The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes: Amazon.co.uk: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Books

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Review

“Christopher Lee is a worthy inheritor of the deerstalker headwear and S-bend pipe. His tones are august and measured and he can break off to do the character voices nicely.”
Ham & High 22/5/98

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Restored to life by popular demand after his last struggle with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, Sherlock Holmes dons his deerstalker again for twelve final adventures. With the affable Dr. Watson at his side, he employs pipe, violin and, of course, his astounding methods of scientific deduction, to solve the unsolvable in mysterious cases, including "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" and "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger".

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
'IT can't hurt now,' was Mr Sherlock Holmes's comment when for the tenth time in as many years, I asked his leave to reveal the following narrative. Read the first page

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, 28 July 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (Wordsworth Classics): 1 (Paperback)

Although the latter Holmes stories have received much criticism, I personally feel that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was brilliant to the very end. For the most part, the plots in these stories are as ingenious as any of the ones in the earlier stories. The only thing about these stories that is somewhat disappointing is that they do not add very much to Holmes' character. The emphasis is more on the mystery instead of on the intrigue of Holmes' character as most of the earlier stories were. While some may find it annoying that Doyle left so much mystery about Holmes, I feel strongly that this is the very reason that Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular characters in fiction. The only other way that Doyle could have done it would have been to give Holmes the typical dark or tragic past with some personal tragedy to explain his character and justify all his faults. In which case, Holmes would be a very typical character. The dark, tragic past might not have been typical in the late 19th century but it most certainly is so today. And brilliant writing is not about just creating something that's new and original at the moment. It's about creating something that can remain new and original. Some may disagree, but I most definitely feel that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a brilliant writer.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Conan-Doyle treading water, 2 Dec 2010

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Inspector Gadget "Go Go Gadget Reviews" (On the trail of Doctor Claw) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)

This review is from: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (Paperback)

It's no secret that by this point Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle was bored with Sherlock Holmes and wished to let him go forever but the public kept hounding him and he only wrote them out of obligation. The lack of inspiration shows and the stories seem generic.

A few of them are not even told from Watson's perspective, with one being a rather odd third-person story and two being told by Holmes himself. Perhaps the constant narration by Watson is what led to so many movies casting Conan-Doyle lookalikes to play him as a bumbling fool who does no more than follow Holmes around. Or maybe Conan-Doyle was just trying to experiment by not sticking to formula. But Watson is missed in the story 'The Lion's Mane', in which there isn't even any damn crime committed. And there's not even any mystery in the 'Veiled Lodger' story. It was 19 pages of pointlessness!

Don't get me wrong, there are couple of good stories, such as 'The Blanched Soldier' and the one with the wife who commits suicide (the name of that story escapes me). But 'The Case of the Sussex Vampire' and 'The Creeping Gentlemen' have intriguing set-ups but lame endings. And in the case of the latter, just down-right far-fetched and ill-fitting in the Holmes universe.

I think the main problem with most of these is that the never really go anywhere. Literally. Holmes seems to solve them without even leaving his office. Come on! Let's go out and have an adventure rather than staying in and doing work!

By this point Holmes was past his prime and any discriminating fan will realize this.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classically entertaining book, 6 Jun 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (Oxford Sherlock Holmes) (Hardcover)

This collection, the final in the Sherlock Holmes series, is often thought of as being inferior to the others in the series. This is not so. It's true that the mysteries themselves are not quite as diabolically clever as the best of Holmes, but by any other standard they are outstanding. In addition, the stories are marked by a more realistic and darker psychological portrayal of the villains. Doyle's writing is as good in these stories as anywhere else. These stories contain some of the wittiest repartee by Holmes and Watson, with Holmes at his most sarcastic. As an added bonus, the collection contains the only two stories narrated by Holmes himself (and he turns out to be a very good writer!) This book is a must for mystery fans and general readers alike. Don't make the mistake of thinking that because these stories are "classics," they are going to be stodgy reading, or that you have to be a Holmes fan to enjoy them. "The Case Book" is still one of the most entertaining books ever written. Perfect for airplane or beach!

WARNING!!: DO NOT READ THE EARLIEST REVIEW OF THIS BOOK POSTED BELOW (DATED 1/22/98) UNTIL YOU READ THE BOOK. THE CONTRIBUTOR THOUGHTLESSLY GIVES AWAY THE ENDINGS OF MANY STORIES AND WILL SPOIL YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THEM.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

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