The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes comprises twelve short stories chronicling the escapades of Sherlock Holmes, as told by Dr John Watson.  Although the scenarios are all very different, each follows the same formula: a client comes to visit Holmes, usually with Watson conveniently there too, in a degree of agitation and bringing news of a seemingly impossible mystery.  Holmes then makes deductions and conducts cursory investigations, usually while leaving the reader and the hapless Watson mostly in the dark, before everything is revealed to work out exactly as he suspects all along.

This is an enjoyable collection of short stories.  Although I appreciate that arrogance and intellectual superiority are an integral part of the character of Sherlock Holmes and one of the main factors contributing to his appeal, I found this much less irritating in the short story format than he can sometimes become in the longer novels.  Because the narratives are shorter, there is no time for quite as much opaqueness and so many meaningful silences; instead, they race entertainingly from knotty problem through speedy investigation to brilliant revelation.  Impressed as I am by Sherlock Holmes after reading this volume, I am far more impressed with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for inventing such a variety of different situations and mysteries for his fictional detective to solve.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Published by Penguin, 2007, pp. 365.  Originally published in serial, 1891-1892.

Title:

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Published: Headline Review, 2006, pp. 146.  Original publication 1890.

Genre: Classic mystery fiction

Blurb: As the seamy streets of London drown in a sea of smog, Sherlock Holmes sinks into a drug-induced stupour.  That is, until Miss Mary Morstan presents him with a most intriguing case.  A terrible death, an unknown benefactor, stolen treasure and a secret pact between criminals stretching back to a mutiny-torn India, lead Holmes into an epic pursuit of the truth.

Where, when and why: I ordered this book from Amazon marketplace as soon as I finished the first one because I enjoyed it so much (in fact, I’ve not even recorded them in a mailbox post, so they’re both very recent purchases).  I picked it up to read because it’s small and light meaning that, unlike my current main read, it’s easy to read on the tube.

What I thought: Although I still liked this book, disappointingly I didn’t find it as enjoyable as A Study in Scarlet.  This was primarily because the mystery seems much more distant from the narrative this time and a lot of the interesting parts happened off-stage.  This story is a prime example of telling rather than showing: the reader sees very little detective work but instead the mystery is revealed in a lengthy, involved and rather irrelevant monologue from the culprit after he has been arrested; apparently all guilty people suddenly feel the urge to confess expansively.  I couldn’t help but feel rather cheated.

I also thought that the characters are not as well presented in this second Sherlock Holmes story.  Holmes disappears for a lot of it and so the reader misses out on his bizarre and erratic character, being left only with the much less interesting Watson.  I thought Watson’s love affair both unbelieveable and unnecessary and the book would have been much better without it.

Nevertheless, there are some wonderful set pieces in this book, notably the chase scenes.  The bloodhound and the police boat which are used at different points in the story to persue the suspected murder may not have the speed of modern equivalents, but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writes tension-filled chases to rival those seen in James Bond films, full of twists and turns, obstacles and disappointments.  It’s parts like these that mean I’m definitely going to continue with the series, but I do hope that it improves.

Whether you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes or not, I definitely wouldn’t recommend buying the edition I read, as throughout the book there are occasional superscript numbers for no apparent reason.  I presumed these  must be footnotes, but on turning to the back of the book I found no corresponding numbers and notes so I assume these must be printing errors.  It doesn’t get in the way exactly but it looks messy and when there are so many different editions of this story available it makes very little sense to buy a copy with mistakes.

Where this book goes: Given the irritation of this particular edition, I’ve decided to switch to the rather attractive Penguin Pocket editions for the rest of the series, three of which I picked up in a charity shop last weekend.  I’ll keep this book around until I manage to find a copy of it in my new preferred edition, but then it will be off to BookMooch.

Tea talk: Once again, this book was read on the train without tea.  I have got some longer reads coming up soon though, so hopefully I’ll have more interesting tea things to report.

Title:

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Published: Headline Review, 2006, pp. 164

Genre: Classic mystery fiction

Blurb: Arriving in the wilderness of London and in need of lodgings, Dr John Watson finds himself living at 221b Baker Street with one Sherlock Holmes.  When a corpse is discovered in a derelict house Watson, fascinated by his brilliant, eccentric companion, is soon drawn into Holmes’ investigations.  There’s no sign of a struggle, no wounds on the body, yet scrawled in blood across the walls is the word RACHE — revenge.  Watson is baffled, but for Holmes the game is afoot…

Where, when and why: In The Thirteenth Tale the doctor prescribes Sherlock Holmes to the narrator as the antidote to reading too much sensational fiction.  Given my own recent reading habits I thought that I might enjoy the change of pace and style found in these stories as much as Margaret did, so I ordered the first one and started reading it as soon as it arrived in the office.  It also just sneaks in before the deadline for my last read for the R.I.P Challenge, qualifying me for Peril the First.

What I thought: Reading this book was a lot like watching an episode of a detective show on television: it was fast-paced, entertaining and I found it impossible to work out what had happened before it was finally revealed.  Specifically, it reminded me of ‘The Mentalist’ because of the way that Sherlock Holmes solved the mystery simply with close observation and knowledge of human nature, rather than with complicated science which always feels a bit like cheating to me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the character of Holmes, treading the precarious line between madness and genius and appearing to stray into the former more often than not.  The story seems to be more about his madcap antics than the process of solving the mystery, as his smug reticence when questioned about what he knows prevents anything being given away, but I found this a clever way of drawing out the suspense in a very short story.  Watson’s staid character and narrative style seem particularly appropriate as a counterpart to Holmes, not least because he seems just as baffled by proceedings as I was.

Readers seem to be divided on the efficacy of the long diversion towards the end of the book which explains the mystery, but I thought that it works and found it to be a welcome change.  The switch from detective story to personal history slows the pace of the narrative down and allows for some interesting development of the character of the murderer.  I liked the fact that the reader is provided with a more in depth explanation for the motives behind the murderer’s actions which changes the reader’s perspective.  I definitely look forward to carrying on with this series.

Where this book goes: As I enjoyed this book it looks as though I may end up starting a Sherlock Holmes collection, so naturally this one stays where it is.

Tea talk: This book was read entirely on the return train journey of the one on which I read Twist of Gold, so once again there was no tea.  I’m slowly working my way through some much longer books though, and there’s plenty of tea talk to accompany those.