The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

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A collection of short stories originally published in 1891-2 in the Strand Magazine. Easy to read, once you get accustomed to all the funny Victorian language. Lessons learned:

  • Be careful about accepting jobs that seem too good to be true ("The Red-Headed League", "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches", "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb");

  • It's best to be wary if you're in line for an inheritance ("The Adventure of the Speckled Band", "Copper Beeches", again);

  • Getting married is problematic ("The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor", "A Case of Identity", "A Scandal in Bohemia");

  • If Scotland Yard detectives have settled on a suspect, it's somebody else ("The Boscombe Valley Mystery", "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet");

  • Despite Victorian England having a straitlaced reputation, they were pretty much OK with now-illicit drugs. ("The Man with the Twisted Lip", although Holmes himself stays off the coke here);

  • Do not mess with Irene Adler ("A Scandal in Bohemia") or the Klan ("The Five Orange Pips").


Last Modified 2024-01-30 3:54 PM EDT