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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II
This second collection of Sherlock Holmes stories sees the detective solving the mystery behind an engineer's thumb and the disappearance of a race horse. He also receives a mysterious visit from masked royalty at Baker Street.
Scandal in Bohemia --
Adventure of the engineer's thumb --
Five orange pips --
Silver blaze.
Scandal in Bohemia --
Adventure of the engineer's thumb --
Five orange pips --
Silver blaze.
3 pages, Audio CD
Published January 1, 1999
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.9k 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 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 27, 2023
As always a good backup when looking for an audiobook.
November 29, 2021
"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts." - SH
Enjoyable
Enjoyable
January 6, 2019
I love reading Sherlock Holmes cases. These were four I hadn’t read and one I had. It is fun to start seeing where all the references come from and are a part of. Holmes was unable to solve two of the cases and that is rarely seen in modern adaptations of Holmes. There are a few incidents where I can think of those cases. Sherlock is a over-the-top detective and Watson is along for the ride. Together they make the unstoppable team. I loved this narrator for the audio as well.
January 10, 2021
Audiobook duration: 3 hours 38 minutes
Narrator: David Timson
I've come to the conclusion that mystery and crime solving audiobooks are not something you should listen to while multitasking. It was hard to pick up on the clues in the stories and when Sherlock would reveal the answer I was often left more puzzled than I should have been. This one's best left for reading.
Favorite short story of this volume: The Five Orange Pips
Narrator: David Timson
I've come to the conclusion that mystery and crime solving audiobooks are not something you should listen to while multitasking. It was hard to pick up on the clues in the stories and when Sherlock would reveal the answer I was often left more puzzled than I should have been. This one's best left for reading.
Favorite short story of this volume: The Five Orange Pips
June 17, 2021
Listened to this on our summer road trip. Excellent narration. My husband doesn't like the musical interludes but I think it gave the kids a chance to digest the story a bit more thoroughly and also get in any questions without interrupting the narration. They were also an easy point to hit "pause" as necessary.
7 year old was still a bit young for Sherlock Holmes and wanted music instead, but 11 year old got really into it and wanted to do nothing but listen to Holmes solve his cases.
7 year old was still a bit young for Sherlock Holmes and wanted music instead, but 11 year old got really into it and wanted to do nothing but listen to Holmes solve his cases.
May 6, 2017
To be fair, I think I either need to read this in print or listen to a better recording because the CDs I listened to were not particularly easy to hear or understand. It held my attention through the first story (good stuff!) but my attention waned, especially when the audiobook had to compete against traffic.
January 1, 2023
These do mostly stand the test of time for diverting reading. Five Orange Pips being a bit questionable. Also this particular collection is delightful in that Holmes is in part or in full outwitted several times, and he and Watson remark upon this.
Reading Challenge Done. This took place in Victorian times.
Reading Challenge Done. This took place in Victorian times.
September 3, 2019
Interesting stories
April 6, 2020
Another solid collection of classic detective stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. The Scandal in Bohemia and the Five Orange Pips were especially good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2023
Classically boring
May 16, 2023
Sherlock falls in love. A thumb is lost. Send someone five orange pips, and they’ll swim with the fishes. Spicy foods hides a multitude of sins.
October 26, 2024
Interesting mysteries and great background music. Couldn’t ask for anything better🕵️♀️🔎
November 19, 2012
The Scandal in Bohemia: I absolutely love Conan Doyle's Irene Adler. (David Timson gives her first name three syllables: eye-RAY-knee.) The King of Bohemia comes off rather silly, which I'm sure he's supposed to -- I'm always amused by Watson's detailed catalogue of the royal clothing.
I noticed this time that we never get an explanation of why . Does it have something to do with I would think so, and the letter at the end implies that , but Holmes' supposition that confuses things.
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb: I'm always pleased when Watson gets a chance to be competent!
The beginning of this story is more interesting now that I know about the unpromising start to Conan Doyle's medical career. The client in this case is not a doctor, but a hydraulic engineer who has just set up in his own practice and (exactly like Conan Doyle) has been waiting in his new office day in and day out with almost no clients at all. Then a tragic occurrence brings him to Watson, who is a doctor, and who by this time has been rewarded with a busy and flourishing practice -- specifically, the client is recommended to Watson by another man who was so happy with Watson's treatment that he recommends him universally. (I imagined that Conan Doyle hoped this episode would encourage his readers to support their own doctors in such a way!)
