The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

by Arthur Conan Doyle, David R. Johnson (Illustrator), Philip A. Shreffler (Afterword)

Collection of Sherlock Holmes stories which includes seven stories from His Last Bow and four additional non-canonical stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Includes:
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
The Adventure of the Red Circle
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
His Last Bow
The Story of the Man with the Watches
The Story of the Lost Special
The Field Bazaar
How Watson Learned the Trick
Afterword by Philip A. Shreffler, long-time member of the famous Sherlock Holmes society known as 'The Baker Street Irregulars'

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Detective, Own, Adult

219 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1924

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

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect to like this one as much as I did. I was given to understand that the Holmes stories that Conan Doyle wrote after the resurrection of his famous fictional detective (in the 1903 story "The Adventure of the Empty House") are simply not as well-written as the ones that came before said detective tumbled over the Falls in the first place. And yet, of the seven canon stories that make up this collection, three immediately became among my top-ten favorites -- and I deeply enjoyed them all -- so you sort of can't beat that.

The seven stories in this book are the seven that make up the collection which usually goes by the name "His Last Bow" (or, sometimes, "The Reminiscences Of Sherlock Holmes"). As an added treat, this particular edition throws in the four completed "non-Canon" stories by Conan Doyle (don't ask): "The Man with the Watches," "The Lost Special," "The Field Bazaar," and "How Watson Learned the Trick." I really enjoyed the "bonus" vignettes (particularly, I think, "The Field Bazaar," which was delightful on a meta level). But I'll focus on the Canon seven:

It's true that some of the plots were less tight than others (the first two stories, in particular, were somewhat frustrating in their rushed approach to the resolutions). But overall, I found the stories to be much improved in their technique over those in the last collection, "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."

Moreover: I don't know if Conan Doyle was allowing himself more freedom to explore his characters and their world beyond the confines of Just Telling The Mystery Story, or if it's simply a weird byproduct of him caring less by the time he wrote these (there's a lot of debate on exactly how much fondness Conan Doyle retained for his detective character as the years went on). But regardless of the reason -- there were settings, scenes, and *gorgeous* character insights pouring out of this particular collection. So many of the images pop out from the page: Holmes and Watson sneaking through an empty house in the dead of night; a heartbroken Watson encountering a feverish and mind-slipping Sherlock Holmes, sick and on death's door in their old 221-B rooms; an attack of poison-induced terror that reads like a scene from a Stephen King nightmare; Holmes and Watson sharing a "last quiet talk" beside a newfangled automobile the night before the beginning of the first world war.

The more I think about each story, the more I realize how much I liked them, how deeply I enjoyed them, and how many of my heartstrings they truly tugged at. I enjoyed "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" -- mostly for the first story in the collection ("The Empty House") -- but this was a group of stories I could fall in love with. And did.

FAVORITE STORIES:

- The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans: Most people probably love this one for featuring the third (and final) appearance of Holmes's brother, Mycroft. While that was, indeed, a treat, I loved it more for its truly complex mystery (how *did* that dude manage to get thrown from a train?), and for the atmospheric action. (I am always going to love a story which involves Holmes and Watson skulking around in the night, engaging in vigilante-level detective work.) There was also some lovely character development, with Holmes displaying one of those rare little moments in which we are reminded of exactly how much his best pal Watson really means to him.

- The Adventure of the Dying Detective: Holmes dying! How could my little drama-loving heart not fall for a premise like that? It's unfortunate that I'd had many of the story's twists spoiled for me before I ever picked it up, but I have to admit that knowing most of the story's resolution did little to ruin my enjoyment in getting there. Watson and Conan Doyle both get to fly their doctor-flag high in this one; the mystery is a particularly clever one, as is, more to the point, its execution. And, of course, I loved the *emotion* in this one -- Holmes slipping, Watson distraught and heartbroken, and a properly-evil villain to elevate the stakes and the cleverness. (I don't know why more film adaptations don't do more with this bad guy; he's fantastically awful.) And I appreciated Holmes's Lewis-Carroll-like natterings, to boot. It's all brilliant stuff; this one will be getting a lot of re-reads, I'd wager.

- The Adventure of the Devil's Foot: There's a lot of great stuff here that I appreciated (I always enjoy "Holmes-goes-on-holiday-due-to-overwork-but-winds-up-working-anyway" stories, not to mention family mysteries). But what made this one an all-time favorite was the King-like levels of pure horror worked out when Holmes and Watson put one of Holmes's theories to the test.

It is not so much the actual event which is horrifying, but rather the effect the experiment has on Watson and on Holmes himself. Conan Doyle describes the scene with a language that borders on poetic, but that "poetry" excels at portraying exactly the terror and dread that our characters are feeling in the situation. The scene ends with a heroic burst from Action!Watson, and we get another heart-tugging moment with Holmes acknowledging how terrible he feels for what he put his friend through. It's terror and selfless friendship in the space of a few paragraphs (note what gives Watson the strength to step in and save them both), and it pretty well melted my heart. Shouldn't have read it right before bed, though!

