This is the last collection of Holmes stories before Sir Arthur's death, when he was churning them out for money. Try as he might to kill him off, Holmes dogged him to the last. I found this interesting to read knowing that Sir Arthur absolutely despised Holmes by this time in his career, and also, somehow I missed this collection! So it was a delight to read new-to-me Holmes tales... and yet...

These stories are short and snappy. Also, Doyle experiments with tales told by Sherlock himself, and the third person, which is an interesting departure! On the down side, this collection is, well, weak. Dated. A couple "solutions" are transparent from the beginning. The racism is shocking. The cloak of anachronism is slipping off of the misogyny. Doyle's frustration seems to be finding vent in some very dark and vengeful stories and resolutions. Therefore, not a completely enjoyable escape. I found I couldn't avoid being aware of all the problems, despite the well-oiled story-telling format and form; all the characters reappearing like familiar old friends.

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #9), Arthur Conan Doyle

In this, the final collection of Sherlock Holmes adventures, the intrepid detective and his faithful companion Dr Watson examine and solve twelve cases that puzzle clients, baffle the police and provide readers with the thrill of the chase.

These mysteries - involving an illustrious client and a Sussex vampire; the problems of Thor Bridge and of the Lions Mane; a creeping man and the three-gabled house - all test the bravery of Dr Watson and the brilliant mind of Mr Sherlock Homes, the greatest detective we have ever known.

‏‫‭The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes, by A. Conan Doyle. ‏‫‭Harmondsworth, Middlesex‏‫‭: Penguin Books‏‫‭, 1955 ‏‫‭= 1334. 254p

The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
The Adventure of the Three Gables
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
The Problem of Thor Bridge
The Adventure of the Creeping Man
The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane
The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
The Adventure of the Retired Colourman

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و پنجم ماه می سال2011میلادی

عنوان: ماجراهای شرلوک هولمز؛ نویسنده: آرتور کانن دوبل؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده20م

Three Gables با عنوان «رمان واقعی»، مترجم حبیب الله لزگی؛ قاصدک، سال1394؛ در16 ص؛
Three Garridebs با عنوان «سه مرد با یک نام» از همان مترجم و انتشاراتی
Creeping Man با عنوان «مرد خزنده»؛ از همان مترجم و انتشاراتی
Veiled Lodger با عنوان زنی با صورت پنهان؛
Retired Colourman با عنوان رنگ کار بازنشسته ؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 29/03/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 13/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

الريفيو لاحقا...لحين الانتهاء من الكحك و الترمس...و الكسل

بعد فاصل طوييل من الكسل ....
قررت انه يكفي قراءة و الان موعد كتابة عدة ريفيوهات متاخرة ...

مجموعة ممتازة من قصص شيرلوك هولمز لم اقرؤها من قبل ....
كنت احتفظ بها ك تحلية ل ليالي رمضان
و انهيتها فى ايام العيد ....

قصص معتادة ل شيرلوك هولمز ....الغاز يحلها بعد زيارة لو زيارتين ل موقع الجريمة ....
الغاز يحلها بالتليفون
او يرسل د واتسون ليكون عينه فى موقع الجريمة يقابل العميل يستمع منه يسجل ملاحظته هو " د واتسون" و يكمل فرغات المعلومات شيرلوك من عنده ب البرقيات و التليفونات و البحث فى السجلات و الكتب

اتمني لو كان سجل د ارثر كونان دويل معلوماته و تقنيات علم الاستنتاج "الاستدلال" التى يستعملها على لسان بطله شيرلوك هولمز
اتمني لو كان سجلها فى كتاب عن التفكير و الاستنتاج ..كتاب لا رواية
كان سيصبح كتاب مدهش و خاصة ب اسلوب ارثر كونان دويل الممتع

الكتاب القادم :  الفتاة التي أنجبت أمها

❤

Poslednja antologija avantura slavnog detektiva, vredna pažnje i pohvala.
I sa ovim naslovom, ispunila sam svoju misiju da pročitam sva dela o Šerloku Holmsu

I'm glad he went for one more round. I liked all of these better than the ones in His Last Bow.

