The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone – 4 stars
My review.

The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire - 5 stars
My review.

The Three Garridebs - 3 stars
My review.

The Problem of Thor Bridge - 5 stars
My review.

The last Sherlock book. How sad. It should have ended in The Final Problem five books ago, then again in His Last Bow, so I really can't blame the Victorians if they were still scanning the magazines for another Holmes case after "The Casebook".

Oh dear. A sorry end for our hero. Totally boring in every respect. One of the plots was literally a guy stepping on a jellyfish. And to top it off, deeply misogynistic? They’ve always been a bit that way inclined, but these took it to a new level. Every single woman is described as being unusually beautiful. Strong incel vibes here. An inglorious farewell!
This concludes my Sherlock Holmes adventure. I have read them all. Now to read lots of books by women to atone for my sins.

Some enjoyable stories, more thoughts to come !

And a month later here are those thoughts, now what was it about ?

This read , my first according to GR, but in reality many times that, was for a Buddy read I ran of all the Sir ACD short stories and Novels of the great Sherlock Holmes in the English Mysteries Club group .

This was the penultimate book we read as I took the liberty of slightly changing the reading order to ensure we were all on Dartmoor for Christmas and New Year hunting or hiding from a terrifying dog in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Anyway this book for the English market contained 12 short stories. I think (maybe with the exception of the novel above) Sir ACD is better known and more highly praised for his Holmes short stories than the novels and these are no exception, some of them excellent whilst some are just good.
I suppose the biggest difference with this collection is that not all are narrated by Dr Watson, quite are few are Holmes himself relating the story. Which gives a different complexion to the story telling. I like the fact that at one point Holmes has to grudgingly admit that Watson's telling of his stories are maybe more exciting.

All in all an enjoyable collection and a great lead up to a literary visit with Watson to Dartmoor.

4,25/5

Dobre i przyjemne jak zawsze

This collection of short stories is not the strongest in the series, but it certainly has its moments. Doyle knew this would be the end, and he took a few risks with the storytelling, getting away, in places, from his standard approach. This is the book, more than any of the others, where he really seemed to relax and get creative with the style. Some parts are better than others, but all of them are interesting. This book features some stories narrated from Sherlock’s point of view, and one of those, set during Holmes’ retirement, takes place mostly on the beach. That’s a fun deviation from Sherlock’s usual milieu. Doyle also allowed himself to get a little sentimental here, especially in the story “The Three Garridebs.” I would give the collection 5 stars for this story alone. In this story, Holmes and Watson go off on an adventure, and Watson gets shot. Watson is also narrating the story, and his account of Sherlock’s reaction is golden: “‘You're not hurt, Watson? For God's sake, say that you are not hurt!’ It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.” I can’t imagine that. Sherlock losing control, his lip trembling? And all because he cares for Watson! This is the moment I’d been waiting to see since book one. Absolutely lovely.

3'5 ⭐

Muy floja está colección de aventuras de Sherlock Holmes. Se nota que el autor lo escribió más por obligación que por disfrute.

Solo encuentro 3 relatos remarcables y que me han parecido interesantes: El Vampiro de Sussex, La aventura de los tres Garridebs y La aventura de Shoscombe Old Place.

Los demás son olvidables, y algunos hasta aburrido.

Pero al ser Sherlock Holmes y un personaje que me encanta le subo media estrella

Done with all of em

I am done with all the Sherlock Holmes canon!! Almost can’t believe it! I’m so glad that I finally went on this journey and got to experience this character that I’ve been fascinated with since before I can really remember. Well worth the journey. And I really liked this collection, it was probably the most varied of the collections, and we actually got to see Sherlock narrate a couple of the stories, which I was hoping would happen eventually!

Certainly the weakest set of the original canon, but still a few good pieces. The three garridebs and the retired colourman were particularly interesting.

Well, I've now read the nine books in the Sherlock Holmes canon, and what a ride! After the initial two disappointing novels came three very good short story collections, a great novel, a better-than-average novel and a slightly-better-than-average short story collection. To finish off the series, "The Case-Book" is... well, not that great. On the one hand, Conan Doyle's prose skills have developed considerably from the early days of A Study in Scarlet and his handling of both atmosphere and the Holmes/Watson relationship is rivalled perhaps only by that series peak, The Hound of the Baskervilles. However, there's not really a lot to recommend here. In truth, it's 2 stars for a non-Holmes fan, and 2-and-a-half if you know and love the guy already.

