เชอร์ลอค โฮม ชุดเรื่องยาว จัตวาลักษณ์ หุบเขาแห่งภัย

by Arthur Conan Doyle, อ. สายสุวรรณ (Translator)

"The Sign of the Four" is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's follow-up to his immensely successful "A Study in Scarlet", where we first meet one of the most famous literary detectives of all time, Sherlock Holmes. "The Sign of the Four" is the mystery surrounding the disappearance Miss Mary Morstan's father. Every year on the anniversary of Miss Morstan's father's disappearance, Mary receives an anonymous gift of a priceless pearl. Miss Morstan solicits the help of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson to unravel the identity and motive of her anonymous benefactor.


In "The Valley of Fear," a coded warning sends Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to a country retreat, where they follow a perplexing trail of clues to unmask a murderer — and to break the stranglehold of a terrorist cult. In this, the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, Doyle is at his storytelling best.

Genres: Classics, Mystery, Fiction

720 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[H. Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both of these stories are good but I also found large parts of them very disturbing.

[mariana ୨ৎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, but not my favorite, and I certainly define The valley of the Fear as the least interesting work by Arthur Conan Doyle.
I think the whole plot it's a little slow, with no chapters that are somewhat fascinating. I have completely sure this book isn't my favorite.

[Mapleleaf · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Sign of four by Arthur Conan Doyle is his second published story. Here we discover that Holmes turns to cocaine when mentally unchallenged. During one of these sessions, a new client Miss Morstan seeks his help to solve her father's disappearance several years ago. The only clue is called an Agra plan that she saved among his things at a hotel - the last place he was staying and where she was to meet him after decades apart. To add to the mystery, Morstan received a pearl each year for the last few years. Would Holmes detective method of deduction solve this case? (To the reader: what follows is for my future reference. Should you continue reading, the ending may be revealed and spoil your reading pleasure.) Holmes somehow connected with the son of the Major who worked with Morstan's father. This son led him to clues about a peg-legged man who would fail at evading them through a high-speed river chase. Once caught, he explained that he sought to claim the missing treasure away from Morstan and the Major's son. He believes that the treasure was wrongfully stolen by the Major, Morstan's father and two others. The joke is on all of them though as the treasure itself was thrown into the river, leaving only the beautiful case. All is not lost though as this story is when Watson finds his true love in Miss Morstan who agrees to marry him.
This book found its way to my hands through the generosity of my friend who is an avid reader and author. Understanding that Sherlock Holmes has quite a following, I reluctantly read the first two (A Study in Scarlet, too) to see if I, too, may be a fan. Unfortunately, no, but glad to have tried his writing. Recommended for mystery sleuths.

[Natalie Fagan-Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

🚂 The Valley of Fear: Sherlock’s Peak Snark Meets a Wild West Detour
Reading The Valley of Fear is like ordering a classic English afternoon tea only to have your waiter halfway through replace your scones with a plate of gritty, coal-dusted American justice. It’s the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, and it finds our favorite high-functioning sociopath at his most delightfully insufferable, dropping hints about Professor Moriarty like he’s teasing a season finale cliffhanger.
The first half is a pitch-perfect "locked-room" mystery at Birlstone Manor, featuring a moat, a missing dumbbell, and Watson being the world’s most patient assistant while Sherlock performs intellectual gymnastics. But then, Doyle pulls a legendary "hold my beer" move and transports us to the Pinkerton-style underworld of a Pennsylvania coal mine for a massive flashback. While the sudden genre shift into a gritty, proto-Hardboiled thriller might give you whiplash, the wit lies in how theatrical these 19th-century secret societies are—everyone loves a good code word and a dramatic reveal.
Yet, beneath the clever deductions and the "Scowrers" drama, there is an earnest, brooding sense of doom. It’s a story about how the past is a ghost that eventually finds you, no matter how many moats you put between yourself and your mistakes. It’s funny, it’s jarringly cinematic, and it’s a brilliant reminder that Sherlock Holmes is at his best when he’s matched by a villain who is just as smart (and twice as petty) as he is.

[Joseph Fountain · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of The Valley of Fear

My review of The Sign of the Four

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the Sign of Four but i did not care for the Valley of Feat. Even though I did not care for the Valley of Fear it was still really well written.