The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (#3)

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

THE SHORT

As with all other Conan Doyle stories, Sherlock Holmes discovers his true medium in the short story, perfect for telling the stories of the world's greatest detective. Conan Doyle concocts several of the world's most famous mysteries in what is possibly his most creative collection of stories, all without using murder as a crime. The plot of each story is logical and convincing, and the solution of the crime is perfectly told and achieved by Holmes without the boring filler that was present in 'A Study in Scarlet' and 'The Sign of Four'. Using the creative database in his mind, Conan Doyle manages to hold our attention, keeping us breathless as he tells of the suspenseful night waiting in 'The Adventure of the Red-Headed League', enthralling us with his storytelling. All in all, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the finest collection of crime stories ever told, except for the few inconsistencies that appear in his stories.

THE REVIEW

A Scandal in Bohemia

In this short story, which made Holmes's name known throughout the world, Holmes manages to prevent an uproar in Bohemia using a most ingenious solution. This story truly displays Conan Doyle's creative thinking, as well setting the tone for the rest of the Sherlock Holmes stories. The plot here is original and truly Victorian London, making this story simply fascinating and demonstrative of Conan Doyle's masterful storytelling.

Rating: 9.9/10

A Case of Identity

In solving the disappearance of a certain Hosmer Angel, it may disappoint some readers that Holmes never got to use the full extent of his deductive powers. While the plot of this story may not be original, Conan Doyle puts a creative twist on it wonderfully, and uses the dynamic duo of Holmes and Watson perfectly in this instance. Not the best Holmes story, it merely falls into the GOOD category.

Rating: 8.5/10

The Adventure of the Red-Headed League

Sherlock Holmes, for the first time, shows his powers in preventing crime on a large scale, as Conan Doyle somehow toes that thin line between letting the readers know too little and letting them know too much. The medium for this mystery is a fantastic idea out of Conan Doyle's head, thoroughly exciting. As I have stated above, the suspenseful wait in the bank is heart-pounding and gives you that sense of adrenaline which no other author has managed to copy.

Rating: 9.4/10

The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Conan Doyle presents a most singular mystery in this story, and while Holmes manages to make his trademark deductions, one can't help but feel that the veil has been too heavily placed on this story, and in the end, it is not Holmes who solves the mystery, but Turner himself has to tell Holmes the story. Nevertheless, the excellent and brilliantly conceived mystery is satisfying.

Rating: 8.1/10

The Five Orange Pips

There is not much of a mystery here, yet Conan Doyle manages to deliver a sinister tale of a deadly organisation and its murderous methods. His diction here is absolutely refined, and the stormy atmosphere adds to the amazing tale that Openshaw has to tell. The only flaw in this story is the lack of the deductions that Holmes usually makes, and its reliance on the fact that the reader is not familiar with the fact that the initials "K.K.K." stands for Ku Klux Klan. The organisation here is reminiscent of Moriarty's network of crime later on, precursor to Holmes's much larger battle with Moriarty.

Rating: 9.8/10

The Man With the Twisted Lip

This story is only remarkable for Neville St. Clair's most ingenious method of disguising himself as a beggar, a plot most familiar as the one used by Agatha Christie in the collection "Poirot Investigates". However, other than that, Conan Doyle does not explain how Holmes arrived at this most startling conclusion, and the readers are left in the dark as to how he achieved this. Perhaps the most mediocre story in this excellent collection.

Rating: 7.6/10

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

A brilliant and simply amazing story, Conan Doyle takes the much cliche-d story of hiding gems in animals and smuggling them and puts it within the context of Holmes. Here, Holmes displays his wonderful mind and dazzles us with his powers. Conan Doyle brought out the character of Holmes perfectly here, as a most clever detective, and yet a forgiving one as well.

Rating: 9.3/10

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Famous in its own right, this story is excellent and beautifully thought out, crafted exceedingly well by Conan Doyle. The mystery here is chilling and absolutely fits Holmes's character. This short story's plot is logical and leads from one to another, fitting of Holmes's want of the logical and the deductive. No wonder Conan Doyle called this his favourite.

Rating: 9.7/10

The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb

Perhaps only the exciting narrative of the hydraulic engineer saves this story from absolute disaster. As it is, there is not much deduction done by Holmes here, the only feature of interest and insight that he brings to this case is the six miles out, six miles out idea to trick the engineer in to thinking he was going 12 miles away. Also there is no actual mystery here, the purpose of the machine only being to mint coins illegally. 

Rating: 6.9/10

The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

An interesting mystery, this singular adventure perhaps repeats the disappearance of the spouse just before/after the wedding from "A Case of Identity". However Holmes makes his characteristic psychological leaps of the mind that so vexes Lestrade. Conan Doyle also puts a twist on the previous mystery, although the introduction of a heretofore unknown previous marriage can annoy some readers.

Rating: 9.2/10

The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

Here again, Conan Doyle concocts a mystery worthy of the great Holmes, but it seems a bit too complex to achieve that perfect balance of mysterious and obvious. Leading the readers on in a direction, Conan Doyle does a sleight of hand and successfully changes the subject of the mystery, undoing the knotty problem with a flick and pleasing us all.

Rating: 9.0/10

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

A most singular series of events keep happening to Miss Violet Hunter, and this is what Sherlock Holmes is perfect for. Perhaps relying too heavily on the narrative of Hunter, Conan Doyle repeats the problem evident in "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb", although on a smaller scale, and the horrifying discoveries of Hunter in the Copper Beeches keeps us on the edge of our seats, not sure of what to expect next.

Rating: 8.9/10

OVERALL

In conclusion, this collection of Sherlock Holmes is the most refined and excellently thought out collection of detective stories ever published. Simply wonderful.

Overall Rating: 8.9/10

Overall Advice: Not to be missed for anything in the world.

I really, really, really enjoyed this book, and I hope that you have enjoyed my review of it as well!

Next week: As I tentatively make my way into romance, I choose the most famous vampire romance story of the 21st century: Twilight. Perhaps not the best example of romance, is Twilight simply a classic of supernatural fiction? Or is it a watered-down version of the best romance has to offer? Find out next week in my review full of blood, vampires, and pale, Albino girls!