- His Last Bow: "There's an east wind coming, Watson ..." This little story (little in length and time, but not so much in subject matter) is the chronologically-final story in the Conan Doyle canon, taking place in 1914 with a sixty-year-old Holmes serving Britain on the eve of the first world war. He's not doing it alone: Dr. Watson comes along to assist, the two of them breaking out of retirement (Holmes has been keeping bees in the countryside) to go up against a German spy.

One more thing. The afterward at the end of this collection featured a wistful essay by BSI member Philip A. Shreffler about the inherent wrongness of Holmes and Watson in any time or place by 1888(ish) London. I disagree -- but then, I'm a Batman fanatic who has long viewed Sherlock Holmes as the original "superhero," and so I ate up this story about two aged superheroes (still quite sharp and tough as ever, thank you) who come out of retirement to join the fight on the brink of war. It's epic, it's powerful, it's sweeping and grandly romantic -- and it's also, perhaps needless to say, sharply poignant.

I love the Victorian sense of the Holmes stories, and find their placement in that time period to be part of their charm. But Holmes and Watson are ageless characters -- by which I mean, they are characters that continue to find their place in any age. There's something grand about seeing them standing on the brink of the first World War, facing a new age and a new crisis along with the rest of the western world. If it twisted my heart to hear Holmes's words to Watson about the upcoming "east wind," then the final two sentences (so sweetly casual and humored and with so much a rhythm of the-beat-goes-on) made me want to do an air punch. The closing, you see, implies, at least to me, that the genius, high good humor, and friendship of our detective duo will never be beaten. True, we do, in this story, see a Holmes and Watson who have changed and adapted, along with the changing times and changing world -- and I confess I quite like that.

But they're still *our* Holmes and Watson, and that, indeed, will always stay the same.

[Josephine Briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book, I have forgotten where. It contains eleven of Sherlock Holmes short stories. A three because of the old way of writing, it is hard to get used to, but after that the writing gets better and better. It just needs getting used to. The stories were set in the very late 1800s.

Dr Watson is the narrator, he discusses Mr Holmes, his high intelligence, the two address each other as Watson and Holmes, in one of the stories, Holmes presents himself as a different character. He comes out of his disguise toward the end. In another, the pair takes a vacation in Cornwall to enjoy peace and quiet. This doesn't happen. Holmes is pulled into bad happenings, Watson with him. In another story a train disappears. Watson marvels at the way Holmes sees how the world around him, how observant the man is, how he always seems to be right. There is some violence in this book, though not as violent as in modern writing. As I said before, the writing is in the late 1800s, to me a different kind of writing. Watson tries to figure out how to read Holmes. He never does. Holmes always catches up with evildoers.

Pretty decent read, goes into detail, strange, interesting characters.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Marlbourne Point Mystery
From BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Drama:
A new two-part Sherlock Holmes adventure, inspired by the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and written by Bert Coules.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are stories that were written towards the end of Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" period. Doyle hated the character near the end because he felt that he was capable of writing so much more but all anyone wanted was Sherlock stories. These stories have a cynical edge and Sherlock even makes some mistakes. Doyle thought it would humanize his character, but it actually made the story less believable for me.

Holmes is actually not even mentioned in two of them which causes one to wonder why they were even included. One thing that I have always hated was how much short shrift poor Watson gets. There are two little stories that really magnify the bumbling persona that Doyle created for him. I'm glad that no TV shows or movies have mimicked the Watson that Doyle made because he would have not made it through the movie.

As one who likes the Holmes stories, I'm glad to have this collection and to have read them, but definitely not as good as Doyle's earlier works.

[John Richards]

All Sherlock Holmes books and stories are a good read.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, a warning: the majority of stories in this book are reprints of canonical Holmes/Watson tales easily found elsewhere. These include "Wisteria Lodge", "The Bruce-Partington Plans", "The Devill's Foot", "The Red Circle", "Lady Frances Carfax", "The Dying Detective", and "His Last Bow". Not so easily found are four non-canonical tales, mostly written during the Great Hiatus (during which Holmes is presumably dead).

"The Story of the Man with the Watches": a murdered man is found on a train, no clue to his identity -- but he is carrying an unusual amount of watches. Meanwhile, three people known to have been on the train have completely disappeared.

"The Story of the Lost Special" A whole train seemingly disappears, its driver found dead, and the passengers vanished.

In the above two stories "an amateur reasoner of some celebrity" involves himself in the cases. He is almost certainly meant to be Sherlock Holmes, although he is not named. (And he turns out to be incorrect!)

The last two stories are "The Field Bazaar" and "How Watson Learned the Trick", both humorous takes on the classic Baker Street tale.

This volume also includes an afterward by Philip A Shreffler, which is a pleasant essay on the collection.

Is the volume worth buying? Only if you don't already have a complete Sherlock Holmes. If you do, you're getting a lot of repetition. Save your money.

