This is a collection of the first dozen Holmes short stories, containing stories that were first published in the Strand Magazine in 1891 and 1892. The first two novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, had previously appeared in 1887 and 1890, respectively.
This collection begins with the only appearance of one of the
series most notable characters, Irene Adler, in "A Scandal in Bohemia."
As time has passed and as the Holmes legend has been continued by authors
beyond Doyle, she has become an iconic character. If these stories were written
in the modern era, I imagine Doyle himself would have brought her back into later
stories himself.
It is interesting to note that Holmes is not always
successful in the stories in this collection. I will pay attention to see if
this trend continues as the legend of Holmes grows throughout Doyle's writing
of the character. The great detective loses
to Irene Adler, for example. At the beginning of The Five Orange Pips,
Watson reveals that not all of Holmes' cases end in success -- in that case
specifically, Holmes' version of justice is stolen by an act of God on the high
seas. This story deals with the Ku Klux Klan, in a way that is reminiscent of how
Doyle used the mysterious Mormons as a way into the story in The Sign of
Four.
Some of these stories have all of the action taking place in
the drawing room, the consulting detective truly doing his work with only his
mind. I appreciate this element of Holmes, but am glad that not every story is
of this variety, as I tend to enjoy the "on location" stories more. Another
interesting point is how Doyle seems stumped by how to deal with Watson's
marriage. He continually has to invent reasons for the men to come together to
tackle a case. In a trick that Doyle will later come to rely on ever more, he
presents a few of these stories as having occurred earlier in Holmes' career,
one even before he had met Watson.
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| Ummm, spoiler alert? |
There are many stories in this collection that have become
classics, and have been revisited often in the many adaptations of Doyle's
work. This category of story include "The Speckled Band," the
solution of which is revealed on the cover of one version of the printed book --
perhaps the concept of "spoilers" was not a concern at this point in
publishing. "The Copper Beeches" and "The Adventure of
the Red-Headed League" are also among the memorable stories contained in
this volume.
I have read every one of the stories at least once, probably
twice, and some many more times than that. But certain of the stories had
completely fled my mind, and I found it delightful to read the strange "The
Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb," the mysterious "The Adventure of
the Noble Bachelor" and the bizarre "A Case of Identity" without
knowing where the stories were going. This was a pleasant experience for me,
and I hope that as I progress with the Holmes canon I run across more of these
stories that are "new again" to me.
source: public library.
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