, Holmes talks through cases with Watson, but it’s my perception that it’s usually Holmes who is doing all the talking. In my opinion, Watson does not really add to the conversation, but, is anything wrong with that? We often crystallize our ideas when we say them out aloud.

Watson and Holmes are not equals in the stories. If we are honest, Watson is more of a protégé, because he is also learning from his mentor, Holmes. A new client visits Holmes to seek his advice with a problem, he relates his story, and the detective is able to draw inferences from not only what the client is saying, but also from his appearance. Watson and Holmes see and hear the exact same things, yet the former always misses many of the clues. The readers are not in-the-know either, because Doyle’s technique is often to give us the clues in the story when Holmes discloses what he knows, based on what he has heard and seen. And it’s through this disclosing of facts and information, that we learn techniques for problem solving and making decisions.

I would have liked the book much more if Watson played a more active role in the stories. He is a doctor, so based on the traits that are necessary for him to perform well in that role, he should be qualified to assist Holmes in solving cases. In the 12 stories, the most active role he plays is in The Adventures of the Copper Beeches where he shoots and kills a dog that is out of control because it has been starved for two days and is hungry, so it attacks its owner.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 12 Stories

A Scandal in Bohemia
The Red-headed League
A Case of Identity
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Five Orange Pips
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

Each of the 12 stories is between 20 and 26 pages in length. I absolutely loved A Scandal in Bohemia because a woman outwitted Holmes, and she is quite smart about it, and the detective talks about it in some of the other stories. I also loved The Adventures of the Copper Beeches because I appreciated the fortitude of the client, Violet Hunter. A Case of Identity reminded me that there are times that we cannot right a wrong, either because our hands are tied or because we will do further harm to the victim. The Red-headed League demonstrates how important it is for us to look at people’s motivations.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb is a short tale of greed and the consequences. The Five Orange Pips was very upsetting to me. In the story, a new client comes to see Holmes, relates his tale about the death of his uncle and then his father. The case has to do with the KKK.

Today, when we see KKK, we immediately recognize that it stands for the Ku Klux Klan, which was born shortly after the end of the American Civil War. Remember that the Sherlock Holmes stories are set in the UK in the late 19 th century. Despite the danger, Holmes lets the young man depart by himself, and he is subsequently killed on his way home. Holmes redeems himself because he sees to it that the perpetrators are punished in the end. It really bothers me that the young man had to die.

Final Thoughts on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

There are lessons in each of the short stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , and they show us human frailties. But it “bugs” me that Dr Watson doesn’t play more meaningful roles in the stories. On the other hand, I like Dr Watson because he reminds me of how little I know in the scheme of things.

I recommend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes because is has many lessons for us to learn. Have you read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ? If yes, did you or didn’t your enjoy it, and why?

book review on the adventures of sherlock holmes

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Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson have captivated audiences for generations. This collection of twelve short stories is fantastic. From stolen jewels to mysterious circumstances and brilliant crimes, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes has it all. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is full of mesmerizing deductions and wonderful short adventures. I highly recommend this collection of short stories for every Sherlock Holmes fan and anyone searching for great mystery novels or short stories.

Petrina Binney - Author

"quirky, fun, and pleasantly disturbing," amazon reviewer.

Book Reviews

Book Review – The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

First published, 1892 This edition published, 2020

An excellent introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes. This collection of short stories, written from Dr Watson’s perspective, show the logical, excitable, slightly-manic but always incisive Holmes as he uncovers various plots and baddies.

The writing is exceptional. Rich and highly textured, there’s so much to enjoy here. Also, although Watson is a clearly devoted sidekick, he lacks the haphazard, judgemental edge of early Hastings in Christie’s Poirot stories. For example:

“ ‘You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite invisible to me,’ I remarked. ’Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumbnails, or the great issues that may hang from a bootlace…’ ” page 77, A Case Of Identity, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Some stunning imagery: “As evening drew in, the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney.” page 123, The Five Orange Pips, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Highly enjoyable. Definitely recommended.

The stories in this collection are: A Scandal In Bohemia, The Red-headed League, A Case of Identity, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Five Orange Pips, The Man With The Twisted Lip, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb, The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, and The Adventure of the Copper Beeches. They were first serialised in The Strand magazine.

https://amzn.to/34COBOT

A Journey of Words

Book review: the adventures of sherlock holmes, the adventures of sherlock holmes sherlock holmes #3 by arthur conan doyle, my rating: 4 / 5 genre: classic mystery.

This is the first Sherlock Holmes I’ve ever read, though like many, I’ve seen various adaptations. I started with this book of short stories mostly because it was the one I owned. I’ve never been a huge fan of short stories, though, and while I wish now that I’d started by checking A Study in Scarlet out from the library, I’m still glad I’ve started reading Holmes in any form. The issue with reading this book of shorter mysteries, though, is that a lot of the clients start to blend together, as many of them talk and act similarly when they bring Holmes their case. I did spread the stories out, reading 3 at a time, then reading other books before coming back for more, and I think that helped some.

My view of Holmes and Watson, and even some of the other characters, started with an understanding based on some of the adaptations I’ve seen, and while Holmes was indeed standoffish and generally assumed he was the smartest one in the room, I didn’t think he was quite as cold as I’ve seen him portrayed. A few of the cases were really interesting, while there were a couple that I thought had a much less intriguing solution. The introduction of Irene Adler wasn’t at all what I expected, but I wonder if she’ll be back in a future story. Overall, I enjoyed reading these vignettes, and have a feeling I’ll appreciate even more the longer stories when I get to them.

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Book Review

The adventures of sherlock holmes.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Historical , Mystery

Readability Age Range

Originally these stories were serialized in The Strand Magazine (between July 1891 and June1892), then published in 1892 by George Newness. The reprint reviewed was by Dover Publications in 2009.

Year Published

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

Sherlock Holmes is a quirky British detective with an unusually keen eye for detail. With the help of his friend and biographer, Dr. John Watson, Holmes takes on strange and challenging cases. He often solves crimes Scotland Yard cannot. The following are the cases included in this book:

A Scandal in Bohemia The Bohemian king, preparing to marry, asks Holmes to retrieve an incriminating photograph of him with a former mistress, Irene Adler. Holmes dons several disguises and enlists Watson’s help to find the photo in Adler’s home. Holmes accidentally ends up serving as a witness in Adler’s elopement with another man. Adler bests Holmes when she discovers his investigation. She tells him she is happy with her new husband and has no intention of blackmailing the king. She is only keeping the photo in case the king should try to ruin her reputation. The king is satisfied to let the matter drop.

The Red-Headed League A pawnbroker named Jabez Wilson approaches Holmes about the strange and sudden loss of his side job. He applied for a position with the Red-Headed League, which his assistant insisted was an elite organization that paid well. Once able to prove his hair was legitimately red, Wilson was hired and asked to copy pages from the encyclopedia for several hours a day. One day, a note on the office door said the society was disbanded. Holmes discovers a pair of criminals concocted the Red-Headed League to keep Wilson out of his shop so they could dig a tunnel beneath it and access a bank vault.

A Case of Identity A woman named Mary Sutherland asks Holmes for help finding her missing fiancé, Hosmer Angel. Just before Angel’s disappearance, he made her promise to wait for him, no matter what. Holmes deduces that Angel was Sutherland’s stepfather, Windebank, in disguise. As long as Sutherland lived in his home, waiting for her beloved (but phony) fiancé, Windebank had access to her money.

The Boscombe Valley Mystery Holmes investigates the murder of an Australian named Charles McCarthy. He and his son, James, lived on land owned by a wealthy old acquaintance, John Turner. Witnesses say McCarthy and James argued just before McCarthy’s body was discovered. Holmes learns McCarthy was trying to arrange a marriage between James and Turner’s daughter. McCarthy and Turner had worked together with a band of thieves in Australia, and McCarthy was blackmailing Turner. Turner, who was dying anyway, murdered McCarthy so he wouldn’t gain control over his daughter.

The Five Orange Pips A young man named John Openshaw approaches Holmes when his uncle and father die in the same strange manner. Each received a letter containing five orange pips and demanding the recipient leave some papers on the sundial. Openshaw is concerned, as he has just received the same cryptic message himself. Holmes ties the orange pips back to the Ku Klux Klan in America and conjectures someone is after papers incriminating specific Klansmen. Openshaw is killed before Holmes can solve the case, but Holmes finally tracks the antagonist to an American ship that sinks at sea.

The Man with the Twisted Lip Watson visits an opium den to retrieve a neighbor and finds Holmes there in disguise. Holmes is helping Mrs. St. Claire find her missing husband, whom she recently saw in a window nearby. She says when her husband made eye contact with her, he looked frightened. Holmes learns Mr. St. Claire, a former actor, discovered by accident that begging was more lucrative than his normal job. He had been disguising himself as a homeless man and begging. When he saw his wife, he fled in fear that his family would learn his secret and be ashamed of him.

