The Adventure of the Dancing Men and Other Sherlock Holmes Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Four superb stories featuring the peerless sleuth and his faithful sidekick, Dr. Watson: "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," "The Adventure of the Dying Detective," "The Musgrave Ritual" and "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans." Wonderful introduction to Holmes corpus; pocket-size treat for any mystery lover.Tags
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I wish I had read these when I was younger but they just didn't cross my path. I am glad they finally have. I liked this one well enough but like the Granada show better
Sherlock Holmes is one smart cookie! I've been a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for 20-30 years! I enjoyed short volume of stories.
Conan Doyle ranked "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" third in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories. This is one of only two Sherlock Holmes short stories where Holmes' client dies after seeking his help. Holmes's solution to the riddle of the dancing men rests on reasoning that closely resembles that of Legrand in Poe's "The Gold Bug." In it, Holmes deciphers the code found in the school in parallel with investigating the real figure of "Monster Dog".
Mar 2, 2025Portuguese (Brazil)
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3,989+ Works 169,287 Members
The most famous fictional detective in the world is Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. However, Doyle was, at best, ambivalent about his immensely successful literary creation and, at worst, resentful that his more "serious" fiction was relatively ignored. Born in Edinburgh, Doyle studied medicine from 1876 to 1881 and received his M.D. in show more 1885. He worked as a military physician in South Africa during the Boer War and was knighted in 1902 for his exceptional service. Doyle was drawn to writing at an early age. Although he attempted to enter private practice in Southsea, Portsmouth, in 1882, he soon turned to writing in his spare time; it eventually became his profession. As a Liberal Unionist, Doyle ran, unsuccessfully, for Parliament in 1903. During his later years, Doyle became an avowed spiritualist. Doyle sold his first story, "The Mystery of the Sasassa Valley," to Chambers' Journal in 1879. When Doyle published the novel, A Study in Scarlet in 1887, Sherlock Holmes was introduced to an avid public. Doyle is reputed to have used one of his medical professors, Dr. Joseph Bell, as a model for Holmes's character. Eventually, Doyle wrote three additional Holmes novels and five collections of Holmes short stories. A brilliant, though somewhat eccentric, detective, Holmes employs scientific methods of observation and deduction to solve the mysteries that he investigates. Although an "amateur" private detective, he is frequently called upon by Scotland Yard for assistance. Holmes's assistant, the faithful Dr. Watson, provides a striking contrast to Holmes's brilliant intellect and, in Doyle's day at least, serves as a character with whom the reader can readily identify. Having tired of Holmes's popularity, Doyle even tried to kill the great detective in "The Final Problem" but was forced by an outraged public to resurrect him in 1903. Although Holmes remained Doyle's most popular literary creation, Doyle wrote prolifically in other genres, including historical adventure, science fiction, and supernatural fiction. Despite Doyle's sometimes careless writing, he was a superb storyteller. His great skill as a popular author lay in his technique of involving readers in his highly entertaining adventures. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Arthur Conan Doyle has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
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