Because I’m lazy, I’m copying and pasting all my mini-reviews for this book instead of writing a comprehensive review. I will hopefully put up a review of The Complete Sherlock Holmes HERE sometime soon.

– – –

December 18, 2018 –

88.0% ““The Adventure of the Illustrious Client” — Holmes is hired by an anonymous client (who is probably the King) to prevent the marriage of a dear friend’s daughter to a notorious man who is widely believed to have murdered his last wife, among many other transgressions. I liked this one quite a lot, great mystery, Watson has a lot to do, great villain. — 4.5/5 stars”

December 19, 2018 –

89.0% ““The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier” — Another one of the few narrated by Holmes himself, and this one was written because Watson goaded Holmes to “Try it yourself!” because of excessive criticism of Watson’s methods. Holmes doesn’t do much, but it has a happy ending, and is suitably creepy in places. — 4/5 stars”

December 20, 2018 –

90.0% ““The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone” — One of only two Holmes stories told in the third person, to hide a trick. It was okay, but I missed Watson’s voice. Holmes does get extra tricksy here, though, so that’s fun. — 3.5/5 stars”

December 20, 2018 –

91.0% ““The Adventure of the Three Gables” — The mystery here was okay, although I think Holmes was too easy on the perpetrator there at the end. But this one really has not aged well. It’s pretty racist. — 3/5 stars”

December 20, 2018 –

92.0% ““The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire” — This one was wacky and I was thoroughly enjoying it, until I figured out what was going on, that is. I’m so used to not being able to do that, it was a little disappointing when I did. But seriously: wacky. — 4/5 stars”

December 23, 2018 –

93.0% ““The Adventure of the Three Garridebs” — I was really digging this until I realized that Conan Doyle had already used this same plot structure in two other stories (he used it in “The Red-Headed League” and “The Stockbroker’s Clerk”). Still, this was my favorite of those three. Holmes and Watson have a sweet moment at the end. Friendship <3 — 4/5 stars”

December 25, 2018 –

95.0% ““The Problem of Thor Bridge” — Pretty good one. The Victorian conception of foreign women is messed up, though. Especially where Central and South America were concerned. This isn’t really new information though, and it’s the third or fourth of these stories to feature a woman of “foreign temperament”. — 3.5/5 stars”

December 26, 2018 –

96.0% ““The Adventure of the Creeping Man” — This was fun to read but it was ultimately ridiculous, the ending unsatisfying. It’s basically sci-fi, and not the realism we normally associate with Holmes stories. It was probably written about the time ACD started believing in fairies. Still, it’s got some great lines (“Come at once if convenient — if inconvenient come all the same. S. H.”) — 3/5 stars”

December 26, 2018 –

97.0% ““The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane” — The final of three stories narrated by Holmes instead of Watson, and this one post-retirement! A man drops dead right in front of Holmes, so of course he has to investigate. The beginning and end were good, but the middle lacked the magic. — 3.5/5 stars”



December 27, 2018 –

98.0% ““The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger” — Holmes and Watson don’t really do anything but listen to a story, but it’s an interesting one at least. — 3.5/5 stars"

December 27, 2018 –

99.0% ““The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place” — Holmes and Watson investigate a man who has been doing very odd and out of character things. Good, but not great. — 3.5/5 stars”

December 27, 2018 –

100.0% ““The Adventure of the Retired Colourman” — A nice one to end on. Holmes doing actual detection, getting Watson mixed up in it unbeknownst to him. Trickery. — 4/5 stars

– – –

And with that, I’m officially done with The Complete Sherlock Holmes. I feel accomplished.

It makes me a little sad to have not finished my reread of the Sherlock Holmes series. I found myself not enjoying it somewhere around the halfway mark, and then I completely bailed on The Valley of Fear and The Casebook. I simply can't recreate the magic of reading it when I was 12, and that is ok. I still love Holmes and Watson and the novelty of the earlier short stories. These latter stories feature a lot of rehashed plots, and as a reader I am getting as tired of it as Doyle was. Probably will rewatch some Jeremy Brett TV episodes instead. ;)

This was truly a bittersweet moment completing the ninth book in the Sherlock Holmes and final collection in the canon, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. This essentially was the case-book examining twelve mysteries that baffled the police and investigators over the years in stories that were published between 1921 and d1927.

