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Round the Fire Stories
Originally published in 1908 and out of print for more than half a century, this collection of stories, complete with a Preface by the author, presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at his finest. These are seventeen tales of suspense and adventure, of the mysterious and the fantastic, meant to be read "round the fire" upon a winter's night. Murder, madness, ghosts, unsolved crimes, diabolical traps, and inexplicable disappearances abound in these exciting accounts narrated by doctors, lawyers, genetlemen, teachers, burglars, dilettantes, and convicted criminals. The titles are inviting "The Pot of Caviare," "The Clubfooted Grocer," "The Brazilian Cat," "The Sealed Room," and "There Fiend of the Coopergate" and the stories are riveting. This is a rediscovered classic by a master storyteller."
Contents:
I. The Leather Funnel
II. The Beetle Hunter
III. The Man with the Watches
IV. The Pot of Caviare
V. The Japanned Box
VI. The Black Doctor
VII. Playing with Fire
VIII. The Jews' Breastplate
IX. The Lost Special
X. The Club-Footed Grocer
XI. The Sealed Room
XII. The Brazilian Cat
XIII. The Usher of Lea House School
XIV. The Brown Hand
XV. The Fiend of the Copperage
XVI. Jelland's Voyage
XVII. B. 24
Contents:
I. The Leather Funnel
II. The Beetle Hunter
III. The Man with the Watches
IV. The Pot of Caviare
V. The Japanned Box
VI. The Black Doctor
VII. Playing with Fire
VIII. The Jews' Breastplate
IX. The Lost Special
X. The Club-Footed Grocer
XI. The Sealed Room
XII. The Brazilian Cat
XIII. The Usher of Lea House School
XIV. The Brown Hand
XV. The Fiend of the Copperage
XVI. Jelland's Voyage
XVII. B. 24
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
184 people are currently reading
416 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.8k books24.3k followersSir 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 16, 2022
Hodge Podge.
This book contains a medley of stories. Some are mysteries, some are adventures and some are horror.
The stories are all a mixture of quality. Some of these stories are very good, but others are barely interesting.
Despite this, they were all part of a fast paced reading collection.
Warning, the n-word is used happily. ⚠️
This book contains a medley of stories. Some are mysteries, some are adventures and some are horror.
The stories are all a mixture of quality. Some of these stories are very good, but others are barely interesting.
Despite this, they were all part of a fast paced reading collection.
Warning, the n-word is used happily. ⚠️
May 28, 2025
Light
It's surprising that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is primarily known for his Sherlock Holmes stories. Personally, I find that series rather dull and never cared much for the character. However, nearly all of his other books are absolutely brilliant—masterfully written with compelling storylines, thoroughly enjoyable, and simply a delight to read.
It's surprising that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is primarily known for his Sherlock Holmes stories. Personally, I find that series rather dull and never cared much for the character. However, nearly all of his other books are absolutely brilliant—masterfully written with compelling storylines, thoroughly enjoyable, and simply a delight to read.
November 22, 2019
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: December 22, 2015
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Language: English
ASIN: B018V77KQK
200 pages
This collection was published in 1908 by Smith, Elder Co. in England and by McClure in the United States. All were first published in magazines, most originally or ultimately in "The Strand Magazine." The first edition of this collection shortened and changed some of the story titles from those which originally appeared in magazines. In most cases all that was done was to remove, "The Story of" from the beginning of the titles. Conan Doyle considered the 17 stories in this volume to mostly involve the grotesque and the terrible. The modern reader will generally not agree though there are a few of that description. The remainder are mostly stories of mystery, crime and adventures. Two of the stories, "The Man With the Watches" and "The Lost Special" are considered by some to be Sherlock Holmes adventures even though his name does not appear.
The stories, using the shortened and changed titles:
Preface by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Leather Funnel
The Beetle Hunter
The Man with Watches
The Pot of Caviare
The Japanned Box
The Black Doctor
Playing with Fire
The Jew's Breastplate
The Lost Special
The Club-Footed Grocer
The Sealed Room
The Brazilian Cat
The Usher of Lea House (originally "The Story of the Latin Tutor")
The Brown Hand
The Fiend of the Cooperage
Jelland's Voyage
B. 24
I have reviewed each of these stories separately under their own titles.
