The Adventure of the Six Napoleons and Other Cases

by Arthur Conan Doyle

- The Man with the Twisted Lip
- The Adventure of the Yellow Face
- The Adventure of the Resident Patient
- The Problem of Thor Bridge
- The Adventure of the Gloria Scott
- The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
- The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk
- The Adventure of the Crooked Man
- The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
- The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
- The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
- The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
- The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
- Clap if You Believe in Sherlock Holmes / by Michael Saler

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

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 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

[Ehsan'Shokraie' · Rating 4 out of 5]

صندوق راه راه:
داستان شگفت انگیز گنجینه ای شوم در قلب دریا،فقط کونان دویل می تواند چنین داستانی پرکشش کوتاهی در عین سادگی بنویسد،طمع گنجینه های بزرگ در دریا،جایی‌که افق ها از ۴ طرف تنها آب فرارفته داستان محسور کننده ای ست برای هر انسان،چه زندگی هایی که برای لحظه ای طمع بر سنگ های قیمتی و جواهرات درخشان در میان امواج دریا خاموش شده است‌.
ماجرای شش ناپلئون:
نبوغ شرلوک هلمز در پی بردن به جنایت ها و ماجراها آنچنان شگفت انگیز است که حتی زمانی که دوباره ماجرا هایی که بار ها خوانده ام و دیده ام‌ را مرور می کنم از شگفتی و لذت خوانش آن چیزی کم نمی کند..شرلوک هلمز بدون شک برترین مخلوق ادبیات در زمینه کارآگاهی و جنایت است..شاید تا ابد

[Angharad · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are 13 short cases here - Each being about 25 pages long. I never had to wait very long for the reveal, which is good because I’m very impatient!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

“This case is quite sufficiently complicated to start with, without the further difficulty of false information.”
“Meaning that I lie.”
“Well, I was trying to express it as delicately as I could, but if you insist upon the word I will not contradict you.”

I quite enjoy Sherlock Holmes-stories, but after reading several Holmes-books, I can say I prefer the short stories quite a bit over the “full novels” (even though these were only just between a 100 and 200 pages). Both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as the mysteries are much more suited for short stories. It will be no surprise I enjoyed this book, specifically The Adventure Of the Yellow Face and The Adventure Of the Six Napoleons.

[Mary Pagones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, the end with Holmes bowing with a flush of pleasure, but unable to accept Lestrade’s praise, is one of my favorite canonical moments.

[Koushik Ahammed · Rating 4 out of 5]

শীত আর শার্লক, একে অপরের পরিপূরক!!!

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After an enjoyable experience reading Sherlock Holmes for the first time, I decided to buy another book by Arthur Conan Doyle (also, the fact that I like this series of covers may have played a role in it). The Adventure of the Six Napoleons and other cases is a baker’s dozen of Sherlock Holmes short stories, ending with an essay by Michael Saler on why people believe that Holmes is real.

Each of the stories here work as standalone tale, and my personal favourites were:

- The Adventures of the Six Napoleons – I will neither confirm nor deny that this is because it’s related to the series Sherlock

- The Problem of Thor Bridge – to be honest, I was a bit hesitant about including this because it does depend on stereotypical language about foreigners (being passionate, etc) but the mystery is one of the more ingenious ones

- The adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clear – another clever mystery with a satisfying ending

One thing I noticed in this collection was that not all the mysteries are huge dramatic ones. Some are about wives acting suspiciously, one is about a cyclist, and one is about a bird. In several of them, Sherlock shows his humanity, which I suspect is surprising only because the adaptations have pushed his “eccentric genius” to a whole other lever. In the books, Sherlock is smart and needs constant puzzles, but he’s definitely not a thinking machine that needs to learn emotions.

While I prefer the longer mystery (like A Study in Scarlet) to the short stories, I still enjoyed this collection very much. The essay at the end, on the appeal of Sherlock and why he seems like a real human, is also interesting and worth reading. When I find another excuse to buy more books, I will have to pick up another Sherlock Holmes story.

This review was first posted at Eustea Reads

[Catherine Vamianaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading it

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur Conan Doyle is/was famed for his Sherlock Holmes stories. Everyone knows this detective and his assistant, Dr Watson. I had never really read any of the stories - or not that I remember, in any case. Seeing several of those stories republished by Penguin Classics, I decided to go for this compilation, even if there are others.

