A Sherlock Holmes Mystery

It’s Holmes written by his creator, so it’s sublime. But there are surprises, delights and horrors too. The stories here contain an insight into why Sherlock Holmes is the most famous detective in the world, why Watson is a byword for a trusted companion and why 221b Baker Street is one of the most famous addresses in London (and so, by extension, in the world).

(We never discover who lives at 221a Baker Street. Presumably whoever it is must have a forgiving nature and the sort of patience that is normally reserved for the canonised. Not only do they have an insomniac drug-fiend with a predilection for string instruments living above them, but there’s a constant parade of desperate clients, villains, policemen and senior figures in Government using the stairs. Must be hell on the hall carpet. Not only that, but imagine if they shared a letterbox? Holmes’s mail would be four inches deep on the mat every morning while the fellow at 221a would probably get the usual invitations to indulge in double glazing, bills, the occasional post card and, to cap it all, The Strand delivered with stories about that smug bastard upstairs.)

In ‘the case book of Sherlock Holmes’, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle collects some of the best, most intriguing and some of the most macabre of the Sherlock Holmes short stories. There is horror here, not just the horror of the flash of the blade in a London alley, the sheer sides brick wall made sooty from the discharge of a thousand chimneys, the screams of the victim lost in the shroud of a London peculiar, not even the horror of the supernatural, although that is here too. No, the horror that comes across most strongly in these tales is the horror of the strong praying on the weak, the wicked abusing the powerless and, worst of all, the sin that goes uncorrected.

There is classic Holmes here, the very essence of the man so richly embodied in the stories that reading them you can almost smell the strong tobacco, almost hear the wail of the violin. Here is a Holmes to admire, I was so impressed that I am seriously considering purchasing a pipe and some slippers, so that I can store the tobacco for the former in the latter, just as Holmes does. This, I consider is what a fabulously successful bachelor should be doing, lounging around his rooms, entertaining strange men and exotic women and enjoying just as much a solution of cocaine as the solution of a fiendish plot.

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone is, possibly, Holmes distilled to his very essence; relying upon wit, intellect and a nerve so solid you could put up shelves on it. It has everything you could wish for – a dangerous and deliciously foreign villain, Watson in fine supportive mood, Holmes annoying his client and having sport with those who doubt his powers and, naturally, an ending which sees right triumph over the forces of darkness.

While there are evil villains who inflict their cruel will on others or do not mind harming the innocent to get what they want, there are also those in the tales that cause troubled clients to show up at 221b Baker Street who are, themselves, victims of circumstance and where the solution of something that is not quite a crime but is more a predicament that is causing misery to those around them. These cases Holmes dedicates himself to with the same grim determination that he shows when engaged against the very lowest and fiercest of foes.

Loyalty is strongly in evidence here. Occasionally it is misguided, or at least seems so, but it is a precious thing and Holmes is never less than completely understanding of it, even when it is a hindrance to his investigation.

There are also cases alluded to here that, Conan-Doyle well knows, sound even more interesting than the ones that are currently being solved by Holmes and Watson; reference is made to the case of ‘the giant rat of Sumatra’ and the image that that conjures up alone is enough to send one straight to the sherry decanter for a stiffener. ( )

The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes read by Robert Hardy is an audio book containing only 4 of the 12 stories in the collection of the same name. I have the stories but I have also bought a few of these condensed audio book collections simply because I think Robert Hardy is marvellous at bringing Sherlock Holmes to life. I have a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories on audio (Legends of Radio: The Ultimate Sherlock Holems Collection - not written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) from America in the 1940's and '50's narrated by such acting luminaries as Orson Welles, Basil Rathbone and Sir John Gielgud but they don't come close to Robert Hardy. If you get a chance to listen to him reading the Sherlock Holmes stories then grab it I say!

The first story in the audio book collection is The Adventures of The Sussex Vampires. Holmes receives a letter from Robert Ferguson who is convinced that his Peruvian wife is sucking the blood of their child like a vampire as the boy has bite marks in his neck and is ill. Of course it turns out there is quite a different and more rationale explanation to what is happening and I love the way in this story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has Holmes solve the case by looking away from the scene of the supposed crime. As always with Sherlock Holmes stories I try and solve the mystery along with Watson by focusing on what Holmes is looking at and imaging the scene. By having Watson note that Holmes spends most of his time looking out the window Conan Doyle drew me into reading the story to find out why … apparently, as always, it’s elementary.

