To date, I've given only a high-level recommendation of the Holmes stories I have read. This time, I felt a slightly more in-depth review was warranted, as it's not fair to gloss over so good an author.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is, like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a compilation of short stories. Here, there are eleven. Each is given an extremely brief overview below, with rating for each:
Silver Blaze: A champion horse goes missing, his trainer murdered, just days before a big race. Can Holmes find the horse and solve the mystery in time? Rating: A
The Yellow Face: A devoted wife acting suddenly strange; a nearby cottage with new, mysterious inhabitants. Can Holmes help a distraught husband make it all clear? Rating: A (S)
The Stockbroker's Clerk: As a recently unemployed clerk prepares to begin a new job, a better offer from a new company turns up out of the blue, but all is not as it seems. Will Holmes unravel the mystery? Rating: B+
The Gloria Scott: Holmes' first case (while he was studying at college), it put him on the path to become a professional consulting detective. His lone friend at university has a father with a long-buried secret- a father who dies of shock when receiving a strangely-worded letter. Will Holmes decipher the real message in the correspondence? Rating: A- (S)
The Musgrave Ritual: A mystifying manuscript, missing butler, and scorned lover. Can Holmes connect the dots? Rating: A (S)
The Reigate Squire: A lawsuit among neighbors; a series of odd burglaries in an otherwise peaceful countryside. Is there a connection? B+
The Crooked Man: A happily-wed couple has a sudden and violent argument, with the husband dying immediately thereafter. Is there foul play involved? Rating: A- (S)
The Resident Patient: A new doctor, struggling to establish a practice, has his dream come true when a stranger asks to become his business partner and fund his work. But is there more to his partner than meets the eye? Rating: B+ (S)
The Greek Interpreter: This story introduces Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, who has similar (if not more honed) deductive powers, but lacks Sherlock's energy or dedication. A Greek interpreter calls on the brothers to find two prisoners for which the interpreter had recently been kidnapped to translate. Rating: C
The Naval Treaty: A diplomat has a critical document stolen. His livelihood depends on its recovery. Can Holmes deliver? Rating: A-
The Final Problem: Holmes determines that a Professor Moriarty has been behind many heinous crimes in London. Close to springing a trap to arrest him, Holmes retires to Switzerland with Watson to await the end. Moriarty follows, and it appears that both he and Holmes perish in Reichenbach Falls. Rating: B+
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Overall impressions:
The stories are good- no question. Not quite as intricate or complicated as I would have liked, but given the length (only about 10 pages each, in the version I was reading), there's not a lot you can do. You'll see five of the eleven stories marked with an (S) above- in these, there is a recurrent theme of a long-concealed personal (or family) secret. Each story was enjoyable, but I felt the repetitive theme was a tad tiring. I also found similarities between stories here and in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- for example, The Stockbroker's Clerk was rather like The Red-Headed League story. As a final criticism, Moriarty is set up as Holmes' perfect opposite, a villain mastermind equal to Holmes in every way, and yet is never even mentioned until the very story where he and Holmes (supposedly) perish. I felt his introduction could have come earlier in the saga.
Criticisms aside, you can't go wrong with Conan Doyle or Holmes. Even on an off-day, they're fantastic. I enjoy the non-linear storytelling present in these short stories- some take place before Watson's marriage, some after. Each gives you a piece of the overall Holmes story you didn't previously know (in addition to the main point of a given short story), and it is enjoyable. The world's greatest detective comes through again.
Rating: A-
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