The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story

The Return of Sherlock Holmes #10

by Arthur Conan Doyle, David Ian Davies (Narrator)

It's a crime with no apparent motive - the murder of Willoughby Smith, secretary to the invalid Professor Coram.

Young police detective Stanley Hopkins brings the puzzle to Sherlock Holmes. As he states to the great detective, "I've got my facts pretty clear. All I want now is to know what they all mean."

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

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 1, 1904

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 2 out of 5]

"The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in 1904 with illustrations by Sidney Paget. It is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

Plot
One wretched November night, Inspector Stanley Hopkins comes to see Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker Street to tell him of a murder that defies solution. The dead man is Willoughby Smith, secretary to Professor Coram, an old invalid. The murder happened at Yoxley Old Place near Chatham, Kent. The most perplexing thing about the case to Hopkins is that it is apparently motiveless. Willoughby Smith seems to have nothing untoward in his background, and not an enemy in the world. He was the third secretary to the professor, the former ones not having worked out. The murder weapon was a sealing-wax knife belonging to the professor.

The maid found Smith, and the last words that he uttered as he lay dying were “The professor; it was she.” The professor, however, is a man.

This same maid told Hopkins while he was at Yoxley that she had heard Smith leave his room and walk down to the study. She had been hanging curtains and did not actually see him, only recognizing his brisk step. The professor was in bed at the time. A minute later, there was a hoarse scream from the study, and the maid, after hesitating for a moment, went there to find a murder scene. She later tells Holmes that Smith went out for a walk not long before the murder.

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

Ese es uno de esos casos que escalan muy rápido y de repente está involucrada Rusia, la mafia, hermandades y mil cosas más. El final fue bastante y no me esperaba que terminara de esa manera, pero siempre es un placer ver todas las técnicas extrañas que usa Sherlock para confirmar sus sospechas.

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was enjoying the plot and the dialogues, but the ending was awful. Therefore, I rated this short story with 2.5 stars, but I rounded it down.

[Željko Filipin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holmes solves a case by smoking a lot.

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. What a performance by Sherlock Holmes. On several occasions in the 56 short stories, and regrettably only 4 novels, Conan Doyle has his genius detective analyze a piece of evidence only tangentially connected to the case at hand. Often up front while he and Watson, and readers like you and me, await more serious developments! I recall his deft examination of a pipe - didn't he claim that it's owner just returned from India? [My poor effort at review humour.] In this one, he trots out his remarkable talent at the scene of the crime. The story is in the two volume "Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Novels and Stories" by Vintage in 2020. He can be condescending too, as he is with the Scotland Yard detective Hopkins who consults Holmes on a strange murder. A young secretary, Willoughby Smith, was found stabbed to death at the home of his elderly and infirm employer, a Professor of History. Holmes smokes like a fiend, drops cigarettes and ashes everywhere, checks blades of grass, tries on a pair of pince-nez (a popular style of glasses at the time - they pinch the nose to stay on), and then announces, "Yes, I have solved it." (August 2023)

[Katja Labonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. The plot was interesting, although I didn’t really care for the characters—Anna was brave, but mistaken, and the professor was rather despicable. But the deductions were excellent, as always, and I enjoyed seeing Holmes work—especially the way he wormed the information out! And the humour is quite fun—Sherlock’s gentle sarcasm against Hopkins is fully as amusing as his sarcasm against Lestrade.

Content: a married woman may have had a lover; smoking; suicide.

A Favourite Quote: “However, it is not for me to cause the frail thread to be snapped before God’s time.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “Did you see anything of the Yoxley case in the latest editions?”
“I’ve seen nothing later than the fifteenth century to-day.”
“Well, it was only a paragraph, and all wrong at that, so you have not missed anything. I haven’t let the grass grow under my feet. It’s down in Kent, seven miles from Chatham and three from the railway line. I was wired for at 3: 15, reached Yoxley Old Place at 5, conducted my investigation, was back at Charing Cross by the last train, and straight to you by cab.”
“Which means, I suppose, that you are not quite clear about your case?”
“It means that I can make neither head nor tail of it.”

[Crime Addict Sifat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a dull and stormy night, and Stanley Hopkins stops by with a hot new case. A man was discovered killed at house in Kent prior that day. Need to see where Kent is? Go here. The man is a Willoughby Smith, colleague to Professor Coram, who is an invalid and can't get around exceptionally well because of weakness. Coram had an exceptionally separated family unit and invested his energy taking a shot at scholarly books. Willoughby was discovered dead with his throat opening. Nobody else in the house saw or heard anything exceptionally supportive.

[TAJ ALGADDAFI | تاج القذافي · Rating 2 out of 5]

2\5 تقيمي لها ..
بداية القصة كانت حماسية بس النهاية كانت تافهه ، غير متوقعه بس تافهه..
خصوصا نقاط لازم اذكرها قد تعد حرق للأحداث🚫
نقطة1:- هي ان الخادمة قالت انها واثقة انها ما صرخت الضحية لم تسمع باب المكتب قد فتح و لم ترى اي شخص في الممر المفضي اليه ، مما جعل الشكوك تتجه ان المتسلل قد خرج من الباب الذي دخل منه وهو باب الحديقة ..بينما اكتشافات شيرلوك اسفرت عن ان القاتل أخطأ في الباب و مر من الممر بالفعل حتى وصوله الي غرفة السيد، فا ما مصلحة الخادمة في الكذب في هذه النقطة رغم مصداقيتها في جميع ما قالته؟
نقطة2:- قالت الخادمة ان بعد وضوع الجريمة دخلت لتخبر السيد بالخبر المشئوم لتجد السيد في ثياب النوم بالفعل رغم انه من المفترض ان يلبسها له مساعده بعد عدة ساعات وكونه مقعد فا لا يستطيع ان يرتديها بنفسه، بذا شعرت بالاستغرام من الذي قام بتبديل ملابسه؟
لم يتم الاجابة على هذا السؤال، ولكن يحاول الكاتب ان يقول ان الزوجه هي من ساعدة السيد في ارتدائها حتى لا يتم فتح الخزانه و اكتشاف مكان إختبائها ولكن بعد تفكير ليس من الممكن لزوجته ان تساعدة في ذلك خصوصا ان الوقت كان ضيق بين اكتشاف الجثة و اخبار الخادمة للسيد، و ايضا لان الزوجة قد قتلت وفقدت نظاراتها فهي لابد ان تكون في حالة ذعر كامل، ايضا الم يقم مساعد السيد بتبديل ملابس سيدة طوال الفترة من وقوت الجريمة الي اكتشاف شيرلوك للسر؟
نقطة3:-كيف للشرطة و للمحققين ان ينخدعوا في السيد ولا يعرفوا هويته الحقيقية وكونه ينتمي لبلد ثاني اصلا و لغة ثانية وكل شيء؟
وما هذا السبب التافه للزوجه ، ارادت ان تنقذ ذلك الرجل البريء ، فقامت بقتل رجل بريء ثاني؟
نقطة 4: اذا كان الزوج خائف الي درجة تخبأة القاتل حتى لا تكشف هويته اذا لماذا كان عليها التسلل و كل هذه الدراما كانت دقت الباب و دخلت بقوة وهددته في نص بيته كل عطاها المذكرات بكل سلام وهذوء .
نقطة 5: لم يتم تفسير كيف لها ان لا تترك اثر لاقدامها في الممر المغطى بألياف جوز الهند.
- خلاص كافي ، القصة قصيره اصلا واحس اني جدولت عليها على قولة طلال سام😂
اههه كل الموضوع انه هناك ثغرات غير منطقية بعض الشيء ، في الاول والاخير احس هذي السلسلة رح تكون مبهرة لشخص مبتدأ في القراءة وخصوصا الاطفال و المراهقين .
لكن لكونها من الادب العالمي فا اشعر بلزام قرائتها بالكامل✨️

[Rob Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes is challenged with a mystery in which there are very few clues. After smoking a huge amount, it transpires that the mystery becomes more of an international scandal. Former Russian revolutionaries are at the heart of this mystery.

One wretched November night, Inspector Stanley Hopkins visits Holmes at 221B Baker Street to discuss the violent death of Willoughby Smith, secretary to aged invalid Professor Coram. Coram had dismissed his previous two secretaries. The murder happened at Yoxley Old Place near Chatham, Kent, with a sealing-wax knife of the professor's as the weapon. Hopkins can identify no motive for the killing, with Smith having no enemies or trouble in his past. Smith was found by Coram's maid, who recounts his last words as "The professor; it was she."

The maid further told Hopkins that prior to the murder she heard Smith leave his room and walk down to the study; she had been hanging curtains and did not see him, only recognizing his brisk step. The professor was in bed at the time. A minute later, a hoarse scream issued from the study, and the maid, hesitating briefly, inspected and found the murder. She later tells Holmes that Smith went out for a walk not long before the murder.

The murderer's only likely means of entry was through the back door after walking along the path from the road, and Hopkins found some indistinct footmarks running beside the path, the murderer obviously seeking to leave no trail. Hopkins could not tell whether the track was coming or going, made by big or small feet.

The professor's study contained a bureau; nothing seemed to have been stolen. Its drawers were left open, as was normal, and the cupboard in the middle was locked. The professor kept the key.

A lone piece of evidence was found in Willoughby Smith's hand: a pair of golden pince-nez glasses. Holmes examines these and from them alone deduces the following details of the murderer:

It is a woman;
She is of some good breeding;
She dresses like a lady;
She is a person of refinement, and is well dressed
She has a thick nose;
Her eyes are close together;
She has a puckered forehead, a peering look, and likely rounded shoulders;
She has been to an optician at least twice over the last few months.

Holmes, Dr. Watson, and Hopkins head to Yoxley the next morning, and Holmes carefully examines the site. In the study, he notices a recent scratch on the bureau, and reasons that the murderer intended to access its contents. Smith was killed as his presence interfered with the burglary. No one saw the murderer leave, nor did anyone hear a door opening. Holmes notes that both the corridors, the one leading from the back door and the one leading to the professor's bedroom, are about the same length, and lined with coconut matting.

Holmes interviews the professor in his bedroom, smoking many Egyptian cigarettes and dropping the ashes all over the floor. The professor claims utter ignorance regarding the murder, and ventures that Smith's death may be suicide. Holmes asks about the locked cupboard in the bureau. The professor hands over the key. Holmes simply inspects the key and returns it immediately, leaving the bureau sealed.

Watson asks Holmes if he has a clue, and Holmes tells him the cigarette ashes might reveal the truth. Holmes meets the housekeeper in the garden and has a seemingly unimportant chat about the professor's eating habits; apparently he has eaten heavily today. Come the afternoon, the three men return to the professor in his room, and Holmes deliberately knocks the cigarettes over as an excuse to get a closer look at the floor. Holmes' suspicion is confirmed – there are footprints in the ash. At that moment the murderer, appearing exactly as Holmes deduced, emerges from a hiding place in a bookcase.

The business unfolded thus: The woman came in secret to the professor's house to obtain some documents, using a duplicate key she gained from one of the former secretaries. She was surprised by Smith, whom she attacked with the nearest object to hand, the sealing-wax knife; she had not intended to kill him. She lost her glasses in the scramble to escape; unable to see clearly, she turned along the wrong corridor and wound up in the professor's room. Although surprised, he hid her. The murderer is in fact the professor's estranged wife, Anna, and they are both Russian. Years prior the pair had been involved with Nihilists; she and a non-violent nihilist friend were both betrayed by the professor for gain. Having finished her jail sentence in Siberia, Anna came in search of evidence that would exonerate her friend.

Anna had met Smith while he was taking his walk, explaining Smith's last words. The professor's increased appetite is of course explained by his having to feed a second, hidden person. Shortly after the final revelations, Anna dies from poison she took while in hiding. Her last wish is to ask Holmes to deliver the documents to the Russian Embassy, which he duly fulfills.

[Jason Parent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confused my stories for a second there. This one uses an artifice we've seen before and offers nothing "singular" to the Holmes compendium.

[Israa · Rating 5 out of 5]

أفضل تحقيق في السلسلة.
جريمة بدون أي دوافع واضحة وطقس سيء جعل من آثار المجرم محدودة ويقلص الأدلة. الاستدلال المنطقي لشيرلوك كان مبهر وزي ما قال في بدايات السلسلة "يمكنك أن تستنج وجود المحيطات من قطرة ماء" ده كان مدى ذكاء الاستنتاج وتتبع سلسلة الأحداث.
المحادثات في القصة أديها العلامة الكاملة وحس السخرية لهولمز مع محققين سكوتلاند يارد مش هيفشل يكون من مفضلاتي.

[Asmaa Laili · Rating 3 out of 5]

مغامرة نظارة الأنف الذهبية لآرثر كونان دويل


لا شيءَ يَزيدُ من صُعوبةِ حلِّ أيِّ جريمةٍ مثلُ انعدامِ الدَّوافع؛ لذا بَدَتْ جريمةُ قتلِ الشابِّ ويلوبي سيمث، سكرتيرِ البروفيسورِ كورام المُسِن، شديدةَ الصعوبةِ على المفتِّشِ الواعدِ ستانلي هوبكينز، الذي لم يجِدْ بُدًّا مِنَ اللُّجوءِ إلى شيرلوك هولمز ورفيقِه الدكتور واطسون، لمساعدتِه على حلِّ هذا اللغزِ واكتشافِ القاتل. هكذا يُضطرُّ الثلاثةُ إلى السفرِ إلى تشاتهام، حيثُ منزلُ البروفيسورِ كورام الذي يَعيشُ فيه معَ ثلاثةٍ مِنَ الخَدَم، وهناك لا يجدُ هولمز دليلًا سوى نظَّارةِ أنفٍ ذهبية. ومعَ تَوَالي الأحداث، يَظهرُ العديدُ مِنَ المُفاجآتِ المُدهِشة.

[MG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Szkoda że niektóre opowiadania się powtarzały

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5/5
boring case solving

[Flo Svn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nouvelle de Holmes, mystère plus intriguant, twist final très bien écrit, du grand Sherlock ! Je ne m'y attendais pas, une belle surprise agréable tout en finesse.

[ᗩᗰIᖇᗩ ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

يلجأ ستانلي هوبكينز لشارلوك هولمز وصديقه الدكتور واتسون في حل جريمة قتل غامضة بدون دافع لشاب يعمل كسكرتير والدليل الوحيد نظارة أنف ذهبية ؟


- جريمة مشوقة جدا الصراحه وغير متوقعة ،، لغز مختلف وحله مختلف اكتر
قراءة ممتعه 🫡

[Grace, Queen of Crows and Tomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[فاطِمة طه · Rating 2 out of 5]

يا راجل يا عجوز يا خسيس.

[Dania · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a plot twist
Still I wasn't surprised

[Arb Ysf · Rating 4 out of 5]

سمعتها كتب صوتي جميل جدا

[haley turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

**3.5**

[Federico DN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great.

This was great, but not going to review it.

For the moment at least.

It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1905] [30p] [Crime] [Recommendable]
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★★★★☆ 1. A Study in Scarlet [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 2. The Sign of Four [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
★★★★☆ 4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [3.5]
★★★★☆ 5. The Hound of the Baskervilles
★★★★☆ 6. The Return of Sherlock Holmes <--
★★★☆☆ 7. The Valley of Fear
★★★★☆ 8. His Last Bow [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 10. The Complete Sherlock Holmes

-----------------------------------------------

Genial.

Esto estuvo genial, pero no voy a reseñarlo.

Al menos por ahora.

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1905] [30p] [Crimen] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tenth short story in The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes investigates a murder. An entertaining mystery.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent Sherlock Holmes mystery where the detective's deductive methods are fully utilized and absolutely brilliant in more than one place.

[Ronald Urizar · Rating 4 out of 5]

En una noche de invierno un joven detective llega a buscar a Sherlock Holmes, lo busca porque tiene un misterio sin resolver. Resulta que el secretario de un anciano en silla de ruedas y con bastón fue asesinado. Ese secretaria al encargado de escribir un libro para el anciano.

El joven detective le explica que el asesinato ocurrió con un cuchillo de escritorio, que no hay huellas en el jardín ni en la casa, la única pista es que el fallecido tenía unas gafas de oro en la mano, y al tener excelente vista se asume que son del asesino. Sherlock Holmes va al lugar en donde ocurrió el crimen charla con la ama de llaves que fue la primer persona que vio el cuerpo, con la doncella y con el profesor, el anciano. Al interrogar al profesor se da cuenta que es una persona que fuma mucho y Sherlock Holmes se pone a la par de la fumar ambos fuman de una manera rápida y descontrolada. Después de esto se lo homes está pensando y pensando y no logra encontrar cómo resolver el misterio el profesor le dice que para él el joven se suicido.

La doncella le dice que las últimas palabras del difundo fueron profesor fue ella. Después de pensar un tiempo en todas las pistas en los hombros regresa al dormitorio del anciano y torpemente vota los cigarrillos al piso por lo que pasan varios minutos recogiendo los mismos y a levantar se le dice profesor resuelto el misterio.

Luis puso de la siguiente manera el asesino era una mujer, que por las características de las gafas era una persona que tenía dificultades para ver mi cara ancha ojos pegados y necesariamente buscaba unos documentos, resulta ser que esta mujer era la esposa del profesor quien Alberto sorprendida por el secretario lo mató. Al perder las gafas no podía ver y por error llegó a la habitación de su esposo, quien amenazándola la encubrió para que la policía no la Encontrar. La mujer buscaba unos documentos en donde demostrara la inocencia de un su antiguo amor había pasado muchos años en una prisión por culpa del profesor quien en su juventud era revolucionario con ellos dos y los delato.

El profesor no podía creer como Sherlock Holmes había encontrado la verdad, Sherlock Holmes descubrió el escondite de la mujer quien no teniendo más remedio salió y confesó que todo era cierto se tomó una dosis de veneno para morir mientras confesaba que todo había sido un accidente.

[David Aynat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple one, but fun though Sherlock’s practical implementation of his deductive methods. A young investigator comes to Holmes and asks for his assistance on a case of a murder in a professor’s house, into which people don’t really go in or out. The only clue we have is that the person murdered, the professors young assistant, has a pair of golden pince-nez in his hand. Sherlock uses the glasses to deduce that the person must be very hard of seeing, and as such determines that they probably made a mistake in striking out at the assistant while also taking the wrong turn while escaping the house. In order to find the person, he copiously smokes cigarettes to create ash on the floor, which is visibly disturbed upon re-entering. Along with the increased quantity of food the professor is eating, this leads Holmes to believe that somebody is being hidden in the room, which turns out to be true. A woman, hidden behind a bookshelf, comes out and confesses that she accidentally killed the assistant while looking for some papers to exonerate her beloved, who was in a Siberian work camp, put there by the professor, who betrayed him, the wife, and many others.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Now, my dear Hopkins, draw up and warm your toes,” said he. “Here’s a cigar, and the doctor has a prescription containing hot water and a lemon," -- Sherlock Holmes

Holmes is very nice to his peers.

This particular adventure is not my favorite. The most exciting thing about it is the weather. We follow Holmes and Watson as they go visit an older professor whose house is burgled and a young man is found dead. About three-quarters of the way through, Holmes and Watson finally go to the scene of the crime and talk to the old man.

Holmes smokes quite a lot.

After a very long chat, Holmes flat out accuses the old professor of hiding the murderer, his very ugly estranged wife, in his secret book closet. We are then told that the murder was actually an accident, the woman poisons herself, and Holmes and Watson ride home.

The last three paragraphs sum up the whole of the story and easily show how Holmes solves the case. It is rather outlandishly genius but that's Doyle's Holmes.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A convoluted short story where a professor’s secretary is killed when he interrupted a burger. The secretary is found clutching a pair of pince-nez and his last words were “tell professor it was she.” Holmes is called in to investigate and immediately sees that the locked desk drawer has been tampered with. He interviews the invalid professor in his bedroom and the professor claims that the dying words meant nothing and were a hallucination. Holmes flings cigarette ash around the room which allows him, upon returning to the room later, to locate the hiding spot where the professor hid the woman. She killed the secretary by accident when he surprised her but ran the wrong way because she didn’t have her glasses and ended up in the professor’s bedroom. The professor is her husband, a former Russian revolutionary who betrayed his wife and her friends. She broke in to retrieve papers that would free her friends from Siberia.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Willoughby-Smith, assistant to professor Coram, is found stabbed to death in his employer's study. His dying words were "The professor -- it was she". But the professor is a guy! What's it all mean?

Holmes solves it all by smoking a whole lot and not using an ashtray.

A good story, although the ending is a bit melodramatic.

Screen history:

1922 -- Stoll film series

1994 -- Granada -- Jeremy Brett --No Watson this time; Edward Hardwicke was off filming a movie. He was replaced by Mycroft, played by Charles Gray. This episode made a lot of changes to the story: Willoughby Smith is not quite so innocent, romancing his employer's maid, while at the same time courting a suffragette. Some scenes of the women's suffrage movement are included. Mycroft spills his snuff to help solve the mystery. Otherwise, faithful to the original.

Note: this review is for a print version of the story, not an audio.

[Amelia Bujar · Rating 3 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...

I had high expectations for this one which I didn’t quite live up to.

The plot here is was okay and it was enjoyable and interesting in a way. But still I feel that it could have been better than it actually was. To be fully honest here the plot here was a little bit weak but I still had fun time reading this one.

The characters here are okay but when it comes to Sherlock Holmes and doctor Watson they are an amazing due and I loved they both because they have something in them which makes us relate to them.

The writing style here was okay but I think that sir Arthur Conan Doyle could have done better in this book.