The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

The Fifth of Arthur Conan Doyle's Short Story Collections

Dec 28, 2008

Conan Doyle relates cases both enthralling and horrifying that must be solved before Sherlock Holmes, the legendary detective, can finally go into retirement.

Created by Scottish author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, Sherlock Holmes was a brilliant London-based consulting detective, famous for his intellectual prowess and powers of deductive reasoning.

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes is the fifth and final of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes short story collections and features twelve mysterious tales:

The Adventure of the Illustrious Client

Sir Charles Damery seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes in solving his illustrious, anonymous, client’s problem. Violet de Merville has fallen in love with the roguish Baron Adelbert Gruner, a man who both Damery and Holmes believe to be a murderer. Sherlock Holmes must find information from the Baron’s past that will persuade Violet to break off the romance.

The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

James Dodd asks Holmes to investigate the apparent disappearance of his friend, Godfrey Emsworth. Emsworth has not been seen since he returned home to England after suffering an injury during the Second Boer War.

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

Holmes must disguise himself as a jobless workman and even an old woman in an attempt to recover the fabled Mazarin Stone and so assist the Prime Minister and Home Secretary in avoiding an international incident.

The Adventure of the Three Gables

Following the death of her son, several peculiar things have happened at Three Gables, the house of elderly Mrs Maberley. A man approached her and asked to buy the house despite there being several similar properties available for sale in the area. He then readily agreed to a price £500 greater than what Mrs Maberley had originally paid for the house. Finally, he asked if he could also buy all of the furniture in the house as well. Such an agreement seemed odd to Mrs Maberley and so she has sought the advice of Sherlock Holmes.

Holmes receives two odd letters concerning vampires. Robert Ferguson is convinced that his Peruvian wife has been drinking their baby’s blood. Indeed, the lady has been observed sucking the baby’s neck by a nurse who was then bribed to keep quiet.

The Adventure of the Three Garridebs

Holmes receives a plea from Nathan Garrideb asking for his help in a most peculiar quest. He is looking for another man with the same unusual surname as himself as it will result in a large inheritance for him.

Neil Gibson, a former US Senator asks Holmes to investigate the murder of his wife Maria in the hopes that the investigation will clear his children’s governess, Grace Dunbar, of the crime.

The Adventure of the Creeping Man

Trevor Bennett needs Holmes’ help to understand the recent change in behaviour of his employer, Professor Presbury. Shortly after the Professor’s engagement to a much younger lady, he left on a fortnight’s trip without telling anyone where he was going, although they later learned he had been to Prague. Since his return, the Professor has been behaving in an odd and erratic fashion.

The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane

Holmes is enjoying his retirement in Sussex when one day at the beach he runs in to an old friend, Harold Stackhurst, who is headmaster of a nearby school. Shortly after their meeting, Fitzroy McPherson, the school’s science master, staggers up to them in obvious agony. He says something about ‘lion’s mane’ then falls down dead.

The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger

Mrs Merrilow, a landlady from South Brixton, calls on Sherlock Holmes. She has a lodger who always wears a veil. Once the veil slipped and Mrs Merrilow saw that her lodger’s face was hideously disfigured. Although the lodger had previously been a quiet last, she has recently started cursing in the night and her health has taken a turn for the worse.

John Mason, the head trainer at Shoscombe Old Place racing stables, comes to see Holmes about his employer, Sir Robert Norerton, who seems to have gone mad.

The Adventure of the Retired Colourman

Sherlock Holmes is hired to look into the disappearance of Josiah Amberley’s wife. She left with their neighbour, Doctor Ray Ernest, taking a considerable sum of money with her. Amberley wants them both found.

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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