This story is really more an adventure than a mystery; the only deducing that Holmes does is about . The rest is figured out by the client and described by him in exciting, adjective-filled prose (despite his being so weak and wounded!) or made plain by the flight of the villains.
The Five Orange Pips: This is another rather unsatisfying mystery. Either one has no idea what "KKK" stands for, in which case the entire mystery depends frustratingly on a piece of obscure knowledge, or one does, in which case the mystery becomes, "Why on earth am I supposed to feel sorry for a white English guy who is being terrorized by the KKK despite having so little to do with U.S. Southern politics that it doesn't even occur to him to wonder if the letters "KKK" might mean something in Florida, where his uncle used to live, instead of for all the real people who were terrorized by the KKK?"
Seriously, even if "KKK" didn't mean anything to you, if you were convinced that the arrival of a letter containing five orange pips and the letters "KKK" had some direct connection to the death of your uncle and father, wouldn't you start to wonder what "KKK" stood for? Even if you thought it was most likely something so obscure that no one would ever be able to tell you, wouldn't you even try to find out? Not this guy! Then we have to wait through his extremely long story about his uncle, his father, and himself while the drama heightens, and then Holmes sends him away (foolishly, although at least he regrets it later), and then Watson has no idea what "KKK" means either, and then finally Holmes gets around to giving a definition. ARRRRGHH.
Silver Blaze: Here's a better mystery! There are clues! There are theories! There is reasoning! There is an annoying client who gets teased! Also, Watson finds some tracks before Holmes does -- hooray Watson! I do want to know
I noticed this time that we never get an explanation of why . Does it have something to do with I would think so, and the letter at the end implies that , but Holmes' supposition that confuses things.
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb: I'm always pleased when Watson gets a chance to be competent!
The beginning of this story is more interesting now that I know about the unpromising start to Conan Doyle's medical career. The client in this case is not a doctor, but a hydraulic engineer who has just set up in his own practice and (exactly like Conan Doyle) has been waiting in his new office day in and day out with almost no clients at all. Then a tragic occurrence brings him to Watson, who is a doctor, and who by this time has been rewarded with a busy and flourishing practice -- specifically, the client is recommended to Watson by another man who was so happy with Watson's treatment that he recommends him universally. (I imagined that Conan Doyle hoped this episode would encourage his readers to support their own doctors in such a way!)
This story is really more an adventure than a mystery; the only deducing that Holmes does is about . The rest is figured out by the client and described by him in exciting, adjective-filled prose (despite his being so weak and wounded!) or made plain by the flight of the villains.
The Five Orange Pips: This is another rather unsatisfying mystery. Either one has no idea what "KKK" stands for, in which case the entire mystery depends frustratingly on a piece of obscure knowledge, or one does, in which case the mystery becomes, "Why on earth am I supposed to feel sorry for a white English guy who is being terrorized by the KKK despite having so little to do with U.S. Southern politics that it doesn't even occur to him to wonder if the letters "KKK" might mean something in Florida, where his uncle used to live, instead of for all the real people who were terrorized by the KKK?"
Seriously, even if "KKK" didn't mean anything to you, if you were convinced that the arrival of a letter containing five orange pips and the letters "KKK" had some direct connection to the death of your uncle and father, wouldn't you start to wonder what "KKK" stood for? Even if you thought it was most likely something so obscure that no one would ever be able to tell you, wouldn't you even try to find out? Not this guy! Then we have to wait through his extremely long story about his uncle, his father, and himself while the drama heightens, and then Holmes sends him away (foolishly, although at least he regrets it later), and then Watson has no idea what "KKK" means either, and then finally Holmes gets around to giving a definition. ARRRRGHH.
Silver Blaze: Here's a better mystery! There are clues! There are theories! There is reasoning! There is an annoying client who gets teased! Also, Watson finds some tracks before Holmes does -- hooray Watson! I do want to know
January 11, 2012
“The Engineers Thumb” is one of the many short stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In “The Engineer’s Thumb” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sets the scene in a small town of Eyford Suburbs with a flash black of a mystery that needs to be solved by Sherlock Holmes. This case is set in motion when a high tech engineer is hysterically injured with a broken thumb that then goes to Dr.Watson to get it cured and tells his story and following with Dr. Watson’s concern he sends him to the most intelligent detective Sherlock Holmes to investigate this crime.
