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
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Classics, Mystery
A Case of Identity:
Miss Mary Sutherland, angry and beside herself with feelings of loss, asks Sherlock Holmes to solve the sudden, mysterious disappearance of a shy and attentive man she has grown to love upon the very day they were to be married.
The Boscombe Valley Mystery:
Lestrade summons Holmes to a community in Herefordshire, where a local land owner has been murdered outdoors. The deceased's estranged son is strongly implicated. Holmes quickly determines that a mysterious third man may be responsible for the crime, unraveling a thread involving a secret criminal past, thwarted love, and blackmail.
You can read my reviews on the other Sherlock Holmes stories here.
In A Case of Identity, I got the point as quickly as Mr. Holmes himself. In one of the Sherlock episodes they do an adaptation of this one (very quick) and it's really similar.
The Boscombe Valley Mystery was my favored of the two, because I liked that they traveled, and that there was a little bit of Mary in the beginning. Also, this story was complex- there is strong, substantial evidence pointing to a certain culprit, and yet the legendary detective comes up with ridiculous and complicated and absolutely brilliant deduction that explains all the findings with a completely different outcome. It was terrifically enjoyable, and a lot of build-up. I guessed the guilty party of this one, too, but I had no idea how he'd prove it so it was a definite page-turner.
Rating:
Happy reading!
Esty
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Classics, Mystery
A Scandal in Bohemia:
Holmes is hired by the King of Bohemia to recover blackmail evidence, held by the woman whom the king once promised to marry, but who he abandoned for a woman of noble birth.
The Redheaded League:
Holmes is engaged upon two seemingly unrelated cases, a daring bank robbery and the disappearance of a pawnbroker's assistant. Using minute details of the small mystery, he is able to solve the larger one.
Although it is EXTREMELY difficult for me to choose, my favorite episode of BBC's Sherlock is A Scandal in Belgravia. Therefore, I was looking forward to reading the story it was based on very, very much.
Indeed, it was my favorite Holmes story thus far. However, I don't think that means much as I've only read four(:
Unlike the SH novels I had read before (A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four), these stories are part of the The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collection, and are MUCH shorter and faster-paced. Naturally, this means they were funner to read.
In Scandal, it was really enjoyable to see Holmes upstaged by a common woman. Irene Adler was new, ridiculously intriguing and of course, as smart as Sherlock himself(; However, she is not a main a character and as totally badass as she is on the TV show, which was admittedly a bit of a let-down.
The Red-Headed League had such an amusing premise that I was smiling right off the bat, and I had NO IDEA where the story was going. HOW THE HECK Conan Doyle came up with these crazy mysteries is beyond me.
I had a lot of fun reading these. They were quick and easy, and I highly recommend them! Rating:
Happy weekend! What are you reading?
Esty
The Sherlock Holmes Novels
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Classics
Apparently, these stories are so famous they were denied a blurb from Goodreads(;
So last summer I fell totally, absolutely, and irrevocably in love with BBC's Sherlock (and um, Benedict Cumberbatch), to the point where I now know all 9 episodes by heart. Various members of my family, after being horrified that a huge reader like me has fallen in love with a tv show having never read the iconic stories, started buying me copies.
I now have 3 collections, one of them full (all 54 on kindle!).
I came at A Study in Scarlet with minimal expectations. I was right to do so.
As a reader, I'm more a people person than a plot person (hence, why I love Cassie Clare's Shadowhunter books. No one could possibly attribute literary genius to them but BEST. CHARACTERS. EVER). Anyway, as opposed to the tv show that explores Sherlock's character development and his relationship with the rest of the crew, the original stories are truly all about the mystery. My favorite bits are when Watson marvels at Holmes, but those are few and far between.
Another thing that was difficult for me to get into were the background chapters towards the end of each novella. In both A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, there are a good few chapters devoted to the murderer's history with the murderee. This SOUNDS fascinating but in both cases was slow, long-winded, and most annoyingly, NOT ABOUT WATSON AND HOLMES.
Also, these stories were written over 120 years ago. THEY ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND. A lot of times after the big reveal my response was like, 'WHAT are you talking about??'
YET SOMEHOW, I really enjoyed them! And I never really like short stories! It's truly bizarre. There is something intriguing about them - maybe because each story is new, so you never know what to expect. That is almost a guaranteed way of making me read all of them.
Rating:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 