Publication date: December 22, 2015
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Language: English
ASIN: B018V77KQK
200 pages
This collection was published in 1908 by Smith, Elder Co. in England and by McClure in the United States. All were first published in magazines, most originally or ultimately in "The Strand Magazine." The first edition of this collection shortened and changed some of the story titles from those which originally appeared in magazines. In most cases all that was done was to remove, "The Story of" from the beginning of the titles. Conan Doyle considered the 17 stories in this volume to mostly involve the grotesque and the terrible. The modern reader will generally not agree though there are a few of that description. The remainder are mostly stories of mystery, crime and adventures. Two of the stories, "The Man With the Watches" and "The Lost Special" are considered by some to be Sherlock Holmes adventures even though his name does not appear.
The stories, using the shortened and changed titles:
Preface by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Leather Funnel
The Beetle Hunter
The Man with Watches
The Pot of Caviare
The Japanned Box
The Black Doctor
Playing with Fire
The Jew's Breastplate
The Lost Special
The Club-Footed Grocer
The Sealed Room
The Brazilian Cat
The Usher of Lea House (originally "The Story of the Latin Tutor")
The Brown Hand
The Fiend of the Cooperage
Jelland's Voyage
B. 24
I have reviewed each of these stories separately under their own titles.
December 23, 2023
"I have myself, in my complex nature, a hunger after all which is bizarre and fantastic." (pg. 6)
A good and endearing collection of short stories from the prolific Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were conceived, Doyle's preface tells us, to be of the sort enjoyed by the reader round a fire on a winter's night. They meet this conception very well; Doyle, a master of popular storytelling who combines pace and flow with an everyman intelligence, provides a mildly exercising yet untaxing collection of crowd-pleasers in the mystery genre. All are between 10 and 15 pages and can be enjoyed individually or binged, ideally in front of a fireplace, in a longer session. A pleasant time will be had by all.
This vibe is enough, and a good thing too, for on closer inspection the stories show themselves to be lesser lights in Doyle's glittering constellation. For all the tantalising mystery and colour of the stories – macabre scenarios, exotic pets, ancient treasures and locked rooms – the solutions are usually benign or cliché – long-lost twins, men in the disguise of women's clothes, etc. It adds a slight tinge of disappointment on each story's end, but never enough to spoil the story, or the wider experience. An anonymous reference to Sherlock Holmes in 'The Lost Special', one of this collection's better stories, reminds us that Doyle's best work lies elsewhere, but Round the Fire Stories provides an uninterrupted sequence of tasty, if frivolous, treats.
A good and endearing collection of short stories from the prolific Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were conceived, Doyle's preface tells us, to be of the sort enjoyed by the reader round a fire on a winter's night. They meet this conception very well; Doyle, a master of popular storytelling who combines pace and flow with an everyman intelligence, provides a mildly exercising yet untaxing collection of crowd-pleasers in the mystery genre. All are between 10 and 15 pages and can be enjoyed individually or binged, ideally in front of a fireplace, in a longer session. A pleasant time will be had by all.
This vibe is enough, and a good thing too, for on closer inspection the stories show themselves to be lesser lights in Doyle's glittering constellation. For all the tantalising mystery and colour of the stories – macabre scenarios, exotic pets, ancient treasures and locked rooms – the solutions are usually benign or cliché – long-lost twins, men in the disguise of women's clothes, etc. It adds a slight tinge of disappointment on each story's end, but never enough to spoil the story, or the wider experience. An anonymous reference to Sherlock Holmes in 'The Lost Special', one of this collection's better stories, reminds us that Doyle's best work lies elsewhere, but Round the Fire Stories provides an uninterrupted sequence of tasty, if frivolous, treats.
April 1, 2019
- first story 'The Leather Funnel' uses a shared dream to revisit the most notorious occasion in French history in which the Extraordinary Question was asked.
- the third story about an unsolved murder on a train, called 'The Man With the Watches', is pretty much a Sherlock Holmes story sans Sherlock. Does this opening narration sound like anyone to you?:
'There are many who will still bear in mind the singular circumstances which, under the heading of the Rugby Mystery, filled many columns of the daily Press in the spring of the year 1892. Coming as it did at a period of exceptional dullness, it attracted perhaps rather more attention than it deserved, but it offered to the public that mixture of the whimsical and the tragic which is most stimulating to the popular imagination.'