The bad:

One of the most frustrating elements of this book (admittedly a collection of individually-published short stories) are how often similar character tropes pop up. There are three - maybe four - fiery foreign ladies whose ethnicity is a key part of the solution.

The Adventure of the Creeping Man - the biggest letdown in the canon. This story features the single most arresting, chilling images that Holmes and Watson ever encounter, but is ruined by a gobsmackingly bad denouement.

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone - adapted from a play, this story not only relies on previously unheard-of architectural features at Baker Street, but fails to capture the reader's interest or render the characters particularly realistically.

The Illustrious Client - can barely even remember it. Moving on.


The thoroughly average

Intriguingly, many of the stories herein are structured less as 'whodunnits' and more as 'howdunnits'. Very few of the stories (indeed, only really two) feature more than one suspect. Some stories never even attempt to hide the perpetrator, the question is instead "what is going on?". This is not unprecedented in the canon by any means, but is highly concentrated here.

Thor Bridge - while it has a clever denouement and some good characterisation, it is another story that doesn't stick in the mind.

The Three Gables - this story is noted most for the questionable racial stereotype character who opens the piece. Personally, I'd argue he has at least two dimensions, and he is a bad guy who happens to be black rather than any kind of argument being made, but it's still a bit edgy, I'll concede. The story itself is quite readable, but no great secret or particularly intriguing characters jump out at us. (Indeed, the story has mild echoes of other stories in the canon.)

The unsatisfying

The Lion's Mane - one of two stories in this volume to be narrated by Holmes (and not to feature Watson at all), the tone of voice is delightful, and the atmosphere electric. However - as with the much earlier story The Five Orange Pips - it is ultimately unsatisfying. This ISN'T Conan Doyle's fault for once; but as with that story, most modern readers will pick up the solution the minute the clues arrive, as it is no longer something mysterious...

The odd

Perhaps most interesting is to see how public sensibilities changed over the years. The early works could only hint at impropreity, while the crimes in this and the previous collection are far more wide-ranging. Bodies - when they appear, which is actually quite rare here - are often brutally destroyed; people having affairs are clearly now having sexual ones; alcohol is far more prevalent. A window into a world.

The Veiled Lodger is a strange, haunting little piece. It is one of the better stories in the collection, although a bizarre addition. It isn't really a mystery at all, but a retelling of a "cold case", with a dark and brooding central figure who has spent years following Holmes' career. Unsettling, but also un-Holmesian.

The Sussex Vampire - atmospheric and ripe for adaptation, yes. Silly? Even more so. Along with one of our many fiery Latin women, the solution hearkens back to the exotica and melodrama of the early Holmes novels. While the true villain of the piece is deftly handled, the vampirism is a tad overdone.

The ... satisfactory?

One shouldn't assume this book is a 'write-off', it's just that even the four most typical Holmes stories, as outlined below, are somewhat lacking.

Shoscombe Old Place and The Blanched Soldier - have some intriguing set pieces, but aren't particularly memorable (aside from the latter being written by Mr. Sherlock Holmes himself).

The Retired Colourman - the most Holmesian story in the collection, but - as mentioned before - lacks suspects. However, it is also possibly the best story in the collection as it features some lovely secondary characters.

The Three Garridebs - well-plotted but, aside from lacking in suspects, is basically a shot-for-shot remake of an early (and very memorable) Holmes short story.

I apologise for the length, but this sums up both the story and the collection: Conan Doyle had tired of Holmes to an extent, and what we get here are stories that focus on the complexity of how the crime was done, rather than making the surrounding elements - suspects, primarily - a mystery. As a result, we generally get a puzzle followed by a chase. Not always unsatisfying, but never as captivating as the earlier works.

In closing, if you're new to the wonderful world of Holmes, there are many other better ideas. Read The Hound of the Baskervilles and any of the other, earlier short story collections - Adventures, Memoirs or The Return. If you like those, read The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow and (to know how it all began)A Study in Scarlet. If ALL of those suit you, then come crawling to this one. (Don't bother with The Sign of Four as no good can come from that.)

Sehr durchwachsen. Manche Geschichten haben mir gut gefallen, andere gar nicht. Insgesamt konnte ich mich auch nicht so ganz mit der Kürze der Geschichten anfreunden, da baut sich für mich persönlich nicht genug Spannung auf.