Product Description

Dr Watson once again opens his portfoliio to reveal eight strange cases solved by the keen intellect of the master detective. They range from murdering and kidnapping to theft and treachery - though on one occasion it is Holmes and Watson who commit the crime of burglery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #829096 in Books
• Published on: 1997-08-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

Mild mystery, never fascinating
The last of Conan Doyle's Holmes stories go out on a whimper I'm afraid to say with very little atmosphere, defining moments or spellbinding mystery. It's safe to say that Sir Arthur was bored of the character by this point and grudged bringing him back from the dead after his tussle with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls.

I know I am repeating myself, I mentioned this in a review for a previous book but it's clear Conan Doyle was running out of ideas. With only eight stories making up this book (a couple of them less than 20 pages) he still ends up being quite repetitive and pretty much condenses his Holmes novel 'Valley of Fear' into a short story called 'The Red Circle'.

The final story has a bittersweet, if unremarkable, ending and has very little story or point to it. Many writers have kept Holmes alive over the years with various books, radio plays and films and have done so with more affection than Conan Doyle. He created one of the most popular characters in history but thought so little of him.

His Last Bow
I really like the stories in this book. I have read that some people feel that the stories in this book, along with the other latter Holmes stories are not very good, but I strongly disagree with this. I confess that the first time I read the canon, I was greatly disappointed with these stories along with the ones in "The Casebook of SH". But after reading them again, I realized that most of the stories themselves are very good. The only thing missing from them is that they don't add very much to Holmes character. Although some readers might find it annoying that Doyle left so much mystery about Holmes, I feel strongly that that is the very reason why Holmes has remained well-known and popular for more than a century.

Child's play of deduction....
These four stories are vintage Holmes. Watson, as ever plays the loyal side-kick while Holmes battles with the forces of evil with logic as his sword and resolve as his shield.

Of the four stories narrated, the Dying Detective was in my opinion the best. A story which crossed continents and dealt with tropical poisons. Very Good. Being a Sherlock Holmes fan they were all enjoyable but this one I felt epitimised Holmes' sly and cunning and it wasn't maybe as transparent as these stories tend to be sometimes.