Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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| via Wikipedia |
Despite his best efforts to kill or retire Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was repeatedly convinced to write more about the great detective. In this collection of short stories (the eighth book of nine), Doyle wrote his wish to be rid of Holmes directly into the title of the last entry. While "His Last Bow" would ultimately be the final adventure within the fictional timeline, it didn't end up being the character's last bow at all in the real world.
All of the tales collected in this volume are solid. I'd pick "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" as my favorite as it includes the return of Mycroft, Sherlock's brother. The final story itself is fun, one of the rare Holmes narratives written from third-person perspective. A fun literary treat: in "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box," Holmes makes a direct reference to "one of Poe's sketches."
One more book to go.
I really need to read some of Doyle's work. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! I hope you'll check them out.
DeleteSounds interesting. I know Sherlock Holmes- and have read spinoffs- but have never read one of Doyle's original stories. Thanks for the reminder to get reading. :)
ReplyDeleteHolmes is sort of like Hamlet. He's everywhere if you're looking for him. I'm glad to know the originals.
DeleteOne of the most interesting things to me about Holmes is the huge life some of the side characters have taken outside of the stories, including Moriarty. It's rather amazing.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! As I've written before, Moriarty is my favorite Star Trek: TNG villain. However, he's not my favorite Holmes foil...
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