The Norwood Builder

The Return of Sherlock Holmes #2

by Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Page (Adaptor), Susan Scott (Illustrator)

'For me, Watson, life is not so interesting,' says Holmes. 'I loved to read the newspaper, hoping to find some news of an interesting crime for me to investigate or a dangerous criminal for me to catch. Where are all those clever criminals these days?'

Then, suddenly, a wild, excited young man runs up the stairs to Holmes' room. He has a story to tell about a strange crime that took place in Norwood. But who is the criminal? And is he dangerous? Life, for Holmes, suddenly starts to get interesting.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime, Detective

60 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

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

[Aishu Rehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Adventure of the Norwood Builder is the archetypal story of where the obvious should not always be taken at face value.

The case of the Norwood Builder starts in the familiar way, with Holmes and Watson in their rooms at 221B Baker Street. This familiar opening though, raises some questions, as whilst Watson has sold his doctor’s practice for a good sum of money and moved back in with Holmes, there is the issue of what has happened to Mary his wife? She is said to have passed away, but when this occurred or from what cause is never elaborated upon.

The familiar nature of The Adventure of the Norwood Builder though continues when Inspector Lestrade quickly appears on the case; and once again Holmes is needed to steer Scotland Yard in the right direction

The Adventure of the Norwood Builder also helps to develop the relationship between Holmes and Lestrade. Lestrade is triumphant when he believes that he has bested Holmes, but in the end it is Holmes who has to make sure that Lestrade doesn’t make a fool of himself. There is rivalry between the pair but also friendship. Holmes, of course, allows Lestrade to take all the glory for the successful conclusion of the case.

Granada TV would make faithful adaptation of The Adventure of the Norwood Builder for television; and in September 1985, Jeremy Brett would star as Holmes in this adaptation.

[Helga · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
And once again our genius Sherlock Holmes saves an innocent man from hanging in this twisty and mysterious short story.

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. Enjoyable. Not one of the classic Holmes short stories like 'A Scandal in Bohemia' or 'The Final Problem' but, as some might say, a darn good one. We find things not going well for Holmes. At one point he updates Watson with, 'There's my report of a failure.' He's close to admitting to Inspector Lestrade that their client, a young lawyer named John McFarlane, might be guilty after all. The previous evening, a middle-aged bachelor named Jonas Oldacre of Lower Norwood in suburban London, he was in the construction trade, had met with McFarlane in Oldacre's home, been assaulted and then, presumably, burnt to a crisp on a large wood pile out back. The blaze behind his house first attracted the fire brigade - only to be followed by the constabulary when signs of violence were found in Oldacre's bedroom and he couldn't be located. Did I mention that previously the same day, Oldacre had met with McFarlane in his legal office in central London to make out a will leaving his estate to McFarlane? There was a distant family history. Can you imagine the smugness of Lestrade at the prospect of finally besting Holmes? Are you getting ahead of yourself? (Ja2023/Aug2025)

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. This is such a fun story! It’s so amusing to see Holmes complaining once again of how bored he is and then be plunged into a problem. As usual, the deductions and work were fascinating, and I loved Holmes’ interactions with Lestrade. (I say that every time but it’s truly a reason I love the stories so much!!) The plot was intriguing and the characters remarkable—the villain being truly a despicable person, although the victim isn’t very prepossessing.

Content: smoking; “heavens” x2.

A Favourite Quote: “But he had not that supreme gift of the artist, the knowledge of when to stop.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “How many constables have you[, Lestrade]?”
“There are three within call.”
“Excellent!” said Holmes. “May I ask if they are all large, able-bodied men with powerful voices?”
“I have no doubt they are, though I fail to see what their voices have to do with it.”
“Perhaps I can help you to see that and one or two other things as well,” said Holmes. “Kindly summon your men, and I will try.”

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este relato me gustó bastante porque realmente demuestra que Sherlock Holmes también puede verse acorralado en ciertos casos que son un poco más oscuros o que tienen criminales algo más inteligentes.

También me pareció interesante que al final se demuestra que ningún criminal es tan astuto como para poder engañar a Sherlock Holmes.

[Diamond Cowboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great murder adventure of that unmatchable consulting detective MR. Sherlock Holmes. Holmes manages to solve the crime way befor the local police and leaves them flat footed. It was rather humorous.

[Rob Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The following from A Scandal in Bohemia summarises the story:

It is a capital mistake to theorize in advance of the facts. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are visited by "the unhappy John Hector McFarlane", a young lawyer from Blackheath who has been accused of murdering one of his clients, a builder called Jonas Oldacre. McFarlane explains to Holmes that Oldacre had come to his office only a day earlier and asked him to draw up his will in legal language. McFarlane saw, to his surprise, that Oldacre was making him the sole beneficiary and even heir to a considerable bequest, and McFarlane cannot imagine why Oldacre would do so. That business took McFarlane to Oldacre's house in Lower Norwood, where some documents had to be examined for legal purposes. They had been kept in the safe, where the murder allegedly took place. McFarlane left quite late and stayed at a local inn. He claims to have read about the murder in the newspaper the next morning on the train. The paper said quite clearly that the police were looking for him.

The evidence against the young McFarlane is quite damning. His stick has been found in Oldacre's room, and a fire was extinguished just outside in which a pile of dry timber burnt to ashes, complete with the smell of burnt flesh. It seems more than likely that McFarlane did the crime, especially as it is known that he was there around that time.

Inspector Lestrade does quite a bit of gloating in this story, as it seems that he, unlike Holmes, is on the right track. Holmes begins his own investigation into the matter by going to Blackheath, which puzzles Lestrade, who had expected him to go first to Norwood. McFarlane's mother, Holmes finds out, was once engaged to Oldacre years earlier but later wanted nothing to do with the man once she found out how cruel he was: he had let a cat loose in a bird sanctuary. Nonetheless, Holmes tells Lestrade that he can see no other explanation for what happened to Oldacre than the official one, propounded by Lestrade.


Upon examining the handwritten notes given to McFarlane by Oldacre to be rendered into legally acceptable language, Holmes reckons they were written in a very haphazard fashion, as if the writer failed to care about what he was writing. The alternation between legible handwriting and incomprehensible squiggles suggests to Holmes that the "will" was written hurriedly on a train, with the legible writing representing stops at stations. Also, Oldacre's financial dealings are found to have been a bit odd. Several cheques for substantial amounts, for unknown reasons, have recently been made out to a Mr. Cornelius. The discovery by Holmes of Oldacre's trouser buttons in the fire ashes does nothing to help exonerate McFarlane, but Holmes has powers of observation that suggest to him convincingly that Oldacre's housekeeper is withholding information.

Lestrade's gloating reaches a peak when a bloody thumbprint is found at Oldacre's house that matches the accused's thumb exactly. However, Holmes becomes quite sure that something very devious is afoot, as he had examined that part of the house only a day earlier, and the thumbprint was quite surely not there then. Because McFarlane has been in gaol since his arrest at the Baker Street rooms, Holmes deduces that someone is attempting a deception.

Holmes sets up a small fire in one room of the house with a little straw and tells three of his constables to shout "Fire!" Lestrade and Watson are quite astonished at what happens next: Oldacre emerges alive from a hidden chamber at the end of a hallway, where Holmes has deduced it must be, and runs to escape the fire. Oldacre is immediately seized.

It is then revealed that McFarlane being accused of his murder had been part of a revenge campaign against the woman who rejected him years ago, the young mother of McFarlane. Oldacre tries to pass off his actions as a practical joke but is taken into custody, along with the housekeeper as an accomplice. Holmes lightly chaffs his rival for neglecting Blackheath, where he acquired the key information.

As for Mr. Cornelius, the recipient of so much of Oldacre's munificence, Holmes deduces that it had likely been an alias used by Oldacre, who has been leading a double life with the eventual goal of shedding his Oldacre identity so that he would be able to start a new life. The bank account of "Mr. Cornelius" will be seized by Oldacre's creditors. Oldacre swears revenge against Holmes, who serenely dismisses the threats.

Holmes genuinely seemed to have a more challenging time than usual proving his case. It was a refreshing change to see him struggling valiantly, delivering his ultimate victory over Lestrade (and the clever criminal) seem well-earned.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Holmes stories where Lestrade gloats and gets everything wrong and then Sherlock has to point out his mistakes. This one was especially fun, because Sherlock decided to point out his mistakes with a somewhat theatrical flair which I very much enjoyed. Overall a great mystery and one of my favorites of the Holmes stories.

[عياد بن يدر · Rating 3 out of 5]

كيف بقى المجرم في المخباْ طول مدة القصة؟

[Amanda Artist Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second use of a false fire alarm in the Canon. If he hadn't been a Victorian, I would have said Conan Doyle had a faulty fire alarm and was so annoyed by the sprinklers drenching his manuscripts that he put fire alarms galore in his stories.

[Farhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holmes has returned, Watson has sold his practice and the duo resumed their adventure together. Lestrade is back with his typical attitude mixed with revere and distrust and Holmes is ready to flabbergast him once again. The plot is fascinating to say the least. Hence, one of my most favorite Holmes stories.

[Amelia Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not to brag or anything but I did actually predict the ending (I might just be the next Sherlock Holmes)

[Dr.Abdulwahab Alnaif · Rating 4 out of 5]

عدت الى السيد هولمز والسيد واتسون بعد غياب في فترة رمضان وما بعدها .. فـ الشوق جذبني اجتذاب ف هذا النوع من الروايات هو المفضل عندي وكالعادة اثبت لي كونان دويل انه الافضل في هذا المجال

او لاكن صريحاً احياناً اشعر ان اكاثا و المحقق بوارو يتفوقان واحياناً اخرى يعود التفوق لكونان وهولمز ف قررت اعتبارهما كفرسي رهان مرة له ومرة لها والحرب سجال

[Abi Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much liked this story. I loved Holmes’ jolly, joking nature and his playful banter with Lestrade. His dramatic flair was great and I loved how he persisted with his gut, even when all the evidence pointed elsewhere. Some good monologues in there too. The crime has good motive and was cleverly done. All in all a solid, clever, Sherlock Holmes adventure.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ Good story but I found I predicted quite a bit.

[نورهان | El-Badawy · Rating 5 out of 5]

لسان حال شيرلوك هولمز:
It's too easy to be right.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun one. Agatha Christie has Hercule Poirot solve a similar case.

[Aby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[Nathan Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as an adapted version as a play by Jeff Placek, published in Of People – Literature, an A Beka Book.

--- o O o ---

The Adventure of the Norwood Builder is a short story mystery about Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and adapted into a play by Jeff Placek. My mum found this in a book of plays, poems and short stories and started reading it to me one day. I thought it sounded interesting.

I liked the way the information was presented logically with reason and meaning. I thought the play was well laid out, easy to follow and could be fun to do with friends.

The lesson I learned from the text was to look past the obvious to see the detail. Inspector Lestrade was the senior inspector for Scotland Yard on the case, but he overlooked details because of the abundance of evidence found. I found him interesting because even though he had already come to his conclusion about the murder case in the play, he was willing to allow Holmes to investigate.

Near the end of the play, Holmes says, “But, like many criminals before him, Oldacre went too far. He wished to improve on perfection, to draw the noose tighter around McFarlane’s neck, so to speak. And that’s what tripped him up.” I can understand this because sometimes less is more and you need to know when to stop. In this instance, it became too obvious for McFarlane to be the criminal.

Reading this play has inspired me to think deeper about looking at details more openly than before and I am interested in checking out more stories about Sherlock Holmes.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent Sherlock Holmes mystery that puts his method fully into practice. The character study is also well done, as Inspector Lestrade's desire to final figure out a mystery that Sherlock Holmes cannot is almost palpable.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The Baker Street sleuth probes the case of a young solicitor accused of murder. Stars Clive Merrison and Michael Williams.

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have read all of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and probably others as well, just never bothered to put them in to amazon or goodreads, so dates wrong. Some KU some paperback some hardback some collections.

[N. R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike other more elaborate SH narrative, this one has the culprit being quite easy to guess.

[Khaled Al-Bahnsawy · Rating 3 out of 5]

بناء نوروود هي ثاني قصص مجموعة عودة شرلوك هولمز حيث جريمة غريبة يحاول شرلوك الدفاع عن متهم بالقتل قبل ان يتم إعدامه.
قصة لطيفة وجيدة وذكية كالمعتاد.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klein SH verhaal. Eigenlijk weet Doyle het weer zo te schrijven dat SH een verloren zaak toch weer wint.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holmes is suffering a dry spell when into his rooms dashes a frantic young man who is soon to be arrested for a murder with strange circumstances. Not too many surprises, but fun nonetheless.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holmes proves that building your own house can have lots of undetected advantages in this interesting mystery of a bitter man's attempt at revenge.

[Adrián P. C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good.

[Somali · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different one!

[ᗩᗰIᖇᗩ ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

يُتهم المحامي الشاب جون هيكتور ماكفارلن زوراً بقتل بناء ثري يدعى جوناس أولديكير. كان أولديكير قد طلب من ماكفارلن صياغة وصية تجعله الوريث الوحيد لثروته الطائلة، ثم اختفى بعد دعوة الشاب إلى منزله مساءً. عثرت الشرطة على أدلة دامغة في مسرح الجريمة، بما في ذلك آثار دماء وبقايا محترقة لجثة مزعومة في كومة أخشاب، مما جعل القضية تبدو محسومة بالنسبة للمفتش ليستراد،

حرق ⚠️ : إلا أن هولمز، بعد تحقيق دقيق في المنزل واكتشاف تناقضات غريبة مثل بصمة إبهام ملطخة بالدم منقولة بشكل مصطنع يثبت أن أولديكير لم يُقتل. بل قام أولديكير بتزييف موته بالكامل للاحتيال على الشرطة والانتقام من عائلة ماكفارلن بسبب علاقة قديمة مع والدة جون، مستخدماً جثة متسول مجهول الهوية في عملية الاحتيال. يكشف هولمز المؤامرة ويتم القبض على أولديكير، مما يبرئ المحامي الشاب.