The second story is The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, a lovely mystery for Holmes with a gentleman, Mr Nathan Garrideb (who is a recluse and never leaves his flat), being spun a web of lies about an inheritance being given to an American, Mr John Garrideb, on the proviso that he finds two other gentlemen with his unusual surname. The american Garrideb insists that Nathan accompanies him to Birmingham where he has found a third Garrideb so he can claim his inheritance. This is a more sedate story, I guessed the intention of the American but not the reason, but then so did Watson so I still didn’t feel smug for outscoring Sherlock. It’s a nice character study though and an interesting look into the Victorian mania of collecting that they seemed obsessed with. As always these stories are ‘of a time’ and Conan Doyle manages to bring that time back to life effortlessly.

The third story, The Adventure of the Three Gables, opens with some beautifully comic accents from Robert Hardy as Steve Dixie, an ex-boxer, threatens Holmes to stay away from Harrow. Mrs Maberley of Harrow has written to Holmes saying she has been offered a sum of money for her house more than it is worth but only if she will sell her house and all of the contents of it, which of course makes her suspicious and her suspicions are compounded by people spying one her. This is more of an action story for our detection duo, Holmes demonstrates that he is not afraid to delve into the seedier side of the underworld and stand up to the criminals. We are reminded here that Holmes, unlike his brother Mycroft, does not just sit in his chair and ‘think out the solution’. It also reminds us that Holmes is a private detective and not encumbered by the law as are the regular police, he is able to break and bend the law sometimes for his own ends to act as judge and jury to the guilty parties. Here he blackmails the criminal hounding Mrs Maberley to get compensation for her.

The last story in this audio collection is The Adventure of the Lion's Mane, more famous perhaps for being narrated by Holmes himself and not Dr Watson. Now retired Holmes is enjoying the quiet life and seclusion of Sussex when the local science teacher is killed in mysterious circumstances. In asking about the teacher, Fitzroy McPherson, it seems there are a number of people with reason to hate and possibly kill him. One possible reason that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had Holmes narrate the story and not Dr Watson is that the solution to finding the killer hinges on matters of medicine. Presumably had Watson seen the red welts on McPherson's back that led to his death he might have been able to deduce himself what had happened. This is perhaps the weaker of the four stories, it misses the interplay between Holmes and Watson and though the solution is ingenious enough it doesn’t seem as realistic or as likely as the others; almost as if Conan Doyle were trying to hard to come up with a story that didn’t have Watson in it, rather than writing a story and simply omitting Watson from it.

These stories are not perhaps as imaginative or well written as Doyle's earlier Holmes stories but there is still plenty of fun as Holmes explains his "elementary deductions" to Watson and if you do get a chance to hear them read by Robert Hardy I would recommend it. ( )

These twelve stories make up the final adventures of Sherlock Holmes. As I understand it, Arthur Conan Doyle eventually got so fed up with the character that he killed him off... and was met with a public outcry. He resurrected his famous sleuth for a few more cases, then let him fade into the woodwork.

I had not previously read any of Doyle's shorter Holmes stories. I'd explored his supernatural fiction, (which I must say, I prefer), and I'd read THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, (which is as good as the supernatural stories), but somehow I'd never quite gotten around to the short stories that made him a household name in the first place. I'm glad I finally made the time.

I must admit, though, I mostly found myself comparing Doyle to Agatha Christie. I've read nearly everything Christie's written, and I can really see how Doyle's work influenced her. Even though I was coming to them for the first time, the structure of these stories was very familiar. Brilliant private detective with a great sense of his own importance? Check. Slightly clueless - but still useful - sidekick, with whom the brilliant detective used to share rooms? Check. Police force eager to take advantage of the brilliant detective's skills? Check.

There are differences, true, but on the whole Poirot and Hastings owe more than a little to Holmes and Watson.

The stories themselves are fun enough. You've got a good mystery of the guess-along type, all dressed up in Doyle's engaging style. They were quite entertaining, and I was frequently pleased with myself for guessing the denouement.

However, I often got the feeling that Doyle's heart wasn't in it anymore. I kept thinking about how he'd killed Holmes off. It seems to me that you don't go and kill a character off unless a) it'll tug at your readers' heartstrings, b) you're sick and tired of writing about him, or c) all of the above. Maybe I was unduly prejudiced by the bits of hearsay and the like that I've picked up on over the years, but this lack of authorial interest, (imagined or not), made it difficult for me to really engage with the stories. They were fun. I had a good time guessing along and thinking about how they fit into the mystery genre as a whole. But none of them really jumped out at me, and I feel all right about passing this along to someone else.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

This is the story of detective,Sherlock Holmes. The client ask him to stop the marriage of client's daughter. Thd reason why her partner is a criminal. Holmes is attacked. A combination of Holmes and his assistant is a highlight. ( )