The Blue Carbuncle Holmes’ cohort discovers a priceless blue carbuncle gemstone inside a goose his wife just killed. Holmes deduces a hotel employee named Ryder stole the jewel from a wealthy guest. Ryder admits he tried to hide the stone by forcing it down a goose’s throat while visiting his sister’s farm. He ended up retrieving the wrong bird by mistake. Holmes lets Ryder go free so he won’t rot in the prison system.

The Speckled Band A woman named Helen Stoner, who lives with her stepfather, Dr. Grimsby Roylott, asks for Holmes’ help. Her twin sister was murdered in her bedroom under suspicious circumstances two years earlier and mentioned a speckled band just before dying. Now that Miss Stoner is engaged, Roylott is making her sleep in her dead sister’s room. Holmes examines the house and discovers Roylott has set up an elaborate system to get a poisonous reptile in and out of the room. Holmes uses Roylott’s own trick to provoke the snake to attack its trainer.

The Engineer’s Thumb An engineer named Hatherley, with a recently severed thumb, comes to Holmes’ house. He says a secretive man hired him to fix a hydraulic press he claimed was used to filter a type of clay. Hatherley discovered the press was actually full of metal. The men at the site tried to crush Haverley in the press, and they severed his thumb as he was escaping. Holmes investigates and deduces the men were silver counterfeiters.

The Noble Bachelor Holmes meets with Lord St. Simon, one of England’s highest-ranking noblemen. St. Simon had just married an American woman of means, Hatty Doran, and she promptly vanished. Holmes learns the woman was already married to a miner she met years earlier. He had gone off to seek his fortune to earn her family’s favor. Hatty thought her husband was dead, but he reappeared right before the wedding. Holmes convinces Hatty and her husband to tell St. Simon the truth.

The Beryl Coronet A man named Holder was tasked with looking after a priceless tiara containing gemstones called beryls. He went crazy when he caught his son holding the crown one night. Several of the gems were gone. Holder’s niece, Mary, defended her cousin as the police investigated. After Holmes joins the investigation, Mary runs off with a scoundrel named Burnwell. Holmes deduces the two robbed Holder. Holder’s son had seen them, but he loved Mary too much to tell her secret. Holmes recovers the missing jewels and tells Holder that Mary will receive ample punishment by being stuck with someone like Burnwell.

The Copper Beeches Miss Violet Hunter consults with Holmes about whether to take an unusual governess position. The Rucastles wants her to cut her hair, wear certain clothes and sit in certain places at certain times. Violet takes the job because the money is great. She reconnects with Holmes when things become stranger. Holmes discovers Rucastle is using Violet as a decoy for his daughter, whom he has locked in another wing of the house to hide her from a suitor. Rucastle has tried to keep his daughter under his roof so he can control her money.

Christian Beliefs

Other belief systems, authority roles.

Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard admires Holmes’ investigative skills and calls on him for help solving cases. Parents in several stories go to desperate lengths of control to retain their children’s money.

Profanity & Violence

The Lord’s name is used in vain. Fingerprints and bruises on Miss Stoner’s wrists indicate her stepfather has been abusing her. The stepfather is later mangled and nearly killed by a hungry dog, which Holmes shoots to death (“The Speckled Band”). A man’s thumb is severed and bloody (“The Engineer’s Thumb”). Blood and murder are mentioned in other stories as well.

Sexual Content

A man doesn’t want his daughter to be looked upon as a slut .

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Drugs/Alcohol: Sherlock Holmes uses cocaine and alcohol to combat his boredom in life. As a doctor, Watson expresses his concern about Holmes’ cocaine use. Other characters, such as Whitney in “The Man with the Twisted Lip,” use and abuse opium in opium dens.

Prejudice: Ku Klux Klan members kill those who could expose their crimes (“The Five Orange Pips”).

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Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

My Rating: 5/5 TARDISes

Series: Sherlock Holmes #1

Date Published: May 1 st , 2012 (first published October 14 th , 1892)

Publisher: BBC Books

Pages: 324 pages

Source: Purchased

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the first collection of short stories Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his famous detective. Each work chronicles the various cases that Sherlock Holmes works on, accompanied by John Watson, who narrates the tales. Originally, the twelve stories featured in this collection were individually published in The Strand Magazine between 1891 and 1892; they were then released together as a whole novel in late 1892.

I had read one or two individual stories in school over the years, but this was my first real experience with Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle’s work; and I completely fell in love with everything about them. I love a good mystery that makes me really think, and that is exactly what I got over and over again throughout this collection. I found each story to be incredibly absorbing, and they kept me guessing right up until the very end. Each one is full of twists and turns that constantly surprise, but wrap up perfectly in the final pages.

Doyle’s writing style was so captivating, making this a very enjoyable read for me. He is a master at pulling the reader completely into the story, fully into the characters’ lives, and making you care for each and every one of them. In Holmes, he has created a character that does extraordinary, seemingly impossible things in a completely believable way. Despite his extreme intelligence and astonishing powers of observation and deduction, Sherlock Holmes is still realistic. Relatable. Genuinely human.

Watson is a perfect narrator and companion for the great detective. He also works as a great foil for Holmes. This may be a bit surprising because Watson is an exceedingly intelligent man in his own right, so he doesn’t function as a complete contrast to Holmes. Instead, he highlights Holmes’s abilities with his own intelligence by being unable to fully understand his process of deduction. However, Watson as a character still holds his own, and proves to be invaluable at many points during the cases. Overall, they are a wonderful pairing.

So, in short, I absolutely adored this book. Reading these stories gave me that warm, cozy feeling of curling up by the fire with a cup of hot tea while it’s snowing outside. I can’t wait to continue on with the other books in the series, and dive back into this world and these amazing adventures.

Now, I’ll very briefly go more in-depth with a summary of each of the individual stories in the collection. Note: These are spoiler-free descriptions.

My favorite stories from this collection were The Red Headed League, A Case of Identity, The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, and The Adventure of the Copper Beeches .

A Scandal in Bohemia

This is one of the most famous stories in the collection, starring Irene Adler or, to Holmes, “the woman”. In this story, Holmes is hired by the King of Bohemia to retrieve blackmail, in the form of a photograph, from opera singer Irene Adler, with whom he had been romantically involved with a few years earlier. Now that he is engaged to a woman of noble birth, Adler has been threatening to send this photograph to the family of his fiancée, which would cause them to call of the wedding. It was fascinating to watch Holmes match wits with Adler, who is almost as intelligent and as cunning as him.

The Red Headed League

A redheaded man named Jabez Wilson comes to Holmes with questions about a job he was urged by a friend to take that offered a high salary, but was solely for redheaded men. Wilson was the only one chosen for the job, simply because his hair was the right shade of red. In this story, Holmes is able to connect and solve two cases that appear to be completely unrelated. This was one of my top favorites of the collection.

A Case of Identity

In A Case of Identity , a woman named Mary Sutherland comes to Holmes when her fiancée mysteriously disappears on the morning of their wedding. That very same morning, he had made her promise to remain faithful to him no matter what happened. Holmes soon discovers that this man is not exactly whom he has made himself out to be. This was another one of my favorites!

The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Inspector Lestrade enlists Holmes to solve the murder of a man named Charles McCarthy, whose son has been linked to the crime. The evidence points very strongly toward the son, but his fiancée, and Holmes himself, maintain a belief in the man’s innocence. The twists and turns that this story took were incredible; they hooked me immediately, and kept me thinking until the very end.

The Five Orange Pips

A man named John Openshaw presents Holmes with a case about multiple strange deaths in his family. Openshaw’s uncle received a letter from India containing five orange pips, then passed away no more than two months later. A few years after this, his father also received a letter with the five pips and died three days later. Openshaw himself has just received this very same letter, and is certain he will meet the same fate.

The Man with the Twisted Lip

A man named Neville St. Clair has disappeared, but his wife tells Holmes that she is certain that she saw him looking out of the upstairs window of an opium den. St. Clair is a respected businessman, and not only is it unlikely he would be in there, when she went into the house, the only person inside was an old beggar. I loved the way that this mystery played out, and it was one of the few that I was actually able to deduce the answer to myself!

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

A former thief is arrested when the Countess of Morcar’s priceless blue carbuncle is found missing. However, a man with whom Holmes is acquainted discovers this blue carbuncle in the throat of his Christmas goose. This was a definite favorite of mine because, as well as being an intriguing mystery, I found it to be incredibly funny and witty at times!

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

This is arguably Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous short story about Sherlock Holmes, and his own personal favorite. A woman named Helen Stoner approaches Holmes with fears that her stepfather is trying to kill her after he makes her move into the bedroom in which her sister died two years prior. Apparently, her sister passed away just before her wedding saying, “it was the Speckled Band”. This is the only one that I had read prior to reading the full collection, and it remains one of my favorites.

The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb

Watson attends to a man named Victor Hatherly, whose thumb has just been cut off. While in his office, he relates the story to Holmes and Watson of how he was very secretly hired to repair a machine that compressed “Fuller’s Earth” into bricks. Hatherley was not allowed to know the location of the machine, and was taken to it in a carriage with frosted glass windows to prevent him from learning the route. When he discovered something that implied that the machine is not being used for what he was told it would be, his employer attacked him.

