Review: The Five Orange Pips + The Man with the Twisted Lip

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Classics, Mystery 

The Five Ornage Pips:                                           A tale of mystery, scandal and murder that may have been committed by the Ku Klux Klan in London. Who else but Sherlock Holmes can solve these series of deaths?

The Man with the Twisted Lip:                     Holmes discovers Dr. Watson in the black shadows of a smoke-filled opium den in the basement of the very house where Holmes is investigating his latest murder case! But of course the good doctor is only there to hunt down the drug-addicted husband of his wife's dear, but distraught, friend. Sound confusing? For all but The Great Detective, it probably is. And we haven't even talked about the murder yet!

You can read my reviews of other Sherlock Holmes stories here. 

I found The Five Orange Pips fairly predictable and classic for Sherlock Holmes stories - weird sign, death threat by terrorist organization, family member of threatened party contacts good old SH. However I think there were two points of interest for this particular story - the first being some beautiful writing. The vocabulary and the flow of the sentences were enchanting in my opinion. The second was the not-neatly-tied-up-ending which I've found is not usual for these stories. I'll say no more there. 

The Man with the Twisted Lip was overall much more to my fancy. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that in BBC's Sherlock (one of my true loves) they do an almost perfectly loyal adaptation of this story's opening scene. So obviously, I was hooked right off the bat. Truthfully, even if I hadn't seen Sherlock's version I think this chapter in The Adventures of SH is great - it starts off with a bang and a funny surprise, and has some great quotes of Watson deciding to throw in in his lot with that of the detectives'. Also, the end was altogether surprising and amusing, and exactly what you'd look for in a short story. Loved it! 

“...I could not wish anything better than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular adventures which were the normal condition of his existence." 

Happy reading!
Love,
Esty