Pun Salad

While rooting around the Barnes and Noble bookstore at a University Near Here, I came across an incredibly cheap deal on a two-volume paperback collection of Doyle's complete Sherlock Holmes stories. Irresistible! I hadn't read any since I was a kiddo, long ago; arguably, it's what hooked me on my mystery habit. Might be fun to read again. So…

This one recounts the initial meeting between Holmes and his faithful companion and biographer, Dr. Watson. Soon they're off on their first case together, as a corpse has been found in a crumbling house in a seedy London neighborhood. Holmes is called in by Scotland Yard bumblers Lestrade and Gregson to do his thing; his advice, however, is subsequently ignored, and soon another body turns up…

The (I think) unusual thing about the yarn is that Holmes solves the case about halfway through; the remainder of the story is written to set up the back story for the victims and their murderer. This latter part is mostly set in Utah, Holmes and Watson are absent, and it's kind of rough on the Mormons. Oh well.

So: do the stories hold up? Sure! Arguably, even better now than when I was a kid, since I'm a little more aware of funny British language, history, and culture. (And, since I'm a fan of House, it's interesting to see the parallels between Sherlock and Greg: both prickly, drug-addicted geniuses, skilled at deducing the truth via meticulous observation, vast knowledge, immense egos, and awestruck co-workers.)

Consumer note: The version I'm reading is available from B&N here and here. The type is small, but legible to even my aging eyes. Noted Holmes scholar Kyle Freedman does introductions and notes to the text. You can spend more, or less; free versions are easily found online.