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The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
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The Complete Sherlock Holmes - The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
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The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place (The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes)
Discussion Questions
1) Why do you think the remains from the coffin were burned if it was only a temporary solution?
2) Why might John Mason and Stephens have been so wary of going to the police?
3) Why might Mr. and Mrs. Norlett have been so complicit and compliant in following through with Sir Robert’s scheme?
No murder mystery to solve here, just a clever deception which might have succeeded if Holmes had not realised what the actions of the faithful spaniel meant.His trick in taking the dog to the carriage in which the imposter was riding so he could study the reactions of the spaniel was equally clever and led to the unravelling of the plot.
https://gazetteer.sherlock-holmes.org...
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I also liked the "dog" trick. For a while I wondered if Sir Robert was impersonating his sister, but I forgot he was a large man.
Would be a better story if not for the casual antisemitism of course, but here we are...
Well, sniff, this wraps up another full reading of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Will there be another one? I hope so.This wasn't much of an end-piece, to be fair. But perhaps it's better that way. I've been unconvinced by ACD's other "positively final appearance by"s before.
My overall feeling about the Case book was that it had some great stories, along with some quite weak ones. This is somewhere in the middle. Another curious incident of a dog as a key to the mystery.
Thanks to everyone who made this readalong happen. It was great.
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place (The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes)
Availability The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69700
Background Information
"The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" is the last of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. The story is part of the short story collection The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in the US in Liberty in March 1927. It was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in April 1927. The original title "The Adventure of the Black Spaniel" was changed before publication.
Publication History
"The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" was published in the US in Liberty in March 1927 and in the UK in The Strand Magazine in April 1927. The story was published with seven illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele in Liberty, and with five illustrations by Frank Wiles in the Strand. It was included in the short story collection The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in the UK and the US in June 1927.
A Short Summary
"The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" is a compelling, albeit somewhat unusual, entry in the Sherlock Holmes canon, according to the Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia. The story, while featuring Holmes's characteristic deductive brilliance, focuses on a case with a more personal and somewhat gruesome element, involving a woman hiding her disfigured face and a hidden past. It's a chilling story about a woman's descent into a life of secrecy and the lingering consequences of a horrific event.