The only Conan Doyle book I read previously, was 'The White Company', which I liked very much, not in the least because the writing style, as you can read here.

I'm not going to go into details, because there's a certain pattern in the way the stories go and how Holmes (with logic and reason) solves them, of course also thanks to his trusty assistant, Watson. This compilation contains 13 stories, taken from several earlier publications and "series". 13, but there are still several tens of such stories out there.

Here too, the language used is not contemporary, but it is very exquisite and stylish, I must say. So, once more, hats off for Doyle's writing skills. As is typical, not all stories are superb, but all of them are excellent material for in-between two books or if you do want read, but nothing heavy. Entertainment value, you could say, is high. In addition, you do get a picture of (a certain part of) life back then, in the late 19th century.

The whole is concluded with a text by Michael Saler, titled 'Clap If You Believe in Sherlock Holmes'. This deals with Arthur Conan Doyle's career and specifically the Sherlock Holmes period. Mr Saler describes how Doyle's beliefs were in stark contrast with Holmes's logic and reasoning. He also explains how the characters Holmes and Watson were, back in the day, believed to be real persons of flesh and blood - even writing letters to Holmes's attention -, while others obviously knew they were fictional. The impact on readers' lives was apparently big, especially when Doyle decided he had written enough Holmes stories. And so it goes on, the comparison between Doyle and Holmes, how they acted, what they believed, etc.

Long story short: Recommended, entertaining stories, no doubt about that. If only for the language of that time. Do read the stories in bits and pieces, not several at a time, as this could harm the reading pleasure, I find. Personal opinion here, of course.

[Sam Tornio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comforting little problems.

[Rob Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining enough tale which shows how meticulous Holmes is at securing proof. Worth reading if you want a good introduction to the methods of the great detective.
Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard brings Holmes a mysterious problem about a man who shatters plaster busts of Napoleon. One was shattered in Morse Hudson's shop, and two others, sold by Hudson to a Dr. Barnicot, were smashed after the doctor's house and branch office had been burgled. Nothing else was taken. In the former case, the bust was taken outside before being broken.

Holmes knows that Lestrade's theory about a Napoleon-hating lunatic must be wrong. The busts in question all came from the same mould, when there are thousands of images of Napoleon all over London.

The next day, Lestrade calls Holmes to a house where there has been yet another bust-shattering, but there has also been a murder. Mr. Horace Harker found the dead man on his doorstep after investigating a noise. His Napoleon bust was also taken by a burglar entering through a window. It, too, was from the same mould. Also, a photograph of a rather ape-ish-looking man is found in the dead man's pocket.

The fragments of Harker's bust are in the front garden of an empty house up the street. Holmes concludes that the burglar wanted to see what he was doing, for there is a streetlamp here, whereas the bust could have been broken at another empty house nearer Harker's, but it had been dark there.

Holmes tells Lestrade to tell Harker, a journalist for the Central Press Syndicate, that he is convinced that the culprit is a lunatic. Holmes knows that this is not true, but it is expedient to use the press to convince the culprit that this is what the investigators believe.

Holmes interviews the two shopkeepers who sold the busts and finds out whom they were sold to, and where they were made, Gelder & Co. A couple of his informants also recognize the ape-ish man in the picture. They know him as Beppo, an Italian immigrant. He even worked in the shop where the first bust was broken, having left his job there only two days earlier.

Holmes goes to Gelder & Co. and finds out that the busts were part of a batch of six, but other than that, the manager can think of no reason why they should be special, or why anyone would want to destroy them. He recognizes Beppo's picture, and describes him as a rascal. He was imprisoned for a street-fight stabbing a year earlier, but has likely been released now. He once worked at Gelder & Co., but has not been back. His cousin still works there. Holmes begs the manager not to talk to the cousin about Beppo.

That evening, Lestrade brings news that the dead man has been identified as Pietro Venucci, a Mafioso. Lestrade believes that Venucci was sent to kill the culprit, but wound up dead himself.

After sending an express message, Holmes invites Dr. Watson and Lestrade to join him outside a house in Chiswick where apparently Holmes is expecting another bust-breaking. Lestrade by now is exasperated with Holmes's preoccupation with the busts, but comes. They are not disappointed. Beppo shows up, enters the house, and comes back out of the window minutes later with a Napoleon bust, which he proceeds to shatter. He then examines the pieces, quite unaware that Holmes and Lestrade are sneaking up behind him. They pounce, and Beppo is arrested. He will not talk, however.

The mystery is at last laid bare after Holmes offers £10 (£1,090 today) to the owner of the last existing bust, making him sign a document transferring all rights and ownership of the bust to Holmes. After the seller has left, Holmes smashes the bust and among the plaster shards is a gem, the black pearl of the Borgias. Holmes was aware of the case of its disappearance from the beginning. Suspicion had fallen on the owner's maid, whose name was Lucretia Venucci – the dead man's sister. Beppo somehow got the pearl from Pietro Venucci, and hid it inside a still-soft plaster bust at the factory where he worked, moments before his arrest for the street-fight stabbing.

After serving his one-year sentence, he sought to retrieve the hidden pearl. He found out from his cousin who bought the busts, and through his own efforts and confederates’, even found out who the end buyers were. He then proceeded to seek the busts out, smashing them one by one to find the pearl.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt a bit cheated by this one, because I’ve had it on my shelves for a while now and I’d been looking forward to getting to it. I was under the unfortunate misapprehension that this was a collection of Conan Doyle’s historical fiction, but it turned out to just be a bunch of Sherlock Holmes short stories that I’d already read.

As a consequence, I didn’t bother to re-read it, and yet here I am writing a review because I have actually read it all, just in the original editions. I don’t really understand why this actually exists, seeing as it’s basically just a bind-up of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, with one or two other stories thrown in just for the hell of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Sherlock Holmes, and that’s the only reason why I still gave this book a fairly good rating. I just can’t see why you’d want to read it when you could just read the short stories in the original books they’re from. If I’d read this one first, it would have been a huge pain to then read the others because I’d have read most of the stories except for one or two of them.

There’s also the fact that the stories are in the public domain, and so the whole thing left me feeling kind of dirty. I’m pretty sure this is just Penguin trying to make some more money out of Holmes rather than an attempt to provide anything of value, and I’m even more annoyed that I fell for it by picking the book up in the first place, although at least it was second hand. Do yourself a favour and just don’t bother with it.

[José Cruz Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Six Napoleons is the worst Sherlock Holmes stories that I've read so far; it isn't bad, but it isn't nearly as good as, say, The Hound of the Baskervilles. However, even the mediocre stories of a great author are superior to anything written by a hack.

In The Six Napoleons, the Poe influence once again shows up: one of the suspects in the case is a "sharp-featured simian man with thick eyebrows, and a very peculiar projection of the lower part of the face like the muzzle of a baboon" (remember The Murders in the Rue Morgue?). But Conan Doyle was talented enough to draw inspiration from a great author without becoming a servile imitator.

One of the things that I actually liked about this story is that it shows us the 'human' side of Holmes. As he receives a round of applause from Lestrade and Watson near the end of the tale, Sherlock evinces emotion.

It was at such moments that for an instant he ceased to be a reasoning machine, and betrayed his human love for admiration and applause. The same singularly proud and reserved nature which turned away with disdain from popular notoriety was capable of being moved to its depth by spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend.

This is a rarity, as everyone even remotely acquainted with Sherlock Holmes knows. It may be one of the reasons for the character's long-lasting popularity and devoted fanbase.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this one to be boring

[Cole Perelmuter · Rating 4 out of 5]

They weren’t the best Sherlock Holmes stories and they also weren’t in order. I don’t really know why they were chosen. They were still Sherlock Holmes stories though so they’re really good.

[Deli · Rating 3 out of 5]

As good as short stories can get, I guess. I am still not a fan, and much prefer full-length novels

[Symon Vegro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an interesting little story. I’m pleased to say that I solved the mystery of the thefts myself 😀

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should become a detective 🕵🏼‍♀️

[SLADE · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one that ended up making it into the BBC television adaptation of the stories, except that on TV it was the Six Thatchers. The premise remained the same. A person was smashing busts in a frantic search for a concealed valuable. Sherlock's skills are put to good use in this adventure, and the story is fun to follow.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another crazy Sherlock Holmes adventure, but you can sadly see the ending coming because the premise has been copied by so many mystery writers since the story was originally published.

[Ali Ilman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t remember what on earth happened in the first 10 stories. All I can remember is the unpredictability of Arthur Conan Doyle’s writings and Holmes wittiness. This is what taking over 3 months to finish a book does to you. 🥲

So...what about the final 3 stories? Read them all in one day!

1. The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
An unexpected ending, one of the finest Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories I’ve ever read.

It’s about the sudden disappearance of the nephew of Lord Mount-James, Godfrey Staunton. A prolific English rugby player whom Sherlock Holmes had never heard of. Heir to Lord Mount-James’ wealth.

Godfrey’s friend, Cyril Overton had approached Holmes about Godfrey’s disappearance. He was nowhere to be seen. Initial signs were suggesting Godfrey Staunton was kidnapped and that Lord Mount-James’ has to pay ransom. Or that Lord Mount-James and Godfrey bickered about the inheritance, resulting in a freak accident. Fingers were pointed at a few people, then a tip-off suggested a dog called Pompey could lead Holmes and Watson to Godfrey!

2. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
Not a memorable story, to be honest. Skimmed through the story quickly, the memorable feature being about a goose had brought with it a precious stone.

3. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
The best of the lot!

One morning, Holmes received a letter from a miss Violet Hunter. Miss Hunter was the governess in a Colonel Munro’s family. Colonel Munro had to migrate to Nova Scotia and decided to bring his family along, which resulted in Miss Hunter having to look for employment. She was seeking Holmes’ advise on a peculiar matter.

Miss Hunter had been to a governess agency ran by a Miss Stoper. She was called into her office and was met, unusually, by a man known as Mister Rucastle. His expressions as soon as Miss Hunter enter Miss Stoper’s office took Miss Hunter by surprised, as he quickly offered Miss Hunter an employment with a salary arguably unheard of for a governess and with certain conditions. She declined his offer, to Miss Stoper’s surprise. The very next day, Miss Hunter received a letter by Mister Rucastle, who’s wondering whether Miss Hunter will reconsider his offer, along with an amended salary to compensate for the condition of her needing to cut her hair short.

Holmes, having heard Miss Hunter’s story, has little to say about Mister Rucastle’s peculiarity. He advised Miss Hunter to send a telegram should things go awry.

Go awry, things did! What exactly is going on with the Rucastles? Why are they peculiarly treating Miss Hunter? Are they hiding a prisoner and using her as a decoy due to likeness? Covering a murder? I’ll leave that to you to find out!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this tale, in spite of its negative depiction of Italians(Thievery! Stabbings! Mafia! Look like apes!) Not that the respectable Anglo-Saxon citizens don't come in for their share of mockery (Morse Hudson with his bleating about Nihilists and Red Republicans)

In spite of the violence, it's a fun story, as Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade travel throughout middle-class London, for the sake of a very un-middle class prize.

Screen history:

1922 -- Stoll film series

1944 -- The Pearl of Death Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce -- The Borgia pearl is stolen from a museum, and it's partly Holmes' fault! There follows a series of murders, with the victim's body surrounded by broken plaster and crockery.

1946 --Dressed to Kill Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce --Music boxes containing a code replace the busts.

1965--BBC --Douglas Wilmer/Nigel Stock --good re-telling of story

1986 --Granada --Jeremy Brett/Edward Hardwick --goes into some background of the Italian families --Trivia note: Marina Sirtis, of Star Trek fame, plays Lucrezia

2001 -- Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century Napoleon Excelsiors (luxury flying vehicles) are being vandalized

2017 --Sherlock "Six Thatchers" Someone is destroying busts of PM Thatcher (haven't viewed this one.)

2019 -- Elementary"The Further Adventures" Jonny Lee Miller/Lucy Liu --Intro to episode has a segment similar to this tale, the rest is something very different

[Carole Tyrrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah Sherlock Holmes! Surely the blueprint for all maverick detectives who like to be ahead of Scotland Yard’s finest and who also have their little addictions…He’s a master of joining up the dots but not necessarily in the same order as everyone else to solve the most unusual crimes quickly. He is aided and abetted by Dr John Watson, ex-army medic who succinctly narrates Sherlock’s cases from beginning to satisfying and believable conclusion.
In this book are 13 adventures culled from both the Memoirs and Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with intriguing titles such as The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist. They are all just the right length as two Victorian gentlemen solve the latest mystery that walks into their consulting room at 221b Baker Street.
And yet despite his obvious intelligence, love of playing the violin and heroin Holmes is never smug or condescending and always generous enough to admit when he’s wrong or mistaken.
I enjoyed re-reading these as I haven’t read any Homes since I was 12 and it’s been a pleasure to rediscover them again.
The game’s afoot Watson!