The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

This case involved the disappearance of Hatty Doran following her wedding to Lord Robert St. Simon. She attended the wedding and they were married, but she disappears from the reception, and her wedding band is found floating in a nearby lake. Holmes also discovers that the servants had kept a former lover of hers from forcing his way into the house earlier that morning, and that she had been seen having a secret discussion with her maid shortly before she went missing. There were elements of this story that I guessed as I was reading, but the ending was very surprising, and even more complex than I thought it would be.

The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

A banker named Alexander Holder presents Holmes with a case after a client he loans money to leaves a beryl coronet, an extremely valuable public possession, with him as security. Holder heard a noise and woke in the night to find his son holding the coronet, which had been damaged, and now has three beryls missing from it.

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

A woman named Violet Hunter comes to Holmes after she is offered a job as a governess that has some very unusual requirements attached to it, some of which have to do with altering her appearance in a specific way. Holmes urges her to take this oddly high paying job, and to call him in to investigate as she discovers more about the position, and the family. This was another one of my favorites: a very complex and interesting case.

I most definitely recommend this novel to anyone and everyone, especially if you enjoy classics and a good old-fashioned mystery!

Book review: "The adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Arthur Conan Doyle

I used to read the Sherlock Holmes stories a lot when I was a kid. I read all of them several times, which shows even now when most stories in this book sounded at least vaguely familiar (and I managed to recall the solution to the mystery right from the start in most of them).

I always wanted to come back and re-read Conan Doyle in English (as a kid I read in Russian), and now I found a good opportunity - combining it with a first experience of hearing an audiobook .

Indeed, as with any book, reading it in the language it was originally written in is much more pleasant. The English of Conan Doyle is delightful - combining the prettiness of the refined British jargon of the 19th century with a very readable and lucid style (which can't be said about many books by British authors of those times).

The "Adventures" is a set of 12 short stories built on top of the same template - someone comes to Holmes, complains of a problem. Holmes listens and usually forms a solution right away. Sometimes, it takes him another day or two of searching around to solve the problem. Even though it's so simplistic, these stories are a lot of fun to read. Forgive me the comparison, but that Holmes would be one hell of a hacker had he lived today. He loves collecting reference information, does research on topics like cigar ashes and clay types of London areas, and immerses himself in all nighters of chemical experiments. Clearly, he has the hacker attitude.

Another thing I noticed is the "meta"-references of the book to itself. In multiple places, Holmes mentions that Watson is putting these memoirs to writing, and often adds that Watson often exaggerates his (Holmes's) humble achievements. This way, the book actually refers to itself - which is cool.

If you haven't read Sherlock Holmes's stories yet, you must! Age has no meaning here, I believe everyone will enjoy them. If scholar merit is of great importance to you, you can be consoled by the fact that the books provide a pretty good description of the life in London in the late 19th century.

For comments, please send me an email .

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A home for the stray thoughts of an ordinary christian woman.

Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The format of the stories is much the same as the novels. The ones in this volume are not told in chronological order: some occured while Watson still lived with Homes, others occured after Watson married. At the beginning of many of them Watson explained why he chose to chronicle that particular case out of the many Holmes had solved. Though there are similar characteristics in each story, Doyle did an excellent job in keeping them from becoming formulaic and predictable. Some involve the police, some don’t. In a few Holmes let the perpetrator go for various reasons (in one, the man did not have long to live; another involved a young man whom Holmes thought would go right after the scare of almost getting into big trouble). Some involved a crime that had already been done, some involved a crime that had yet to be committed, some involved other mysteries.

This book contains twelve stories: probably the most notable is “A Scandal in Bohemia” for the mention of Irene Adler. Some portrayals of this story of Holmes cast her as a love interest, but in this story she is not that. He admires her wit, which rivals his own, and the fact that she is one of very few people who have ever outsmarted him. In fact, Watson says,

It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer — excellent for drawing the veil from men’s motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his.

I thought it interesting, after wondering aloud in my review of The Sign of Four whether a genius in one area has to be unbalanced in others, that Watson says Holmes has a “precise but admirably balanced mind” while explaining that emotions were “abhorrent” to him — which seems a little unbalanced to me. 🙂

I enjoyed more unfolding of Holmes’ personality. Some accounts I’ve read cast him as manic-depressive or autistic, but I think (at least so far) that he was just a classic introvert. He claims Watson as his only actual friend, spends a great deal of time alone and thinking, but can be genial and even soothing when he needs to be. Some modern versions also portray him as rude, but in these first three books I haven’t seen that, at least that I can remember.

I’m glad that more modern versions of Holmes’ stories cast Watson as a strong character rather than a doddering old man who is only along as a sidekick. He is a skilled doctor and apparently handy with a revolver (from his army days) since Holmes asks him to bring it along for particularly dangerous cases.

I’m trying to read the Holmes stories in publication order, and the next is another collection of short stories, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes . I may skip ahead to The Hound of the Baskervilles , which I’ve been particularly wanting to get to. I don’t think the reader will lose anything by reading them in any order: I just wanted to partake of them as the general public would have at first in order to see how they unfold. But I’ll put off that decision for a little while in order to take a break from Holmes to participate in the Austen in August challenge.

(This will also be linked to Semicolon ‘s Saturday Review of Books. )

Book Review: “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes had already appeared in two novels, but his popularity did not really take off until the brief “adventures” collected in this book began to appear in monthly issues of The Strand Magazine , from 1891 to 1892. And though there are two novels and three volumes of short stories still to come, these 12 mysteries include some of Holmes’s most memorable and celebrated cases. Few of them are concerned with actual murder or even actionable crimes, and Holmes doesn’t always get his man (or woman). But they are Holmes all over, the Sherlock you sure love, fascinating us (even when his cases don’t) by his keen observation, quick deduction, and encyclopedic recall of the history of crime—so that he can often solve in moments a case that keeps Scotland Yard guessing for days.

In “A Scandal in Bohemia,” the King of Bohemia (which Conan Doyle seems to confuse with Scandinavia) hires Holmes to help him neutralize a threat to his marriage plans. It seems His Majesty has been foolish enough to allow another woman to possess a photograph of the two of them. In the Holmes canon, this is actually the only appearance of “ the woman,” as Holmes describes her: Irene Adler, celebrated as the only woman who ever outwitted him.

“The Red-Headed League” is a comic tale about a stingy pawnbroker who suspects he has been had. It turns out that the harmless scam of which he is the victim is only part of a plot to play much dirtier trick. In “A Case of Identity,” Holmes is hired by a near-sighted spinster to solve the disappearance of her fiancé. In “The Boscombe Valley Mystery,” Holmes helps Inspector Lestrade prove the innocence of a young man who has been arrested for the murder of his father. “The Five Orange Pips” is the rare case in which Holmes fails to save the life of his client, who comes to him with a creepy story about three successive members of his family receiving a cryptic message before they died. Among the spooky secrets Holmes uncovers in this dark installment is a connection to that American institution, the Ku Klux Klan.

“The Man with the Twisted Lip” is a missing persons case in which a well-off businessman vanishes, almost before his wife’s eyes, from a room in which a lame beggar is found, along with some blood and the victim’s clothes. Is it murder? Or could there be something even stranger going on? “The Blue Carbuncle” is a case of a stolen jewel, which comes Sherlock’s way in the gizzard of a Christmas goose found lying in the street. His powers of detection are never shown more vividly than in “The Speckled Band,” in which a villain hatches a diabolical plot to murder his twin stepdaughters.

In “The Engineer’s Thumb,” Holmes helps a confused young man track down the gang of forgers who tried to use him as an unwitting accomplice, and then tried to kill him. “The Noble Bachelor” concerns a bride who, ten minutes after the start of her wedding breakfast, steps out of the room for a moment and is never seen again. In “The Beryl Coronet,” a banker fears his son has plundered a national treasure, and hires Holmes in the hope of recovering the lost gems. And finally, “The Copper Beeches” has to do with a governess who suspects that her employers are involving her in something sinister and dangerous.

These mysteries are very straightforward, simple, easy to enjoy. They follow a clear formula that has worked for millions of readers these 120-odd years. Sometimes Holmes solves them by spotting a clue that no one else noticed. Sometimes it is his knowledge of human nature, and of similar cases in the past, that does the trick. Again and again, the truth is revealed when Holmes asks someone the right question, or puts the right advertisement in the newspapers, or sets a trap into which his quarry cannot resist falling. Of course, Holmes isn’t always right. His deduction, for example, that the whole world would someday become one nation under the combined flag of the US and the UK, now rings somewhere between “spooky” and “unintentionally funny.”

But hey, Conan Doyle was a spooky customer. He believed in Spiritualism, which is why this book was briefly banned in the USSR. Spookiness works sometimes. It doesn’t hurt when you are an author of detective thrillers and science fiction novels. Eerieness and suspense were his friends. His best work, both generally and in the Holmes canon, was yet to come in the haunted pages of The Hound of the Baskervilles . But in this book, he already makes an excellent start. This is classic Sherlock. It’s attention-grabbing fun. And it is followed immediately by a second year’s worth of monthly Holmes tales, collected in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes .

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

By sir arthur conan doyle.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Summary

A Scandal in Bohemia

"A Scandal in Bohemia" starts with Watson remembering Irene Edler and the awe she observes in the eyes of Sherlock Holmes . Watson, being busy in his new household, is unable to attend Sherlock for a long time so has no news of his friend except for what he reads in newspapers. He decides to pay him a visit as he is passing by his old address. Sherlock receives him and impresses him again with his observations from his attire. He informs Watson of his enigmatic client who calls them wearing a mask. However, Holmes deduces his identity as the king of Bohemia. The King tells Holmes of an old paramour, Irene Adler , who possess a photograph of them which she intends to use as blackmail. Holmes accepts the case. The next day, Holmes spies on Irene in a groom’s outfit and coincidentally witnesses her marriage to her lawyer, Gordon Norton. That evening, he with the assistance of Watson is able to scare her of a fire which leads her to reveal the photograph. The next day, as the two friends and the King arrive at her house to look for the photograph, they find she has left already having discovered Holmes' identity. She mentions of intending the photograph as a political insurance and not blackmail which assures the King. Holmes asks for a photograph of Irene Adler left in the house in return for solving the case.

The Red-Headed League

One day, when Watson is visiting Holmes, he finds him in presence of a stout red-headed man named Jabez Wilson . Wilson narrates his hiring by Duncan Ross at "The Red-Headed League" just on the basis of his hair color, where he was paid a great sum for nominal work. He works for two months when he finds that the League has been dissolved and it’s impossible to trace any lead on it. He asks Holmes for advice on this, who makes several enquiries about his assistant, Vincent Spaulding, and becomes excited when he meets a certain description. He later visits this person without letting Wilson know. That night, the duo along with a police officer, Jones, and a bank director, Mr. Merryweather, discover a tunnel in the basement of the bank dug up by Ross and Spaulding and catch them red-handed. Spaulding is revealed to be a clever and wanted criminal, John Clay. Holmes remarks that bizarre cases like this keep him entertained.

A Case of Identity

Holmes and Watson are called upon by a woman, Mary Sutherland, for the missing person case of Hosmer Angel, her fiancé. She narrates how her young stepfather would not bear her meeting people of her own age, and that he has complete control on their money. The woman earns good income and has a good inheritance. While her father was gone on a business trip, she persuades her mother to go to a ball where she meets Hosmer Angel and in a few weeks after some meetings and daily correspondence they decide to get married. However, the groom asks her to swear by the testament to "stay true to him" come what may and as a foreshadowing of this statement vanishes on the morning of their marriage. Sherlock asks her to forget him to which she refuses. He calls her father next day, who is discovered to be the man who disguised as Angel so as to deceive the daughter into a love that wouldn’t distract towards marriage to somebody else, thus preserving her money with him. Since this case has no criminal motive, Holmes can’t do anything except for warning the man.

The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Watson receives a note from Holmes to join him in his journey to Boscombe Valley. A man, Charles McCarty, had been murdered brutally and his son, James McCarthy , is suspected and has considerable circumstantial evidence against him. Holmes has been hired by a young woman, Alice Turner, who lives in the same neighborhood and is the daughter of the murdered man’s landlord and friend, John Turner . Holmes gathers that from the accused’s statement his father had called to his son by a peculiar cry, "Coee!" but was surprised to see him. They had an argument which he refuses to state the cause of. After the son left, he heard his father’s cry and found him dying alluding to a "rat." Holmes learns from Alice Turner that McCarthy had been unsuccessfully trying to convince his son to propose marriage to her. However, Holmes observes the crime scene to find the presence of another man and murder weapon, a stone. He avoids naming the murderer to Lestage as it is the landlord, Mr. Turner, who is a dying man and would rather avoid humiliating himself to his daughter. He confesses to Holmes that he had been a dacoit, Black Jack of Ballarat, who was once seen by McCarthy during a raid and has since been blackmailing him. To stop him from destroying the life of his daughter, Turner decided to murder him. Holmes avoids using this confession and gets James McCarthy acquitted on the basis of multiple objections.

The Five Orange Pips

The case starts on a stormy night when a client calls. Holmes suspects it to be of urgency given the weather and the agitated state the client, John Openshaw , is in. He states that he has inherited considerable wealth from his uncle who after working in an American plantation, fought in the American Civil War and later retired to the quiet country life of England. One day, the uncle received a letter containing five orange pips, with just "K.K.K." written inside the envelope. This scared him, and he hurriedly prepared his will and named his brother his benefactor. Openshaw also observed his uncle to have burned some papers taken from a tin with the same letters inscribed inside. He noticed an unburnt margin and preserved it. After seven weeks, his uncle died in an unexplained but innocuous manner. After a year, the same incident happened with his father and he himself received the same letter with the inscription, "Put the papers on the sundial" a day before. Holmes gets extremely worried and urges him to put out the empty tin, the remaining margin with a note explaining the burning of the other papers. However, the next day Openshaw is found dead. Holmes traces the perpetrators to a gang called the Ku Klux Klan who extorted money from people and that Openshaw’s uncle was once a member and had escaped with gang papers to England. Holmes wires the police of Savannah where these men were headed but it turns out that the ship they were on sank midway.

The Man with the Twisted Lip

Watson, on an errand to rescue an acquaintance from an opium den, runs into Holmes sitting in a disguise. They meet soon after and Holmes requests Watson’s assistance in a case. He tells him of a man gone missing or probably dead from the first floor of the opium den, managed by a Lascar. The man, Neville St. Claire, was rich, had a huge villa, and was devoted to his family. One day, after he had left for work, his wife went to town for an errand and found him crying to her and being pulled in from a window of the opium den. On search, the man is not found, but his effects are. A deformed, ugly beggar who lived in that room claims of not having seen St. Claire, but when blood stains and his coat is found in the river below, the beggar, Hugh Boone, is arrested. Presently, Mrs. St. Claire receives a note from her husband to not to worry which makes Holmes rethink his approach. The next day, he visits the prisoner and washes his ugly face to reveal the missing man. Apparently, St. Claire had been begging for all these years as his income. The police agree to hush the matter given that St. Claire stops the business of begging.

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

During Christmas, Watson finds Holmes inspecting a hat which had been brought by an inspector after its wearer dropped it along with a goose, in a scruple with some thugs. The hat is found to belong to a Henry Baker, to which no one pays interest till it’s found that the goose had a priceless blue stone in its crop. It is revealed to be a jewel of a Countess missing for five days for which a plumber had been arrested. Holmes calls Baker who is indifferent to the goose and so is not suspected. He then proceeds to trace back to the farm where the goose was raised and thus, runs into Jack Ryder, the manager of the hotel where the Countess was staying, making enquiries about the same goose. It is revealed that he stole the jewel, implicated the plumber, and in order to hide the stone dropped it in the crop of a goose in his sister’s poultry farm. By coincidence, the geese got mixed resulting in the chain of events. Ryder is too shaken with the crime, so Holmes lets him go stating it’s the season of forgiveness.

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Holmes and Watson are roused from sleep by the arrival of a lady, Susan Turner. She looks agitated and in a great state of fear. She says that she is the stepdaughter of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, a quick-tempered retired doctor from a very old family, with eccentric habits like keeping wild animals and entertaining gypsies on his land. She also tells them of her twin sister’s death two years ago from an unexplained cause except for her last words, "The band! The speckled band!" just a fortnight before her marriage. Ms. Turner is also set to marry in some time and has to sleep in her sister’s bed given some repair work in her room, when she heard a low whistle as her sister used to before her death. Scared, she decided to visit Holmes. Holmes is threatened by her father to not interfere. However, Holmes and Watson visit this house and find a dummy bell rope installed on top of the bed with a ventilator connecting to her father’s room. Holmes decides to spend the night in her room and hears the same whistle upon which he strikes at the bell pull brutally. It turns out to be a spotted snake, which used the rope to travel to the bed, and in rage bites Roylott after it travels to his room back through the rope and ventilator. Roylott had planned to murder his stepdaughters so as to get their money.

The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb

Watson is called upon by a patient, Victor Hatherley, with a severed thumb. On learning that the act was an attempt to murder, he takes the man to Holmes. He tells them that he had a small practice of hydraulic engineering and, one day, received a very suspicious man, Lysander Stark offering a large fee for minor work but demanding absolute secrecy as he had been extracting fuller’s earth. Hatherley agreed and set to the place in night, where he was warned by a woman. But, ignoring the woman’s warning he followed Stark to the hydraulic press and offered them advice. While examining the inside of machine, he noticed deposits of tin and nickel and realized that the men were counterfeiting coins. When he confronted Stark, they tried to kill him by trying to squash him inside the machine but he was rescued by the woman who opened a wall of the machine. Stark tried to kill him with a cleaver but only managed to sever his thumb, as Hatharley jumped to safety. Fatigued, he fainted and was carried to the station by the woman and another accomplice. When all arrived at the station, they found a house burning and the gang had left with no clue to their whereabouts.

