The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes #3)

Part 2
Chapters 9-21: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Part 1

Part 3
Chapter 1: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Part 2

A Scandal in Bohemia: Part 2 – Chapter 9 to Chapter 11

5 ⭐

Irene Adler getting one over on Sherlock Holmes. So satisfying!

“He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late.”

The Red-Headed League: Chapter 12

4 ⭐

John Clay was a proper asshole and a punch in the face would have been welcomed. I enjoyed this but listened to it directly after ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ and it’s hard to follow Irene. I found the set up to be very clever though and I can see similarities between it and rather a lot of heist plots over the years since it was published.

A case of identity: Chapter 13

3 ⭐

“And Miss Sutherland?”

“If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, ‘There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.’ There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world.”

So just leave the women to live with monsters? Helpful!!!

*giving Sherlock Holmes side eye*

This is the first time I’m really not loving Holmes!

The Boscombe Valley mystery: Chapter 14

4 ⭐

I liked this. Holmes and Watson take a jaunt outside of London to solve a murder case in which a young man is accused of murdering his father. I liked the little love story intertwined with this and kind of wish it had been longer.

“God help us!” said Holmes after a long silence. “Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter’s words, and say, ‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.’ ”

Holmes being his wonderfully humble self! 😀

The five orange pips: Chapter 15

2 ⭐

Kind of disappointing. This was all set up to be a really interesting and satisfying story but ended so abruptly with little to no conclusion. Given the awfulness of the KKK I was hoping for a really solid outcome where the members were identified and dealt with properly but for all we know they could have got away.

I do like that all the cases aren’t tied up in neat little bows and there needs to be a few ‘can’t get them all’ cases but I’d have liked this one to be more fleshed out and the people involved to have received the punishment they deserved.

The man with the twisted lip: Chapter 16

4 ⭐

Oh that was clever and actually a lot of fun!

The adventure of the blue carbuncle: Chapter 17

4 ⭐

A Christmas tale and a Christmas miracle.

The miracle being Holmes showing his brand of compassion to someone who was an idiot to think it was a good idea to put a precious jewel in a goose.

I’m of the opinion that our thief deserved to be punished, he was after all willing to let another man pay for his crime, but it’s Christmas so we can let this one go! 😀

I would like to point out though that we are told the carbuncle is worth in and around £20,000. For those interested that’s about £7,112,208 in today’s money. I for one think our thief bit off way more than he could chew. As did the goose.

The adventure of the speckled band: Chapter 18

5 ⭐

I really enjoyed this adventure. I loved that we were brought back in time to before John was married and the tale itself was fabulously atmospheric and puzzling. One of the best from this collection I think.

The adventure of the engineer’s thumb: Chapter 19

4 ⭐

Another very atmospheric tale and another that takes us out of London for a time.

It got a bit hairy there for a bit and it was highly entertaining. I could have done without Watson commenting that the thumb was pulled out by the root. *shudders*

I do like the fact that true to real life they don’t always catch the bad guy. Holmes may well always know who they are but that does not guarantee capture.

I’m also beginning to get very curious about this mysterious person or persons who recommend Holmes, or in this case the engineer, to the people involved in various cases. This has been going on now since The Scarlet Letter when Jefferson Hope declined to inform Holmes as to the identity of the old women who came to collect the wedding ring. Are these just characters who Arthur Conan Doyle felt didn’t warranted a name or backstory or are we witnessing the ministrations of a greater villain?

How funny that while I knew they were forgers I automatically thought they were forging notes on their press. Of course given the time it was coins and they were called coiners.

The adventure of the noble bachelor: Chapter 20

4 ⭐

While not being a difficult one to work out I enjoyed this.

I find myself in want of some historical romance after reading it. Primarily a member of the peerage and an American heiress but where it all works out well in the end.

The adventure of the Beryl Coronet: Chapter 21

2 ⭐

Of course I am aware that women in the Victorian era were not looked at as equal citizens and that their treatment was not exactly what I’d deem normal, so my problems with this story, while I think well founded, are a little unfair given the time period. I suppose it is akin to criticizing Doyle on lack of research into various historical inaccuracies long after it’s proven that these things are inaccurate, or you know, the fact that information worked very differently over 100 years ago.

BUT

I am allowed to be annoyed about the treatment of women over 100 years ago and this annoyed me.

In The adventure of the blue carbuncle, Holmes allows our would be thief to get away without being convicted as he decides the man has learned his lesson and won’t do it again. In this he leaves Mary to run off with the man she thinks she loves, but who is a known scoundrel so she will surely be ruined, and his philosophy about the whole thing?

“I think that we may safely say,” returned Holmes, “that she is wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than sufficient punishment.”

This made me cross and while I can absolutely get over a large amount of the comments made about women in the stories, and even giggle at how outrageous they are, this bothered me and I felt for poor Mary. She was absolutely in the wrong and very silly to have done what she did but so was Ryder in The adventure of the blue carbuncle but he got away without being ruined. Mary will most certainly not. I know Holmes never claimed to be a gentleman but I would have thought Watson would have stepped up or even her uncle who claimed to have loved her deeply but apparently not. Very disappointed in all the men in this story.

The adventure of the copper beeches: Part 3 – Chapter 1

5 ⭐

While the story directly before annoyed me in regards to the treatment of a women this one somewhat redeemed things with the cleverness of Violet Hunter.

I really enjoyed this as it was clever and creepy. Like twentieth century lock your relatives in the basement creepy.

This story was a great way to end the collection and I loved seeing a woman who wasn’t deemed weak in Holmes’ eyes.

This collection is book-ended by two formidable women so I don’t think that Arthur Conan Doyle believed women to be inferior and he is probably seen as very liberal in his views of women for that time but I will still allow myself to be a little upset about poor Mary Holder.