[David M. M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ought to have double checked before I asked for the Sirius clothbound collection for Christmas -- this edition is actually His Last Bow in its entirety, plus four more stories. I skipped ahead to these last four, and as such I cannot count this as a full read for the year. But there will be books I read that don't exist on Goodreads, so I can call this fair on there. These four stories are not considered part of the canon. The latter two are brief vignettes where Holmes and Watson needle each other over the means by which Holmes makes his deductions. And in the former two, Holmes only appears in brief reference as an unnamed investigator who armchair sleuths his way through the newspapers. He isn't even correct! I think these are delightful little additions to the stories, and I will include them in my heart of hearts. I have had so much fun reading the original Sherlock Holmes stories, and I intend to revisit them before the year is up.

[Holly Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are older (newer) stories after Holmes has been resurrected from the Falls. A little darker, a little more intense...Still all Holmes. The three at the tag end are when he was no longer detecting(he was an older man by then mid to late 60's)The last just before the beginning of World War 1. Doyle wanted Holmes dead but people wanted more and more Holmes...And as time has proved Holmes is a forever character...Even though the world changes, Holmes and of course Watson will never change...If you want him all you need do is pick up a book in the Canon and there he will be in his rooms in Baker Street...In his cottage(in later years) Always waiting ever ready with his powers of deduction and reason, ready to share time and a story with us the readers...

[Courtney Chappell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. At times I found it to be downright boring. A bunch of the stories didn’t even have Sherlock Holmes in them (at least by name). I won’t be reading this again.

[Stefan Grieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last Sherlock Holmes stories. I enjoyed them for the most part; they were well-written, but not the best of the bunch. A couple that stood out to me were: 'The Adventure of the Devil's Foot' and 'The Adventure of the Dying Detective.'

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good selection of Holmes short stories.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only tip is to read the afterword as it should be read: at the end. If you don't, you may find yourself wanting to cry before you've even finished the book.

[Harold Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old-fashioned Sherlock Holmes stories.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

"You could tell Doyle really didn't care to write any more of these stories by this time. Also he never did give Watson enough credit; there's no way somebody could be that much of a doof."

[Salma Faiz Usmani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you open it ,you are hooked to it until you complete it. In a descriptive manner it makes you the part of the happenings and walks you through and out of it.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first go at reading Sherlock Holmes. I probably should have started with his originals.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable reading of a past master.

[Noonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can one say? Classic…

[Ken Bickley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Philip Shreffler points out in his afterword to this volume (1993) most Sherlock Holmes stories were written when the London they evoked was already passing away. Thus they appealed to the nostalgia of their readers. And thus the latter-day attempts to shoehorn Sherlock into modern-day settings all fall flat on their ugly faces. These stories are all from the period after Doyle "killed" the famous detective, because he was utterly tired of writing about him. Two in fact don't even mention the name Sherlock Holmes, and date to the 8 or 9 years which elapsed before Doyle was induced to bring him back to life. The rest date to a period between 1908 and 1924. One, "His Last Bow", concerns Holmes' final adventure, which occurred in 1914. (Guess what that one involved!) But they are all top-notch, as were all Holmes stories in general. They make great reading, whether you are a real mystery fan or just enjoy very good writing.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read the last four in the anthology: “The Story of the Man with the Watches” where three passengers on a train go missing without a trace and a dead body is found in the compartments without a trace of where he came from - 3.5stars...
“The Story of the Lost Special” where a train hired specifically for private use goes missing between two stations with no trace, ends up in a mine shaft, 4.5*, and “The Field Bazaar” and “How Watson Learned the Trick” which are very short short stories with Holmes and Watson at the breakfast table taking their respective cracks at Holmes’ deduction techniques :) 4 stars each

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly as suspenseful as some of the other Sherlock mysteries, but it's still a very good collection. The Adventure of the Devil's Foot is definitely one of my favorites. After His Last Bow, Sherlock retires and in the next two stories he only gives newspaper-article advice to detectives investigating the cases and doesn't actually solve them. The last two are short funny stories involving Holmes and Watson.

[Katya Epstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

An enjoyable enough way to pass an evening, but I liked The Hound of the Baskervilles better. I think the best part of this particular edition is the afterword, which points out that all the Holmes stories (except for the last one) take place in the 1890s and eschew such modern innovations as the car and the telephone.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I do really enjoy the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, I felt a little lacking in this selection of stories. Actually that's not fair to say most had me quite riveted. I liked them fine, just not WOW!

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a short-story person, and they usually lose my interest quickly, but I actually read all of these. Yes, I would have liked them to be novel length, but Doyle does such an excellent job that it's not necessary.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read! I have read and re-read time and time again. You must overlook the chauvinism and stereotyping of the day and just enjoy the writing as you would if you were listening to great music of the day.

[Philip Noonan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that about half of the stories were well written and entertaining and the other half either felt rushed or just fell flat. Highlights being The Adventure of the Devil's Foot and The Adventure of the Dying Detective.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short collection of less well known Holmes, and a few short tales, such as Watson trying to apply Holmes method of deduction, unsuccessfully, of course.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think this volume of Holmes stories is quite as strong as the first volume, but it was still a good read.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes "The Story of the Man with the Watches," not technically a Sherlock Holmes story but it does have gay content (kinda).

[Isolde · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are a bunch of short Sherlock Holmes stories-enjoyable and good if you don't feel like reading a Sherlock Holmes book.