'The Black Doctor' is similarly Sherlockian, with an incredible 'murder' and an even more incredible witness at the following trial. 'The Jews Breastplate', about a curious non-robbery in a museum, is also more than halfway towards being a lost case for Holmes.
Yet both of them are as nothing compared to 'The Lost Special', which for all intents and purposes is a Sherlock story. A French diplomat and the private train he hired to missing between Liverpool and Manchester. The police are baffled, but somebody suggests a solution in letter to the Times, 'an amateur reasoner of some celebrity at that date.' Not enough to convince you that this is Holmes? Here is the paragraph quoted from the letter:
“It is one of the elementary principles of practical reasoning,” he remarked, “that when the impossible has been eliminated the residuum, however improbable, must contain the truth.
What's so great about Conan Doyle is how he provides you with a few intriguing details, draws the most out of them without embellishment, then ties them all together into a completely plausible explanation. Only 'Playing With Fire' and 'The Brown Hand', an out and out ghost story, deviate from this winning formula.
'Playing With Fire' is a unicorn seance story. Really. For sheer malicious glee you won't read many better stories than 'The Brazilian Cat', in which a sponging relative is introduced to his rich cousin's pet puma.
- the third story about an unsolved murder on a train, called 'The Man With the Watches', is pretty much a Sherlock Holmes story sans Sherlock. Does this opening narration sound like anyone to you?:
'There are many who will still bear in mind the singular circumstances which, under the heading of the Rugby Mystery, filled many columns of the daily Press in the spring of the year 1892. Coming as it did at a period of exceptional dullness, it attracted perhaps rather more attention than it deserved, but it offered to the public that mixture of the whimsical and the tragic which is most stimulating to the popular imagination.'
'The Black Doctor' is similarly Sherlockian, with an incredible 'murder' and an even more incredible witness at the following trial. 'The Jews Breastplate', about a curious non-robbery in a museum, is also more than halfway towards being a lost case for Holmes.
Yet both of them are as nothing compared to 'The Lost Special', which for all intents and purposes is a Sherlock story. A French diplomat and the private train he hired to missing between Liverpool and Manchester. The police are baffled, but somebody suggests a solution in letter to the Times, 'an amateur reasoner of some celebrity at that date.' Not enough to convince you that this is Holmes? Here is the paragraph quoted from the letter:
“It is one of the elementary principles of practical reasoning,” he remarked, “that when the impossible has been eliminated the residuum, however improbable, must contain the truth.
What's so great about Conan Doyle is how he provides you with a few intriguing details, draws the most out of them without embellishment, then ties them all together into a completely plausible explanation. Only 'Playing With Fire' and 'The Brown Hand', an out and out ghost story, deviate from this winning formula.
'Playing With Fire' is a unicorn seance story. Really. For sheer malicious glee you won't read many better stories than 'The Brazilian Cat', in which a sponging relative is introduced to his rich cousin's pet puma.
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December 23, 2024Here’s a revelation (or epiphany, you choose): the bloke who created Sherlock Holmes knows how to write a good yarn. Even if you can see the twist coming from a mile off because these stories are more than a century old and other authors have pilfered from Doyle, he still holds your attention; he keeps you turning the pages.
Round the Fire collects 17 stories. All of them start with an inexplicable occurrence—How did the passengers on a train vanish without a trace? What’s the secret of the locked chest a ship’s crew discovered? What’s the deal with the rich relative who owns a Brazillian cat?—that’s gradually explained throughout the story. Sometimes—though not as often as I anticipated—the explanation is supernatural in provenance. But the answer is mostly more grounded in the real, albeit convoluted (“The Lost Special” is a perfect example, as is the unfortunately named “The Black Doctor.”).
I was entertained by most of the stories. I especially loved the one with the Brazillian cat. But my favourite was “The Pot of Caviare”, which takes place during the Boxer Rebellion in China. A scattered group of Europeans take shelter against an advancing battalion of Boxers. Expecting reinforcements to save them, one of the Europeans recounts the time he was nearly poisoned in Russia. Yes, the ending is foreshadowed, but it’s an ending that’s so grisly and dark that a part of me didn’t expect Conan Doyle to go there. He most definitely does.