These stories included: The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone; The Problem of Thor Bridge; The Adventure of the Creeping Man; The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire; The Adventure of the Three Garridebs; The Adventure of the Illustrious Client; The Adventure of the Three Gables; The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier; The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane; The Adventure of the Retired Colourman; The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger; and The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place. But I will finish the collection of works in the parting words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:

n  

And so, reader, farewell to Sherlock Holmes! I thank you for your past constancy, and can but hope that some return has been made in the shape of that distraction from the worries of life and stimulating change of thought which can only be found in the fairy kingdom of romance.
———- ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

n

I'm so sad

This last collection is an odd mixture: a few stories that are very good and a couple not at all (one was originally a play that itself seems to have been based on an earlier tale); a story in which Sherlock does nothing much but listen; two narrated by Sherlock himself (as one might imagine, he is not the storyteller Watson is, though his second tale is much better than his first, perhaps owing to relaxation in his retirement). As to Watson, age and experience become him; and his warning to one who has tried to steal his notes is priceless.

Marring my enjoyment of a few of these stories were some racist elements, though it’s true those may be considered thoughts belonging to the characters and not to Doyle himself, who seems to have been a fairly progressive thinker for his time. It was also odd to have two stories in which Englishmen have married Latin American women said to have “tropical” natures, due to their country of origin. One of them is described that way several times and by more than one character. I was born, raised and live in a subtropical climate: I guess I have a subtropical (whatever that might be) nature.

For the first time (that I am aware of), Doyle includes a short author’s preface, which was delightful. So I end my Sherlockian journey with a phrase from the preface which perhaps explains why I undertook the journey in the first place (um, that, and the Cumberbatch TV series, that is):

And so, reader, farewell to Sherlock Holmes! I thank you for your past constancy, and can but hope that some return has been made in the shape of that distraction from the worries of life and stimulating change of thought which can only be found in the fairy kingdom of romance.

By the time Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the dozen stories that make up "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes," from 1921 to 1927, he had clearly tired of the character. He had already tried to kill off the sleuth once, after all, and was forced by fans to bring him back. By the '20s, he obviously wasn't putting the same effort into the tales he once had, and turned to entertaining himself, seemingly, by experimenting with the Sherlock Holmes format.

While the bulk of the Holmes canon is told from Watson's point of view, one in "Case-Book" is told in third person, and two others are narrated by Holmes himself. The former, "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone," is jarring to read, particularly when Watson leaves the scene for the first time. The latter two, "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" and "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane," are not quite as disorienting, with Holmes speaking directly to us, the readers, in much the same way he usually addresses Watson.

"Case-Book" also contains one truly bad story, "The Adventure of the Creeping Man," and one that's almost a rewrite of an earlier, far superior Holmes story: the plot of "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" is almost identical to that of "The Red-Headed League," from 1891.

Most of the book's other stories, though, are more enjoyable, while still paling in comparison to Doyle's earlier work. Even with a couple elements unpleasant to modern readers -- Holmes' condescending treatment of a black man, and a debt-ridden baronet said to be "in the hands of the Jews" -- it's hard to completely dislike even the least of the Sherlock Holmes books.

L'avventura del cliente illustre: 2*
L'avventura del soldato sbiancato: 3.5*
L'avventura del diamante giallo: 2.5*
L'avventura dei Three Gables: 3.5*
L'avventura del vampiro del Sussex: 5*
L'avventura dei tre Garrideb: 4.5*
L'enigma di Thor Bridge: 4*
L'avventura dell'uomo che camminava a quattro zampe: 4*
L'avventura della Criniera di Leone: 5*
L'avventura dell'inquilina velata: 3*
L'avventura di Shoscombe Old Place: 2*
L'avventura della portabandiera in pensione: 3.5*
TOT. 42.5:12 = 3.5*