The Adventure of Noble Bachelor

Holmes is called upon by Lord St. Simon for the case of his missing wife, immediately after his wedding. The wife, Hatty Doran is the daughter of a rich American millionaire who made his fortune in mining, and it is made clear that her dowry is the main reason for this match. Holmes learns that the bride had dropped her bouquet at the wedding and was jittery immediately after the wedding and left from the breakfast table to never be seen again. Lestrade arrests a woman who is claimed to be harassing Lord St. Simon and whose note is found in the abandoned clothes of the bride. Holmes notes the hotel mentioned in the back of the note and arrives at the conclusion that Doran left on her own account with the man, Francis Moultan, who picked her bouquet. It is revealed that they were married already with no knowledge to her father, and presuming him to be dead, Doran decides to marry Lord St. Simon. However, on having found Moultan in church, she decided to flee with him but Holmes convinces them to reveal their marriage.

The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

Holmes receives a banker, Alexander Holder, who describes the robbery of the Beryl Coronet. Since the Coronet is the property of a royal person, he decided to keep the Coronet with him at all times out of anxiety over its security. He narrates of having told his shy niece Mary and wayward son Arthur about it. The same night the Coronet was stolen from Holder’s bedroom safe, he caught his son red-handed but with a corner from the Coronet missing. Arthur denied stealing the item while Mary was inconsolable about the implication on Arthur. Holmes deduces that Mary is having an affair with Sir George Burnwell, a charismatic friend of Arthur who led him into gambling, and she was the person who stole the Coronet and gave it to Burnwell. Arthur however, discovered her in the act and tried to get it back when the Coronet broke in the scuffle between Arthur and Burnwell. Holmes traces the Coronet corner and gets it back to the banker when they discover that the niece has deserted Holder.

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

Holmes receives a call from a woman, Violet Hunter , asking for advice in a case in which she has been offered a position as a governess. The household sounds strange, but the money is good. Holmes asks her to accept but to inform him if something gets wrong. She telegrams him sometime later. When they meet her, she says that the family is quite strange, her employer Jephro Rucastle is unpredictable and cunning, and his second wife is strangely sad but devoted to the family. Their child is unusually cruel. They have two servants, the Tollers, who keep to their own and take care of the mastiff. They also have a daughter who doesn’t like Mrs. Rucastle and so has left for America. Violet is periodically asked to wear a dress and sit at a window outside where she spots a man, at which point she is asked to wave the person away. She finds a lock of hair similar to her own and a wing of the house which seems locked up but appears to be occupied. Holmes deduces that the wing is occupied by Miss Rucastle who is kept by her father to avoid meeting the man outside her window, possibly her fiancé, so as to control her money. The three lock up Mrs. Toller as her husband passes out from drinking and decide to let out Miss Rucastle while her parents are away. But, they find nobody when they break open her door. Rucastle arrives and tries to set the mastiff on them, but is bitten grievously as only Toller can handle the hound. Mrs. Toller reveals that she had already planned to let Miss Rucastle out. Miss Rucastle marries her fiancé and Hunter leaves satisfied.

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

The Adventure of the Three Students

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What is the character traits of Sherlock Holmes?

Holmes's chief characteristic and his most useful trait is his cold, calculating mind and his method of deduction. He is able to devise theories to explain crimes with the smallest amount of evidence. He, as he constantly tells Watson, sees what...

Study Guide for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes study guide contains a biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Character List

Essays for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sherlock Holmes’ Mentorship of Christopher Boone
With Holmes in Mind: Christopher's Extended Allusion
The Effects of Aging on the Well-Known Sherlock Holmes
“The Woman”: How Multiple Texts Failed Irene Adler
“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”: The Peculiarities of the Genre

Lesson Plan for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | Book Review | Mystery Short Story Collection

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle is a collection of twelve mystery short stories featuring the iconic British Detective Sherlock Holmes. First published in 1892, these mind boggling mysteries not only wowed readers but also brought fame and fortune to the author. So, read the book summary, book release date, genre, reading age, book quotes, Sherlock Holmes books reading order, and book review of “ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in this post below.

About The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle:

No. of Pages: 389

Book Release Date: October 1892 in The Strand Magazine

Genre: Classic Fiction, Mystery, Murder Mystery, Short Stories, Historical Fiction

Reading Age: 7 years and above

Can be read as a standalone? Yes

Buy From: AMAZON

Read the First Book that Introduced Sherlock Holmes: “A Study in Scarlet” by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Book Summary:

This book is a collection of twelve short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his loyal friend Dr. John Watson. The stories were originally published in Strand Magazine between 1891 and 1892, and later compiled into a book in 1892.

The twelve stories included in “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” short story collection and their summaries are:

“a scandal in bohemia” by arthur conan doyle.

The King of Bohemia hires Holmes to retrieve a compromising photograph from his former lover, Irene Adler, who has threatened to use it against him. Despite Holmes’ best efforts, Adler outwits him and escapes with the photograph.

To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen…. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.”

“The Red-Headed League” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Jabez Wilson, a man with striking red hair, is offered a job by an unusual organization called the Red-Headed League. Holmes discovers that the League is a distraction meant to keep Wilson out of his pawnbroker shop, where criminals are tunneling in from a neighboring building.

“A Case of Identity” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Mary Sutherland seeks Holmes’ help in finding her missing fiancé, Hosmer Angel. Holmes discovers that Angel is a fictional character created by Sutherland’s stepfather, who wants to prevent her from marrying and taking her inheritance with her.

“The Boscombe Valley Mystery” by Arthur Conan Doyle

James McCarthy is accused of murdering his father in the woods of Boscombe Valley. Despite overwhelming evidence against him, Holmes is able to prove McCarthy’s innocence and identify the true killer.

“The Five Orange Pips” by Arthur Conan Doyle

John Openshaw receives five orange pips in the mail, a symbol of the KKK. He asks Holmes for help, but it’s too late to prevent his death. Holmes tracks down the KKK member responsible, but he too meets an untimely end.

“The Man with the Twisted Lip” by Arthur Conan Doyle

When Neville St. Clair disappears, his wife seeks Holmes’ help in finding him. Holmes discovers that St. Clair has been living a double life as a beggar and has been arrested for it, but he is eventually found alive and well.

“The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” by Arthur Conan Doyle

A valuable blue carbuncle goes missing, and a Christmas goose with the jewel inside is left behind. Holmes tracks down the owner of the goose and the thief, who had tried to hide the carbuncle in the goose’s crop.

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Helen Stoner seeks Holmes’ help when her sister dies under mysterious circumstances. Holmes discovers that her sister was killed by a poisonous snake sent into her room by her stepfather, who was trying to protect his inheritance.

“The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Victor Hatherley, a hydraulic engineer, seeks Holmes’ help when he loses his thumb in a mysterious accident. Holmes discovers a plot to steal his hydraulic press and helps Hatherley escape with his life.

“The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Lord St. Simon seeks Holmes’ help when his wife disappears on their wedding day. Holmes discovers that she had previously been married and that her ex-husband had kidnapped her.

“The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Alexander Holder, a banker, seeks Holmes’ help when the valuable beryl coronet he was holding as security for a loan is damaged. Holmes discovers that Holder’s son had taken the coronet to impress a woman and that it had been damaged by her angry stepfather.

when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

“The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Violet Hunter is offered a job as a governess at a remote country house, but the job turns out to be stranger than she had anticipated. Holmes helps her uncover a plot by the owner of the house to use her as a pawn in his scheme to gain his niece’s inheritance.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Book Review:

Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and leading to the most outre results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable.”

The book begins with “A Scandal in Bohemia,” where Holmes is hired by the King of Bohemia to retrieve an incriminating photograph from an actress who is threatening to use it against him. Other notable stories include “The Red-Headed League,” where Holmes solves a case involving a strange organization that pays men with red hair to work for them, and “The Speckled Band,” where Holmes helps a young woman who fears that she will be the next victim of a family curse.

Depend upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.”

Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details.”

Also checkout this classic mystery collection featuring “Indian Sherlock Holmes” “Byomkesh Bakshi” by Saradindu Bandyopadhyay

Conclusion:

All in all, “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” is a timeless classic that continues to captivate readers of all ages. It has inspired countless adaptations, films, and television series, cementing Sherlock Holmes as one of the greatest literary detectives of all time.

Also, one of my absolute favourite books of all time and definitely one of my Top favourite Book Characters, I have read and reread Sherlock Holmes’ books innumerable times since the first time I read them as a kid. And they continue to wow me still. So, 5 out of 5 super shiny stars to this amazing piece of fiction, Njkinny recommends this classic book to all readers.

Come, Watson, come!” he cried. The game is afoot.”

You will also love reading:

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Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

publisher’s synopsis

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , a collection of twelve short stories by Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle, is considered a milestone in the genre of detective fiction. With Sherlock Holmes’s clever disguises and ability to solve even the most elusive mysteries, as well as Holmes’s loyal friend and biographer, Dr. Watson, who narrates most of the stories, Doyle’s suspenseful stories and well-developed characters keep readers on the edges of their seats.

The nice thing about this short story collection is that each of the stories can be read in a sitting. Considering that most Sherlock novels can take a while to read, it’s fun to get short snippets of Holmes and Watson’s adventures.

Most of the stories follow similar formatting: a client arrives and recounts the details of the case to Holmes and Watson. Holmes then goes out and does some investigating. Then Watson joins him for the climax. The stories lend themselves more to “telling” than “showing,” but it works since they’re short stories, and that was one of the writing styles in the past.

I would recommend that readers first read a full novel about Sherlock Holmes, so as to get an understanding of the characters that will allow them to better understand and appreciate the short stories.

Cautions: several blasphemies; brief, non-graphic mentions of moderate/heavy violence; mentions of drug and opium use; one of the stories revolves around someone trying to recover a photo that would presumably reveal a scandal from his past *

*I didn’t keep exact track of cautions and may have missed some.

Sherlock Holmes Books

Written by: Samantha Willis

August 21, 2024

Time to read 12 min

Sherlock Holmes, the legendary detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has captivated readers for over a century with his extraordinary deductive reasoning and keen observational skills. These timeless tales of mystery and intrigue have become a cornerstone of the detective fiction genre, inspiring countless adaptations and imitations across various media. The stories of Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion, Dr. John Watson, transport us to the foggy streets of Victorian London, where the duo unravels complex cases with Holmes' unparalleled intellect and Watson's steadfast companionship. From the iconic 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' to the thrilling 'The Final Problem', these narratives weave intricate plots, memorable characters, and a deep appreciation for the art of deduction. Whether you're a longtime fan or a newcomer to the world of Sherlock Holmes, these collections offer a rich tapestry of adventures that continue to captivate and inspire readers across generations. Immerse yourself in the timeless brilliance of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's masterful storytelling, and let the game be afoot!

1. The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Appearing in the Strand magazine between 1891 and 1892, The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are the first stories ever published to feature the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, whose adventures hold an unparalleled and enduring appeal to this day. From mistaken identities and portentous omens to counterfeit currency and jewellery theft, each story unravels an exciting new mystery set against the overcast backdrop of London and the English countryside.

The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Books

An extract:

To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer — excellent for drawing the veil from men’s motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.

2. The Return Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Return Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a thrilling 13-part collection featuring the iconic detective's reappearance after his supposed death. With trademark logic, forensic science, and cryptograms, these stories showcase Doyle's brilliance in crafting mysteries that captivate readers. Sherlock Holmes' wit and Dr. Watson's steadfast companionship make this a must-read for fans of the consulting detective.

The Return Of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Books

"From the point of view of the criminal expert," said Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "London has become a singularly uninteresting city since the death of the late lamented Professor Moriarty."

"I can hardly think that you would find many decent citizens to agree with you," I answered.

"Well, well, I must not be selfish," said he, with a smile, as he pushed back his chair from the breakfast-table. "The community is certainly the gainer, and no one the loser, save the poor out-of-work specialist, whose occupation has gone. With that man in the field, one’s morning paper presented infinite possibilities. Often it was only the smallest trace, Watson, the faintest indication, and yet it was enough to tell me that the great malignant brain was there, as the gentlest tremors of the edges of the web remind one of the foul spider which lurks in the centre. Petty thefts, wanton assaults, purposeless outrage – to the man who held the clue all could be worked into one connected whole. To the scientific student of the higher criminal world, no capital in Europe offered the advantages which London then possessed. But now – " He shrugged his shoulders in humorous deprecation of the state of things which he had himself done so much to produce.

3. A Study In Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet is the inaugural adventure of legendary detective duo of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. This captivating mystery unfolds as Holmes and Watson are drawn into a chilling murder case marked by a baffling crime scene: a victim with no visible wounds or signs of a struggle, only the ominous word “rache” written in blood. Through Holmes’ brilliant deductive reasoning and meticulous observation, Conan Doyle crafts a riveting narrative that explores the depths of human nature and criminal intent, setting the stage for one of literature's most iconic partnerships.

A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Books

“They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains,” he remarked with a smile. “It’s a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work.”

Gregson and Lestrade had watched the manoeuvres of their amateur companion with considerable curiosity and some contempt. They evidently failed to appreciate the fact, which I had begun to realize, that Sherlock Holmes’ smallest actions were all directed towards some definite and practical end.

“What do you think of it, sir?” they both asked.

“It would be robbing you of the credit of the case if I was to presume to help you,” remarked my friend. “You are doing so well now that it would be a pity for anyone to interfere.” There was a world of sarcasm in his voice as he spoke.

“If you will let me know how your investigations go,” he continued, “I shall be happy to give you any help I can. In the meantime I should like to speak to the constable who found the body. Can you give me his name and address?”

Lestrade glanced at his note-book. “John Rance,” he said. “He is off duty now. You will find him at 46, Audley Court, Kennington Park Gate.” Holmes took a note of the address.

“Come along, Doctor,” he said; “we shall go and look him up. I’ll tell you one thing which may help you in the case,” he continued, turning to the two detectives. “There has been murder done, and the murderer was a man. He was more than six feet high, was in the prime of life, had small feet for his height, wore coarse, square-toed boots and smoked a Trichinopoly cigar. He came here with his victim in a four-wheeled cab, which was drawn by a horse with three old shoes and one new one on his off fore leg. In all probability, the murderer had a florid face, and the finger-nails of his right hand were remarkably long. These are only a few indications, but they may assist you.”

Lestrade and Gregson glanced at each other with an incredulous smile. “If this man was murdered, how was it done?” asked the former.

“Poison,” said Sherlock Holmes curtly, and strode off. “One other thing, Lestrade,” he added, turning round at the door: “‘Rache,’ is the German for ‘revenge;’ so don’t lose your time looking for Miss Rachel.” With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him.

4. The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a must-have collection of eleven stories featuring the legendary consulting detective and his loyal companion Dr. Watson. This volume culminates in the infamous The Final Problem where Holmes faces his greatest opponent, the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, at the Reichenbach Falls. Originally published in The Strand magazine , these tales showcase Holmes at his finest, solving notorious cases with his unparalleled deductive reasoning and keen observational skills.

The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Books

"He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed—the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organized and carried out."

5. The Case-Book Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Case-Book Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a captivating collection details the last 12 stories of the legendary consulting detective. These tales, written in the disenchanting 1920s, delve into darker themes and explore Conan Doyle's interest in Spiritualism, reflecting the post-World War I era's horrors through characters' mental derangement and physical disfigurements.

The Case-Book Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Books

“If the cycle of nine days holds good then we shall have the professor at his worst tonight,” said Holmes.

“The fact that these strange symptoms began after his visit to Prague, that he is in secret correspondence with a Bohemian dealer in London, who presumably represents someone in Prague, and that he received a packet from him this very day, all point in one direction. What he takes and why he takes it are still beyond our ken, but that it emanates in some way from Prague is clear enough. He takes it under definite directions which regulate this ninth-day system, which was the first point which attracted my attention. But his symptoms are most remarkable. Did you observe his knuckles?”

I had to confess that I did not.

“Thick and horny in a way which is quite new in my experience. Always look at the hands first, Watson. Then cuffs, trouser-knees, and boots. Very curious knuckles which can only be explained by the mode of progression observed by —” Holmes paused and suddenly clapped his hand to his forehead. “Oh, Watson, Watson, what a fool I have been! It seems incredible, and yet it must be true. All points in one direction. How could I miss seeing the connection of ideas? Those knuckles — how could I have passed those knuckles? And the dog! And the ivy! It’s surely time that I disappeared into that little farm of my dreams. Look out, Watson! Here he is! We shall have the chance of seeing for ourselves.”

6. The Hound Of The Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound Of The Baskervilles is a thrilling Sherlock Holmes mystery that takes the consulting detective and Dr. Watson to the misty moors of Devon. When the body of Sir Charles Baskerville is found, the locals blame a legendary phantom hound that has haunted the family for generations. Holmes must use his deductive skills to unravel the truth behind this macabre mystery.

The Hound Of The Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Books

Mr Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he stayed up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearthrug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a ‘Penang lawyer’. Just under the head was a broad silver band, nearly an inch across. ‘To James Mortimer, MRCS, from his friends of the CCH’, was engraved upon it, with the date ‘1884’. It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry – dignified, solid, and reassuring.

"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?"

Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation.

"How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head."

"I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffeepot in front of me," said he. "But, tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor’s stick? Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no notion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance. Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it."

"I think," said I, following so far as I could the methods of my companion, "that Dr Mortimer is a successful elderly medical man, well-esteemed, since those who know him give him this mark of their appreciation."

"Good!" said Holmes. "Excellent!"

"I think also that the probability is in favour of his being a country practitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot."

"Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one, has been so knocked about that I can hardly imagine a town practitioner carrying it. The thick iron ferrule is worn down, so it is evident that he has done a great amount of walking with it."

"Perfectly sound!" said Holmes.

"And then again, there is the 'friends of the CCH'. I should guess that to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whose members he has possibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a small presentation in return."

"Really, Watson, you excel yourself," said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette. "I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities."

7. His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In His Last Bow , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary consulting detective Sherlock Holmes reminisces about his life as an investigator alongside his trusty companion Dr. John Watson. This collection features classic mysteries like The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge and The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans , as well as the gripping spy thriller title story set during World War I. An essential addition for fans of the iconic duo's escapades.

His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Books

I find it recorded in my notebook that it was a bleak and windy day towards the end of March in the year 1892. Holmes had received a telegram while we sat at our lunch, and he had scribbled a reply. He made no remark, but the matter remained in his thoughts, for he stood in front of the fire afterwards with a thoughtful face, smoking his pipe, and casting an occasional glance at the message. Suddenly he turned upon me with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“I suppose, Watson, we must look upon you as a man of letters,” said he. “How do you define the word ‘grotesque’?”

“Strange–remarkable,” I suggested.

He shook his head at my definition. “There is surely something more than that,” said he; “some underlying suggestion of the tragic and the terrible. If you cast your mind back to some of those narratives with which you have afflicted a long-suffering public, you will recognize how often the grotesque has deepened into the criminal. Think of that little affair of the red-headed men. That was grotesque enough in the outset, and yet it ended in a desperate attempt at robbery. Or, again, there was that most grotesque affair of the five orange pips, which led straight to a murderous conspiracy. The word puts me on the alert.”

“Have you it there?” I asked.

He read the telegram aloud. “Have just had most incredible and grotesque experience. May I consult you? Scott Eccles, Post Office, Charing Cross.”

“Man or woman?” I asked.

“Oh, man, of course. No woman would ever send a reply-paid telegram. She would have come.”

“Will you see him?”

“My dear Watson, you know how bored I have been since we locked up Colonel Carruthers. My mind is like a racing engine, tearing itself to pieces because it is not connected up with the work for which it was built. Life is commonplace, the papers are sterile; audacity and romance seem to have passed forever from the criminal world. Can you ask me, then, whether I am ready to look into any new problem, however trivial it may prove? But here, unless I am mistaken, is our client.”

Sherlock Holmes' enduring legacy as the quintessential detective continues to inspire and enthrall readers, making these collections a must-read for anyone seeking a thrilling journey into the realms of mystery and deduction.

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Great Illustrated Classics)

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Great Illustrated Classics) Paperback – January 1, 2008

Print length 240 pages
Language English
Publication date January 1, 2008
Dimensions 5.26 x 0.55 x 7.75 inches
ISBN-10 1603400443
ISBN-13 978-1603400442
See all details

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Waldman Publishing Corp. (January 1, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1603400443
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1603400442
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.26 x 0.55 x 7.75 inches
#1,212 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Books)

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Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram from...

Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram from Hell: A World War I Adventure

About the Book

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson cross the Atlantic at the height of World War I in pursuit of a mysterious coded telegram in this new mystery from the author of THE RETURN OF THE PHARAOH.

June, 1916 . With a world war raging on the continent, exhausted John H. Watson, M.D. is operating on the wounded full-time when his labors are interrupted by a knock on his door, revealing Sherlock Holmes, with a black eye, a missing tooth and a cracked rib. The story he has to tell will set in motion a series of world-changing events in the most consequential case of the detective’s career.

Amid rebellion in Ireland and revolution in Russia, Germany has a secret plan to win the war and Sir William Melville of the British Secret Service dispatches the two aging friends to learn what the scheme is before it can be put into effect. In pursuit of a mysterious coded telegram sent from Berlin to an unknown recipient in Mexico, Holmes and Watson must cross the Atlantic, dodge German U-boats and assassination attempts, and evade the intrigues of young J. Edgar Hoover, while enlisting the help of a beautiful, eccentric Washington socialite as they seek to foil the schemes of Holmes’ nemesis, the escaped German spymaster Von Bork.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE TELEGRAM FROM HELL plunges Holmes into a world that eerily resembles our own, where entangling alliances, treaties and human frailty threaten to create another cataclysm.

Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram from Hell: A World War I Adventure by Nicholas Meyer

Publication Date: August 27, 2024
Genres: Fiction , Historical Fiction , Historical Mystery , Mystery
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Mysterious Press
ISBN-10: 1613165331
ISBN-13: 9781613165331

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Edinburgh Fringe reviews: Sherlock Holmes round-up | The Good Iranian | Chris Read + more

Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes and the Man Who Believed in Fairies

C aquila (Venue 21) until 25 August

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Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles

theSpace @ Symposium Hall (Venue 43) until 24 August

Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes

Just the Tonic at the Caves (Venue 88) until 25 August

Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that the statue of Sherlock Holmes has returned to Edinburgh in honour of his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (he’s now by the tram stop on Picardy Place), or possibly it’s just a coincidence, but there seems to be a lot of Sherlock Holmes-related content on this year’s Fringe. Here are three examples, beginning with possibly the most radical reinterpretation of both Holmes’ story and the work of Conan Doyle.

Writer by FR Maher and produced by Welsh company Coed Celyn Productions, Sherlock Holmes and the Man Who Believed in Fairies fuses Holmes’ fictional life with another famous link in Conan Doyle’s life, his promotion of the Cottingley Fairies, apparently supernatural beings photographed by two young Yorkshire girls in the 1910s. Conan Doyle, a credulous sort, wrote of his belief in these beings in the Strand magazine.

Here, Holmes attempts to get revenge on his creator and arch-enemy for nearly killing him off at the Reichenbach Falls by proving the Fairies are a hoax. Harry Meacher and Kenneth McConnell’s takes on Holmes and Watson are crisp and Victorian, and back projections change the scenes effectively, although an old-fashioned staging of an interesting concept is drained somewhat by a talky and overlong deductive conclusion.

Still, at least the play tries something new, unlike Birmingham-based Blue Orange Arts’ one-man production of The Hound of the Baskervilles on Hill Square. Actor Alan Groucott gives a capable and professional storytelling version of the classic tale, yet depth of characterisation and surrounding production values are minimal. An enjoyable one for Holmes enthusiasts, no doubt, but an extremely spartan version of what’s possible even with a no-budget Fringe show.

The comedy hour Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes, on the other hand, shows what’s capable with just three actors (one of them, we discover at the end, is novelist Alice Winn), a chair, a few items of prop clothing and a silly title, in this case Sherlock Holmes and the Illegal Baby Powder. It’s a capable piece of high-wire improvised storytelling, which proves that panicking actors saying amusingly silly things off-the-cuff sounds even funnier with an air of grandiose Victorian formality.

David Pollock

The Good Iranian

Just The Tonic at the Caves (Venue 88)

Given the language of enmity and hatred now often used about Iran in the west, it’s perhaps not surprising that the positive aspects of the country’s astonishingly rich culture and history rarely feature, in 21st century western narratives.

Yet for Iranian Americans like Arsalan Akhavan - now appearing at the Caves in his one-hour solo show The Good Iranian - that limited and one-dimensional view of Iran is not a realistic option; and his show is designed to tell the story of his Iranian American life, since he was born in Atlanta in 1993, while also introducing us to the powerful moral narratives of the great Iranian epic poem the Shahnameh, the story of kings, which emerged around 1000 years ago as the defining epic of Persian language and culture, and helped to save both from oblivion.

Like Scotland’s own epic of good government, The Satire of the Three Estates, the Shahnameh is a humorous and human tale, full of recognisable characters and glimpses of ordinary life, as well as mighty poetry about the glories of good governance, and the horrors that follow when it goes wrong. And while Akhavan’s performance is perhaps not the most polished on the Fringe - after a career in the California tech industry, he still seems a little hesitant in his new role as a London-based theatre-maker - his immense charm, and devotion to the story he tells, holds the show together in convincing style, and does full justice to the sheer cultural richness of the land where his parents were born.

Joyce McMillan

Until 25 August

Chris Read: The Back Line

PBH’s Free Fringe @ Fingers Piano Bar (Venue 221)

Singer/songwriter Chris Read is a Fringe regular as one half of jocular duo Harry and Chris but this year he is trying something different – a whimsical one-man semi-autobiographical musical about 24 hours in the life of a London-based session musician and ukulele tutor. The Back Line is a gentle meditation on the hustle required by freelance artists to keep head above water, largely delivered with script in hand on its third ever performance. Read’s songs also have a conversational quality which keeps the informality flowing and makes for a pleasant easy listening mid-afternoon escape from the Festival hurly burly.

Fiona Shepherd

Until 24 August

Hungry Like the Future

theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9)

Greene Shoots Theatre Company go back to the future for this cheery neon-coloured dystopian drama set in 1984. The Commodore 64 is on its way to becoming the most popular home computer of all time, Pong and Pacman are the last word in techno fun, Buggles, The Pointer Sisters and, of course, Together In Electric Dreams are on the soundtrack and “ordinary boy” Kevin is learning coding and crushing on girls when he finds himself trapped inside a game and, like an 8-bit Wizard of Oz, has to find his way home. A couple of sparky leads keep the production on track; everyone else at least looks good in legwarmers.

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theSpace @ Symposium Hall (Venue 43)

This new play by Bulgarian writer Gabriela Krumova has a neat gimmick: it is genuinely untitled and audiences are invited to suggest one for the chance to win a £200 restaurant voucher. Even so, it’s not enough to recommend braving this loose collection of time-skipping scenes that follows a couple, Elena and Robin, through their life. The cast — most not native English speakers — do well to remember their lines as the show’s structure seems haphazard and resists engagement at every turn. At one point Robin declares “I feel like a bird in a cage!” then follows it up with some ornithological observations but the point proves elusive. Perhaps ‘Unfinished’ would be a more apt title?

Toy Stories, or How Not to Make a Living as an Artist

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

This autobiographical ramble through 20th Century and contemporary political history is like a fevered cheese dream you might have after binge watching nine straight hours of Adam Curtis documentaries. Chris Dobrowolski is an artist who due to limitations of scale works with repurposed toys to create inventive installations. He’s also a popular art lecturer who, you feel, has overreached himself with this only intermittently engaging audio-visual presentation that attempts to link everything everywhere all at once. This would really benefit from more focus and some judicious editing. Dobrowolski does make some interesting connections but this becomes intoxicated with its own cleverness and could stretch the patience of even the most relentlessly curious.

Until 26 August

The Crow, (The Princess), and the Scullery Maid 2

The Space @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)

There are some interesting ideas at play in The Crow, (The Princess), and the Scullery Maid, including a TED talk on the company’s creative approach to the tropes of the fairytale genre. The eponymous characters are introduced one by one, together with the treat of a magic trick or two. Unfortunately, this is not enough to redeem the rudimentary set and performance style. When the crow arrives, it takes the form of a plush toy, and this image comes to inform the final impression of the production itself - which is an act of taxidermy, as opposed to one of transformation.

Josephine Balfour-Oatts

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Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan (Softcover
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Book
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (English
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes eBook by Arthur Conan Doyle

COMMENTS

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collects the first twelve Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in The Strand magazine throughout 1891-1892. The first story in the collection, "A Scandal in Bohemia," is the story that made Holmes and his creator a household ...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand magazine, in which they were first published, and won immense popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including 'The Red-Headed League', 'The Blue Carbuncle', and 'The Speckled Band'.
Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan
This is a book with 12 investigations of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Watson, his trusted companion, is the narrator of each of these stories. He documents each one through his eyes and his experience. When Holmes exits the picture or when certain characters involved in the case leave his field of vision, we jump forward to when he ...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Book Review
My objective is to gather ideas that may have been lost or forgotten, which are embedded in the classics. And one of the aims of The Invisible Mentor is to provide a bridge between ancient and modern wisdom. Although I did not enjoy reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, there are specific stories I enjoyed among ...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
This is the review of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This book tells 12 stories selected by readers and writers in the Sherlock Holmes series. Almost every story is about a murder. I think the most interesting story is "THE SPECKLED BAND". This is about finding out the main character's sister's death.
Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Review. Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson have captivated audiences for generations. This collection of twelve short stories is fantastic. From stolen jewels to mysterious circumstances and brilliant crimes, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes has it all. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is full of mesmerizing deductions and wonderful ...
Book Review
Book Review - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle First published, 1892This edition published, 2020 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ An excellent introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes. This collection of short stories, written from Dr Watson's perspective, show the logical, excitable, slightly-manic but always incisive Holmes as he uncovers various…
Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
My rating: 4 / 5 Genre: Classic mystery. This is the first Sherlock Holmes I've ever read, though like many, I've seen various adaptations. I started with this book of short stories mostly because it was the one I owned. I've never been a huge fan of short stories, though, and while I wish now that I'd started by checking A Study in ...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Holmes investigates the murder of an Australian named Charles McCarthy. He and his son, James, lived on land owned by a wealthy old acquaintance, John Turner. Witnesses say McCarthy and James argued just before McCarthy's body was discovered. Holmes learns McCarthy was trying to arrange a marriage between James and Turner's daughter.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892.It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, which had been published in twelve monthly issues of The Strand Magazine from July 1891 to June 1892. The stories are collected in the same sequence, which is not ...
Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. My Rating: 5/5 TARDISes Series: Sherlock Holmes #1 Date Published: May 1 st, 2012 (first published October 14 th, 1892) Publisher: BBC Books Pages: 324 pages Source: Purchased Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the first collection of short stories Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his ...
Book review: "The adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Arthur Conan Doyle
The "Adventures" is a set of 12 short stories built on top of the same template - someone comes to Holmes, complains of a problem. Holmes listens and usually forms a solution right away. Sometimes, it takes him another day or two of searching around to solve the problem. Even though it's so simplistic, these stories are a lot of fun to read.
Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Posted on July 23, 2014. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a collection of short stories published after the first two novels. All were originally published in magazines. I'm not a great fan of short stories, but it was a nice break to have each case end with the chapter rather than having novel-long plots and ...
Book Review: "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by ...
Sherlock Holmes had already appeared in two novels, but his popularity did not really take off until the brief "adventures" collected in this book began to appear in monthly issues of The Strand Magazine, from 1891 to 1892. And though there are two novels and three volumes of short stories still to come, these 12 mysteries include some of ...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Summary
The Man with the Twisted Lip. Watson, on an errand to rescue an acquaintance from an opium den, runs into Holmes sitting in a disguise. They meet soon after and Holmes requests Watson's assistance in a case. He tells him of a man gone missing or probably dead from the first floor of the opium den, managed by a Lascar.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Paperback - November 24, 2020. by Arthur Conan Doyle (Author) 4.5 7,676 ratings. Part of: Sherlock Holmes (4 books) See all formats and editions. Step into the enigmatic world of 221B Baker Street, where the brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes and his loyal friend, Dr. John Watson, engage in a series of ...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Books of Wonder)
"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is an absolute masterpiece that should be on the bookshelf of every avid reader. This collection of short stories featuring the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusty companion Dr. John Watson is a timeless classic that has captivated audiences for over a century.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his famous detective. Venture back in time to Victorian London to join literature's greatest detective team — the brilliant Sherlock Holmes and his devoted assistant, Dr. Watson — as they investigate a dozen of their best-known cases.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Summary of Key Ideas and Review
The Fascinating Cases. In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle invites us into the intriguing and complex world of detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion, Dr. John Watson. The book begins with "A Scandal in Bohemia," where for the first time we encounter 'the woman' Irene Adler. Holmes, renowned for his deductive ...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and Other Stories
The book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Other Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a high lexile collection of the many mysteries solved by Sherlock Holmes. The book is through the view of John H. Watson, a veteran doctor who served in Afghanistan, as he follows Sherlock through the most complex and vexing cases that even the detectives ...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle is a collection of twelve mystery short stories featuring the iconic British Detective Sherlock Holmes. First published in 1892, these mind boggling mysteries not only wowed readers but also brought fame and fortune to the author. So, read the book summary, book release date, genre, reading age, book quotes, Sherlock Holmes books reading ...
Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a collection of twelve short stories by Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle, is considered a milestone in the genre of detective fiction.With Sherlock Holmes's clever disguises and ability to solve even the most elusive mysteries, as well as Holmes's loyal friend and biographer, Dr. Watson, who narrates most of the stories, Doyle's suspenseful stories ...
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
The book was first published in February 1905 by McClure, Phillips & Co. (New York). then on 7 March 1905 by Georges Newnes, Ltd. (London) [3] It was the first Holmes collection since 1893, when Holmes had "died" in "The Final Problem".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.
Sherlock Holmes Books
Appearing in the Strand magazine between 1891 and 1892, The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are the first stories ever published to feature the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, whose adventures hold an unparalleled and enduring appeal to this day. From mistaken identities and portentous omens to counterfeit currency and jewellery theft, each story unravels an exciting ...
Review: 'Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart'
Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart 2.5 stars (out of 4) By Reginald Candy, based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, directed by Craig Hall.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Great Illustrated Classics)
The Greatest Detective Ever! Sherlock Holmes is the mastermind detective of the ages. So loyal are his fans that even today, thousands of people all over the world belong to clubs and societies devoted to him. Here, in one volume, are three of Sherlock's most celebrated cases-THE RED HEADED LEAGUE, THE COPPER BEECHES, and THE SPECKLED BAND.
Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram from Hell: A World War I Adventure
June, 1916. With a world war raging on the continent, exhausted John H. Watson, M.D. is operating on the wounded full-time when his labors are interrupted by a knock on his door, revealing Sherlock Holmes, with a black eye, a missing tooth and a cracked rib. The story he has to tell will set in motion a series of world-changing events in the most consequential case of the detective's career.
The Valley of Fear
The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle.It is loosely based on the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. [1] The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915. The first book edition was copyrighted in 1914, and it was first published by George H. Doran Company in New York on 27 ...
Edinburgh Fringe reviews: Sherlock Holmes round-up
The comedy hour Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes, on the other hand, shows what's capable with just three actors (one of them, we discover at the end, is novelist Alice Winn), a ...

Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | Book Review | Mystery Short Story Collection

About The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Book Summary:

The twelve stories included in “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” short story collection and their summaries are:

“The Red-Headed League” by Arthur Conan Doyle

“A Case of Identity” by Arthur Conan Doyle