My copy of Round The Fire also has the awkwardly named “The Jew’s Breastplate”. Like “The Lost Special”, it’s one of the more convoluted stories, involving the titular breastplate (worn by the High Priest… not just an ordinary “Jew”) and an attempt to steal the gem-stones (which form the Urim and Thummin) that adorn the breastplate. Any story that dives, even if it’s just a pinkie toe, into Jewish mythology is something I’m gonna love. All the moreso here because I’ve always been fascinated by the U&T, shooting out rays of light to project God’s word.
Well played, Conan Doyle. You’ve got potential!
Round the Fire collects 17 stories. All of them start with an inexplicable occurrence—How did the passengers on a train vanish without a trace? What’s the secret of the locked chest a ship’s crew discovered? What’s the deal with the rich relative who owns a Brazillian cat?—that’s gradually explained throughout the story. Sometimes—though not as often as I anticipated—the explanation is supernatural in provenance. But the answer is mostly more grounded in the real, albeit convoluted (“The Lost Special” is a perfect example, as is the unfortunately named “The Black Doctor.”).
I was entertained by most of the stories. I especially loved the one with the Brazillian cat. But my favourite was “The Pot of Caviare”, which takes place during the Boxer Rebellion in China. A scattered group of Europeans take shelter against an advancing battalion of Boxers. Expecting reinforcements to save them, one of the Europeans recounts the time he was nearly poisoned in Russia. Yes, the ending is foreshadowed, but it’s an ending that’s so grisly and dark that a part of me didn’t expect Conan Doyle to go there. He most definitely does.
My copy of Round The Fire also has the awkwardly named “The Jew’s Breastplate”. Like “The Lost Special”, it’s one of the more convoluted stories, involving the titular breastplate (worn by the High Priest… not just an ordinary “Jew”) and an attempt to steal the gem-stones (which form the Urim and Thummin) that adorn the breastplate. Any story that dives, even if it’s just a pinkie toe, into Jewish mythology is something I’m gonna love. All the moreso here because I’ve always been fascinated by the U&T, shooting out rays of light to project God’s word.
Well played, Conan Doyle. You’ve got potential!
October 2, 2023
4.22⭐
This is a collection of seventeen short stories. As Conan Doyle wrote in his preface, this volume includes stories concerned with the grotesque and with the terrible.
Frontispiece by André Castaigne
I. The Leather Funnel 4.25⭐
II. The Beetle Hunter 4⭐
III. The Man with the Watches 4.25⭐
IV. The Pot of Caviare 5⭐
V. The Japanned Box 3.25⭐
VI. The Black Doctor 3.5⭐
VII. Playing with Fire 3.5⭐
VIII. The Jews' Breastplate 3.25⭐
IX. The Lost Special 4.25⭐
X. The Club-Footed Grocer 4⭐
XI. The Sealed Room 4⭐
XII. The Brazilian Cat 4.25⭐
XIII. The Usher of Lea House School 4⭐
XIV. The Brown Hand 4⭐
XV. The Fiend of the Copperage 4⭐
XVI. Jelland's Voyage 4⭐
XVII. B. 24 4.25⭐
This is a collection of seventeen short stories. As Conan Doyle wrote in his preface, this volume includes stories concerned with the grotesque and with the terrible.
Frontispiece by André Castaigne
I. The Leather Funnel 4.25⭐
II. The Beetle Hunter 4⭐
III. The Man with the Watches 4.25⭐
IV. The Pot of Caviare 5⭐
V. The Japanned Box 3.25⭐
VI. The Black Doctor 3.5⭐
VII. Playing with Fire 3.5⭐
VIII. The Jews' Breastplate 3.25⭐
IX. The Lost Special 4.25⭐
X. The Club-Footed Grocer 4⭐
XI. The Sealed Room 4⭐
XII. The Brazilian Cat 4.25⭐
XIII. The Usher of Lea House School 4⭐
XIV. The Brown Hand 4⭐
XV. The Fiend of the Copperage 4⭐
XVI. Jelland's Voyage 4⭐
XVII. B. 24 4.25⭐
August 5, 2023
Free Early Bird Book | Nothing exciting, but only a couple that I had previously read in other short story collections, which was nice. The expected, common for the time, bigotry, worst toward the end.
Want to read
November 24, 2020EBookDeals
October 29, 2016
Some stories were a bit of a stretch, but a great collection on the whole. All are horror stories, but quite a number aren't supernatural horror. It's a good thing to mix it in, just to remind us that sometimes the real monsters aren't made of smoke and mist!
October 17, 2022
These short stories all feature some horrific circumstance or frightening apparition. There are terrifying nightmares, murder, ghosts, seances, dangerous exotic animals, and stolen jewels. Each story gradually leads into more and more suspicious circumstances until the hero of the tale is finally confronted with the full effect of their horrific situation.
These are exactly the kind of creepy stories that I enjoy! They are not too scary to give you nightmares, but just thrilling enough to give you a pleasant chill in your bones as you read. Some of the stories are not scary at all, but only tragic or mysterious. There is no Sherlock Holmes in these stories to ingeniously solve the wild crimes, so they are usually solved by the timely confession of a criminal on his death bed.
I love Doyle's writing style! With just a few words, he paints a picture of the creepy atmosphere, and plunges you into the adventure.
These stories are the perfect thing to read in October!
These are exactly the kind of creepy stories that I enjoy! They are not too scary to give you nightmares, but just thrilling enough to give you a pleasant chill in your bones as you read. Some of the stories are not scary at all, but only tragic or mysterious. There is no Sherlock Holmes in these stories to ingeniously solve the wild crimes, so they are usually solved by the timely confession of a criminal on his death bed.
I love Doyle's writing style! With just a few words, he paints a picture of the creepy atmosphere, and plunges you into the adventure.
These stories are the perfect thing to read in October!
April 16, 2024
Impressive collection of short horror stories, mystery and murder tales
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had an admirable talent as a creator of chilling tales which had a surprise ending. I always esteemed him for his Sherlock Holmes masterpieces. What a pleasure to discover him also as the master of horror short stories, delving into perverse human psychology, plotting twists and turns in settings such as British manor houses of the 1890's, despicable boarding school hellholes, desolate moors, colonial era outposts and deep Africa. My favorite is the first story concerning a drinking funnel used in water torture that carries psychic impressions of the crime. Very readable stories even in modern times. I read this book on my Amazon Kindle Fire HD 10 tablet.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had an admirable talent as a creator of chilling tales which had a surprise ending. I always esteemed him for his Sherlock Holmes masterpieces. What a pleasure to discover him also as the master of horror short stories, delving into perverse human psychology, plotting twists and turns in settings such as British manor houses of the 1890's, despicable boarding school hellholes, desolate moors, colonial era outposts and deep Africa. My favorite is the first story concerning a drinking funnel used in water torture that carries psychic impressions of the crime. Very readable stories even in modern times. I read this book on my Amazon Kindle Fire HD 10 tablet.
January 25, 2019
My first time reading anything by Doyle besides Sherlock Holmes. This is a collection of short stories. Not half bad, though as a rule, I prefer a more straight forward ending to the stories. A couple of them reminded me of some Holmes adventures. One had to do with a boys school, and one a big fancy manor house and an interesting wife. The stories were totally different but certainly shared a few characteristics. Makes me wonder if other stories did too and I missed the connection. If you read Holmes then these are worthwhile if only because it is something else Doyle wrote.
December 15, 2023
As many other reviewers before me have pointed out, this title is a mixed bag. Some of the stories are really good (I personally found "The Brazilian Cat" to be a genuinely terrifying tale!), while others were tolerable at best. Some felt like Sherlock Holmes stories (sans Sherlock) while others felt like something akin to Algernon Blackwood, which made me very happy.
Overall, not the best Doyle I've read, but good enough and I'm glad I read it.
Overall, not the best Doyle I've read, but good enough and I'm glad I read it.
June 19, 2024
17 short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle That make it clear why he is almost exclusively known for his Sherlock Holmes stories. Of the stories, the most interesting are the mysteries that could have been Holmesian but didn't use the name. The story of the burglar stealing medals from an English manor is also very good. However, several of these tales are completely boring. I left the book a couple of times to read other things. The book is worth the read for the good stories but don't expect The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
April 13, 2025
The book was just alright, nothing special to talk about. The stories have a cozy, mysterious vibe which is enjoyable at first, but they become repetitive and a bit boring after a while since most of the stories in this book follow a similar pattern. I couldn’t help but feel that something important was missing. It was Sherlock Holmes himself! Imagine a Sherlock Holmes story without Sherlock Holmes. Like one of those stories where Watson was trying to solve the mystery on his own. That's how it felt.