[R.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Συλλογή ιστοριών με πρωταγωνιστή τον Σέρλοκ Χολμς. Ξέρει κανείς τι να περιμένει... Λιγάκι αφελείς και υπερβολικές και κάποιες καλύτερες από άλλες, αλλά πάντα ελαφρύ, ευχάριστο ανάγνωσμα...

I hadn't read Arthur Conan Doyle for a while and this was a decent collection of Sherlock Holmes' stories that I enjoyed. Sometimes a bit naive and superficial, some stories better than others, but definately a pleasant, cozy book to pass the time. The epilogue/analysis by Michael Saler might had offer some interesting points on an academic lecture or assignement or as part of a reference work on the author and his hero and what was their influence and the influence they got from their era etc, but I don't like this kind of essays added when reading the actual work of well-known authors. Really not necessary here...

[Henrik Warne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as some of the other Sherlock Holmes collection of short stories I have read.

Most of the stories in this book did not have clever solutions to baffling problems. The exceptions, which I enjoyed the most, were The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Problem of Thor Bridge, The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, and The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.

One funny thing is that while I hadn't read the story of the six Napoleons before, I instantly knew the solution, because I read The Mystery of the Fiery Eye (The Three Investigators) when I grew up (and reread it as an adult).

It was still a pleasure to read though, becuase of the language, setting, atomosphere, and Sherlock and Watson.

At the end, there are thirty pages on why many people think Sherlock Holmes is real, and on different Sherlock Holmes societies. Interesting, but much too long.

[Teri-K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the Holmes short stories have held up better than many of the novels, and there were certainly some good ones here. However, if I could only have one collection of the stories (that wasn't a complete set), I'd pick The Five Orange Pips and Other Cases, in this same edition. Those were the ones Doyle himself chose as the best, and I'd tend to agree. Still, this book was a fun read, and I enjoyed spending some time with Holmes and Watson again.

[Zac Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is essentially Sherlock Holmes showing off and displaying his superior intellect for the entirety of this story’s plot. If that’s why you enjoy Sherlock Holmes and the works of Arthur Conan Doyle then this will be right up your alley, I on the other hand prefer a more intricate playful and mysterious Holmes story which is why I would give this a miss unless you truly enjoy the Sherlock Holmes series as a collective.

[mark propp · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is for the story only - of all the holmes stories i've read so far (quite a few) this is the first one not to have its own listing, i think.

i'd say this one is perhaps a bit lower tier. not bad, but it had by my reckoning two fairly glaring flaws (there's something very obvious happening that only holmes sees & the ending resolution was not set up at all).

still fun to read, but i'd put this as one of the weaker entries.

[Sultan of Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

السير ارثر كونان دويل: انصاع لطلب القراء باعادة شارلوك الى الحياة بعد ان انهى قصة شارلوك في كتابه المعتقد انه الاخير لمغامرات شارلوك، لكن الطلب المتزايد لمحبي شخصية شارلوك ومطالبتهم بعودة شخصيتهم المفضلة دفعت السيد كونان لبعث شارلوك من جديد مغامرة جد رائعة وعودة شارلوك لحل اصعب قضاياه رفقة صديقه واطسون... سادعكم تكتشفون الاحداث

[Mark Tadder · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good yarn but I think most people reading this today would see it coming a mile away. Obviously somethings hidden in one of the statues. The fact that they don’t tell you about the jewel theft until literally when the case is being explained kind of takes away the possibility of having the information that you would need to figure out what exactly the crime was.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times one must remember this is was written by a old British white man in Victorian times and being mildly racist towards Italians was okay. With that out of the way, I do love this story and the description of Holmes blushing at Watson and Lestrade’s praise gives me a warm feeling in my tummy. Securely in the Top 15 Sherlock Holmes Adventures for me.