Sherlock Holmes is a very intelligent detective who actually takes himself and his crime solving cases seriously. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sets the style of this short story effectively and clearly makes it more interesting for the reader to understand how and why a mystery should be solved in a case. He brings out the trustworthy side of Sherlock Holmes and why it is possible to run to a very contemplative detective for their help.
Although in this short story knowing that Sherlock Holmes is a very intelligent and confident person in his own work Conan Doyle seems to bring out the warmer side of Holmes as he helps others with their problems. So instead of portraying Holmes as a harshness and single-minded person it’s the complete opposite than actually knowing what we know he really is in other novels. It makes us logically think of the fact that Sherlock Holmes can be described as an arrogant person who turns out to be a whole new person who takes his time to connect the pieces of a mystery altogether so that it is completely solved the correct way.
Conan Doyle makes readers believe that when you’re solving a crime scene it takes skills, a lot of work and potential energy. The main character that he portrays in this short story is Victor Hatherley who is known to be the victim in “The Engineer’s Thumb” that hysterically gets his thumb chopped off by a butcher knife while trying to escape a window and not knowing why and how it happened until the next day when the case was to be investigated and solved by Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle also makes the reader think about why the actual situation of a crime has happened along with the evidence to be obtained by Victor Hatherley.
“The Engineer’s Thumb” is an outstanding story to read. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle puts a lot of twists and mysterious plots to this story. It makes us readers believe that solving a crime scene takes a lot of effort. It makes the audience understand the essence of characters and the world that they’re in.
Sherlock Holmes is a very intelligent detective who actually takes himself and his crime solving cases seriously. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sets the style of this short story effectively and clearly makes it more interesting for the reader to understand how and why a mystery should be solved in a case. He brings out the trustworthy side of Sherlock Holmes and why it is possible to run to a very contemplative detective for their help.
Although in this short story knowing that Sherlock Holmes is a very intelligent and confident person in his own work Conan Doyle seems to bring out the warmer side of Holmes as he helps others with their problems. So instead of portraying Holmes as a harshness and single-minded person it’s the complete opposite than actually knowing what we know he really is in other novels. It makes us logically think of the fact that Sherlock Holmes can be described as an arrogant person who turns out to be a whole new person who takes his time to connect the pieces of a mystery altogether so that it is completely solved the correct way.
Conan Doyle makes readers believe that when you’re solving a crime scene it takes skills, a lot of work and potential energy. The main character that he portrays in this short story is Victor Hatherley who is known to be the victim in “The Engineer’s Thumb” that hysterically gets his thumb chopped off by a butcher knife while trying to escape a window and not knowing why and how it happened until the next day when the case was to be investigated and solved by Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle also makes the reader think about why the actual situation of a crime has happened along with the evidence to be obtained by Victor Hatherley.
“The Engineer’s Thumb” is an outstanding story to read. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle puts a lot of twists and mysterious plots to this story. It makes us readers believe that solving a crime scene takes a lot of effort. It makes the audience understand the essence of characters and the world that they’re in.
March 10, 2012
I give this four stars for the stories, but I don't particularly care for the way the audiobooks were produced. Also a side note. I did not realize that the phrase "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time" came from DOyle.
May 11, 2021
Quick entertaining listen. What I liked about this volume is that Holmes doesn’t solve all of these mysteries, perhaps leaving the door open for other storylines? Also, one of the stories, The Engineer’s Thumb, made me a bit squeamish! Haha.
September 19, 2007
this is one of those rare stories that i prefer to see acted out. the whole time i was reading it i was picturing jeremy brett.
May 28, 2010
Okay, is an audio book reading? I don't know if I would have been so entralled without the narrarator but I enjoyed the Victoriana very much -- The mysteries them selves were so-so.
July 22, 2014
Classic Holmes.
August 16, 2014
I can listen to these over and over again. Wonderful narration.
August 21, 2014
Listened to this FREE thanks to SYNC Audio's YA summer download program! Love it and super sleuth Holmes.
September 22, 2014
Brought me back to 7th grade, when my history teacher loaned me her complete Sherlock collection and I devoured them. Fun stuff, well narrated. Always nice to revisit the classics!
July 5, 2015
Repeats Scandal in Bohemia from Volume 1. Other stories are the engineer's thumb, Five Pips and Blaze.
October 29, 2015
The four stories included in this were good ones, but the audio recording was just terrible (narrator was good; volume was not).
November 27, 2016
A Thanksgiving road trip audio book.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews