ed lip. We learn from this story that Holmes is a expert horseman. There are some problems with the story in that Doyle seems to have forgotten Watson's name and has his wife calling him , James. Nevertheless it's a captivating story with Doyle sneaking in some of his socialist politics. 9/10The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - A jewel is stolen from a countesses hotel room. In this story we discover that Holmes believes the size of a person's head indicates intelligence. He calls a mugging - a whimsical little incident. It's an okay tale but hardly amongst the best. 6/10
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor - A newly married bride disappears at her wedding breakfast - what foul deeds are afoot? There is much propaganda, particularly about the Anglo/American relationship, in the story that detracts from the real story. 5/10
The Adv
enture of the Speckled Band- The pure locked room mystery - why did a woman die of fright in a locked room. It is excellently paced and the conclusion does come as a surprise. Not for nothing is this one of the best known stories.10/10The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb - An engineer loses his thumb while escaping from an evil counterfeiters ring. Poor after the brilliance of The Speckled Band. 4/10
1 comment:
It's always interesting to see how people rate the tales differently. The top 2 Holmes tales are generally considered to be 'The Speckled Band' and 'The Red-Headed League.'
Opinions are more mixed about 'The Man with the Twisted Lip,' although it's clearly in the top tier. I conducted a poll for the leading Holmes magazine (The Baker Street Journal) some years ago. You can see the list of the best Sherlock Holmes stories as determined by these experts, plus results from other polls since 1944. Women felt the best story was 'A Scandal in Bohemia' and picked a few stories not chosen by men.
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