Sherlock Holmes

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

{ The G Washington Edition | 1932 | Doubleday | 190 pgs }

Our ward recently had a brunch & swap, which they apparently do every spring. On Friday evening everyone brings their unwanted items (donations, if you will), and the next morning, pastries and fruits are served, and you get to take whatever items you want. Since I was part of the setting-up committee, I got to have first pick. And I found this nice old hardcover Sherlock Holmes book. You can see another copy of the same edition here. I was able to find out that it contains most, but not all, of the stories published in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.

Believe it or not, this was the first Sherlock Holmes book – or even story – I’d ever read. Isn’t that crazy? I found it extremely enjoyable, although I confess that it seemed, to me, like a very grown-up version of the Encyclopedia Brown stories. (I hope I don’t end up in literary hell for saying that.) I’m not sure that I’d be up for a Sherlock Holmes novel, as I thought the short story was the perfect medium for these mysteries.

I did guess the answer to one mystery (“The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier”), but probably only because it was the most obvious. Most of the others had such far-fetched endings that I suppose only a real detective could ever solve them!