The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Five Orange Pips starts on a stormy night with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in their old home together. They receive a visit from an unexpected guest in deep trouble with the K.K.K. John Openshaw recalls his father’s and uncle’s deaths after receiving letters with five orange pips and three letter K’s written in them. Sherlock Holmes advises John Openshaw about his next move, but it is too late. The newspapers declare that John Openshaw was in an accident that same night. Sherlock Holmes figures out this gang’s identity who makes these murders look like accidents to the news reporters. In the end, Sherlock Holmes sends a little message of his own to ensure they keep looking over their shoulder for a long time, if not for the rest of their lives. Instilling that fear in them is somewhat justice for Sherlock Holmes because of what they did to his client. The Man with the Twisted Lip has a repetitive theme of wives looking for their husbands in areas where they shouldn’t be. Dr. Watson searches for his friend and patient, Isa Whitney, as a request from his concerned, emotional wife, Kate Whitney. He uncovers an intoxicated Isa Whitney in an opium den and sends him home. But, in the process, Dr. Watson finds another surprising friend in disguise, Sherlock Holmes, on the scent of another case. A distressed Mr. Neville St Clair was spotted by Mrs. St Clair in a building on Swanson Lane days before. When she sent the police in, they only found her husband’s clothes, the toys he bought for their children, and a twisted-lipped, grim-covered beggar named Hugh Boone. Sherlock Holmes’s job is to solve the mystery of the seemingly murdered Mr. St Clair. What connection does Mr. St Clair have with this beggar, Huge Boone? Did he cause this man’s death? These questions can only be answered by reading this short story. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle takes place two days after Christmas. Dr. Watson wishes Sherlock Holmes seasons greetings only to find him engaged in another mystery. After being in a scuffle, a man named Mr. Henry Baker dropped his goose and hat, ending in him breaking a window and running from the constable. The constable discovers that this deceased goose lays a crystalized egg, specifically the blue carbuncle that was stolen from the Countess of Morcar. The plumber, John Horner, was arrested for the crime, yet there is more to this case than meets the eye. Sherlock Holmes discovers the perpetrator but lets him go for the season of forgiveness. The Adventure of the Specked Band begins with Dr. Watson recalling an old case with Helen Stoner waking Sherlock Holmes and himself up early for an intriguing mystery. Helen describes the peculiar death of her sister, Julia. Helen’s story interests Sherlock Holmes with the metallic bang, the whistling, and Julia’s dying words of a speckled band. Her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, is an ill-tempered, violent man known for keeping exotic animals around the house. He is not pleased to have Sherlock Holmes on the case. He may house more mysteries in his manor. Does he or the gypsies living on the land have anything to do with this mystery? Read more to find out.

Although he also wrote several novels featuring the world's greatest fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it was especially in his short stories that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle perfected the Holmes formula. And of the five collections of Holmes short stories (about a dozen in each collection), "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (published in 1892) was the first and is easily the most popular and best of the five. It contains all except one of the five all-time most popular short stories in the Sherlock Holmes canon (A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red-headed League, The Blue Carbuncle, and The Speckled Band), as well as some other gems like The Five Orange Pips. For newcomers to Holmes, this there is no better place to start than with the dozen stories that comprise "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". And for long-time fans, these are old favorites worth reading again and again. Here's a list of the stories in this collection (with the better stories marked with stars): ***A Scandal in Bohemia, 1891 - The very first and one of the top five Sherlock Holmes short stories. After some brilliant detective work involving disguises and acting, Holmes is outwitted by the woman Irene Adler in his quest to help the hereditary king of Bohemia regain a scandalous photograph from her. ***The Red-headed League, 1891 - Generally regarded as all-time second best Sherlock Holmes story, this bizarre tale features a pawnbroker who is paid money to join the mysterious Red-Headed League and copy out Encyclopedia Britannica, as part of an ingenious scheme to rob a bank. A Case of Identity, 1891 - Holmes solves the mystery of Mary Sutherland's fiance who disappears on the morning of his wedding, unmasking it as scheme hatched by her greedy step-father. The Boscombe Valley Mystery, 1891 - Charles McCarthy's son seems the obvious murderer of his father after a violent quarrel, so it is up to Holmes to show that the murder has its real roots in the Australian past of the dead man and his landlord. **The Five Orange Pips, 1891 - One of Doyle's personal favorites, this tale recounts the death of two men, both preceded by the arrival of five mysterious orange pips. In one of his few failures, Holmes connects the events to the Ku Klux Klan, but not soon enough to prevent another death. *The Man with the Twisted Lip, 1891 - A baffling mystery about Mr. Neville St. Clair who disappears from a room into thin air, and a professional beggar who is the suspected murderer. ***The Blue Carbuncle, 1892 - Another favorite all-time top 5 Holmes story, as Holmes unravels how a blue diamond ended up inside the goose intended for Mr. Henry Baker's Christmas dinner. ***The Speckled Band, 1892 - Universally regarded as the most popular short story in the Sherlock Holmes canon, and easily one of the more suspenseful and chilling. The engaged Helen Stoner is terrified when she hears the same strange whistling that preceded the death of her twin sister in a locked bedroom shortly before her wed