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March 1, 2024Book #: 16
Title: Round the Fire Stories
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Series: na
Format: 217 pages, Kindle Edition, own
Pub Date: First published January 1, 1908
Started: 1/25/24 Ended: 2/19/24
Awards: none
Categories:
PS16 A book set 24 years before you were born; PS25 A book that was published 24 years ago; GR9 A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads (223); GR12 A book that has been on your TBR for over a year; GR24 A book with a secondary color on the cover [orange, green or purple] (orange); GR45 A book that is not a novel; CCLS22 A Book of Short Stories; CCLS34 A Book More Than 100 Years Old; CCLS42 A Book with more than 200 Pages; CCLS47 A Book You Own but have Never Read; A Classic; A Book with Earth, Air, Fire or Water on the Cover;
Rating: **** four out of five stars
This was a $0.99 e-book purchase. I bought it because I recognized the name, the author of Sherlock Holmes. It's an interesting look at life over 100 years ago. Some of the stories could not be published today due to modern concepts of the bad guy getting away with the crime or a story with insufficient conflict. I found the stories fascinating because of, rather than in spite of, that.
Title: Round the Fire Stories
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Series: na
Format: 217 pages, Kindle Edition, own
Pub Date: First published January 1, 1908
Started: 1/25/24 Ended: 2/19/24
Awards: none
Categories:
PS16 A book set 24 years before you were born; PS25 A book that was published 24 years ago; GR9 A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads (223); GR12 A book that has been on your TBR for over a year; GR24 A book with a secondary color on the cover [orange, green or purple] (orange); GR45 A book that is not a novel; CCLS22 A Book of Short Stories; CCLS34 A Book More Than 100 Years Old; CCLS42 A Book with more than 200 Pages; CCLS47 A Book You Own but have Never Read; A Classic; A Book with Earth, Air, Fire or Water on the Cover;
Rating: **** four out of five stars
This was a $0.99 e-book purchase. I bought it because I recognized the name, the author of Sherlock Holmes. It's an interesting look at life over 100 years ago. Some of the stories could not be published today due to modern concepts of the bad guy getting away with the crime or a story with insufficient conflict. I found the stories fascinating because of, rather than in spite of, that.
April 24, 2020
Suspenseful and mysterious short stories, often with delightful twists at the end.
Pros: clever, that wry Conan Doyle (or just late Victorian?) tone. Cons: that late Victorian / Edwardian racism; women are almost never interesting.
Pros: clever, that wry Conan Doyle (or just late Victorian?) tone. Cons: that late Victorian / Edwardian racism; women are almost never interesting.
January 5, 2025
(school read) je pensais honnêtement avoir un très bon niveau d’anglais avant de lire les 3 premières pages de ce livre… j’ai du lire en français BREF. Certaines histoires sont cool mais c’est tellement long et trop compliqué à comprendre ?? je suis contente d’avoir fini je m’en cache pas
1,5/5 ⭐️
1,5/5 ⭐️
March 10, 2018
2.5 stars. These stories were not his best work. The endings were often very anticlimactic.
February 25, 2020
Some are better than other stories, but overall enjoyable. Listened to this on Librivox.
July 11, 2020
Some pretty dark and grim stories. Aptly named collection.
January 19, 2022
A fun read. Has the flavor of Sherlock Homes; but provide side of Doyle. Round the fire is the perfect place to read these stories.
September 21, 2022
A fun selection of stories
April 5, 2023
Outstanding
Intriguing stories and compelling dialogue in true Arthur Conan Doyle style. Every tale was extraordinary. I highly recommend this book to fans of Sherlock Holmes.
Intriguing stories and compelling dialogue in true Arthur Conan Doyle style. Every tale was extraordinary. I highly recommend this book to fans of Sherlock Holmes.
May 30, 2023
Of course some are better than others but one is especially good.
May 5, 2024
Fantastic stories. I didn’t know he had written this till I found this at a book sale. It was almost as exciting finding a sequel to Sherlock.
November 3, 2024
Interesting collection of stories that Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle wrote. Most could be classified as horror tales.
February 3, 2025
found some of these stories better than others. By the end of the book they felt quite formulaic. However, some of the writing is brilliant and very creepy. Also an interesting portrait of the day
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews