This book highlights stories from the classic duo, the detective, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. John H. Watson, Sherlock's faithful friend and assistant. The book is composed of many short stories mostly told from Dr. John H. Watson’s point of view and includes many traditional Sherlock Holmes stories with the pleasant addition of seemingly supernatural cases. All the stories mostly follow a pattern of Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes somehow getting involved in a case and unfolding the mystery with each clue until the truth reveals itself. For example, the very first story, “The Adventure of the Marchindale Stiletto,” is one of the cases that seem supernatural at first. The Marchindale family loses one of their most prized possessions, a stiletto (type of dagger) which is said to be the reason for the family's success. Promptly after losing it, the family has apparently been afflicted with a terrible curse that could lead to their downfall. Not believing in such things as curses Sherlock Holmes skillfully solves the mystery and comes to a logical conclusion. Unfortunately, this pattern does repeat quite a bit and some readers might find it repetitive but I actually am a big fan of this cliche pattern and don’t mind it at all.
The first thing that immediately stood out to me was the unfamiliar vocabulary, at first I found it odd and often times hard to pronouns but in the end, it became one of my favorite things about the book, it really made it feel like a true classic and immersed me into the Victorian London setting. I also really enjoyed the short story format as I think many others will too, it made it easier to pick up the book and start reading without getting bored and I personally enjoyed the story's quick resolution. It also stayed on track without pausing for fillers such as unnecessary backstories due to it’s short nature which I really appreciated as I think they can sometimes be annoying. As for the stories themselves, they were quite entertaining, and as the clues were revealed I couldn’t help but try to solve the case myself before the grand conclusion. The characters are obviously timeless classics but because it was told from Dr. Watson’s point of view it showed more sides of Sherlocks and his dynamic with Watson which often put a smile on my face.
In conclusion, the book was a very pleasant read. The short story format was very convenient, the vocab added a wonderful touch, and most importantly the stories and characters were well written. The advice I have for future readers is the read slowly while taking in every clue and maybe try to solve the case along with Holmes and Watson.
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