Did you know that Holmes never, ever said "Elementary, my dear Watson" in any of the sixty stories Arthur Conan Doyle wrote? The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were initially published in "The Strand" magazine as a series of 24 short stories. These stories saw publication between 1891 and 1893. When they were published in book form, the first twelve were published as "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and the last twelve were called "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes." Today, when we speak of the original "Adventures," we usually refer to the first twelve Holmes short stories. These twelve stories include some of the best of Holmes: "The Speckled Band," "The Red Headed League," "A Scandal in Bohemia." Doyle continued his Holmes saga with other collections of short stories: "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," "Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes," "His Last Bow," and finally "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes." Almost every Holmes short story bears the title "The Adventure of . . ." One of my favorite Holmes stories is "The Problem of Thor Bridge." Not only is it a very good yarn, it is a "Problem" and not an "Adventure!" Although Conan Doyle ran out of Holmes stories, the public did not run out of its appetite for new Holmes stories, and production of pastiches continues to this day.To me, the most satisfying way to relive the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, both original and pastiche adventures, is through the medium of audiotaped radio plays. There are at least four collections of adventures currently available. "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," a publication of BBC shows starring Clive Merrison, reprises the original twelve adventures. This is probably the best radio collection of adventures. National Public Radio has published four "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" consisting of four one hour productions starring various actors as Holmes. The quality is uneven. "Smithsonian Historical Performances: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" has twelve stories, four of which are original. Edith Meiser wrote the pastiches, and John Stanley starred as a rather disagreeable Holmes. Some stories are very good; others are woeful. Simon and Schuster publishes a series of six "New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." Each collection has eight Holmes stories. Of the pastiches, these are the best. Nigel Bruce stars as a loveable, bumbling Watson, and Basil Rathbone portrays the archetypical Holmes. Anthony Boucher and Dennis Green wrote the scripts and did a very good job. Holmesaholics will also want to listen to "More New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," published by the Brilliance Corporation, and starring Tom Conway as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. These stories are on the whole better than the Smithsonian Historical Performances, but not as good as the Rathbone/Bruce "New Adventures." They also have the drawback of being published as individual cassettes. The avid collector can run to some expense getting all of these.Holmes survived Conan D

Are you ready to accompany the greatest detective in history on some of his most memorable adventures? Then this book is for you! Each of these stories are wonderfully put together, each with a more exciting and unexpected outcome. I have read them time and again, and am always newly surprised at Holmes's genius and reasoning abilities.Are you still hesitant on whether or not to read "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes?" Well, I personally am not much of a mystery fan. In fact, some of my favorite books are "Watership Down," "The Hobbit," "A Wrinkle in Time" series, and "The Lost Years of Merlin" books. I also know that mystery books are either awful, by. But Sherlock Holmes and his cases have set the highest of standards for mysteries, which very few others have even come close to surpassing.Through this great collection, I have come to greatly admire both Holmes's and Doyle's brilliance over and over again. No matter what genre you enjoy reading, this is a book for you!