The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

First edition (US)
Author Arthur Conan Doyle
Illustrator Sidney Paget
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Sherlock Holmes
Genre Detective fiction short stories
Publisher George Newnes
Publication date
 1905[1]
Media type Print (hardback)
Pages 403 pp
Preceded by The Hound of the Baskervilles
Followed by The Valley of Fear

The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903-1904, by Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the Strand Magazine in Great Britain, and Collier's in the United States.

History

The book was first published in February 1905 by McClure, Phillips & Co. (New York) then on 7 March 1905 by Georges Newnes, Ltd. (London)[2] and was the first Holmes collection since 1893, when Holmes had "died" in "The Final Problem". Having published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901–1902, which was set before Holmes' "death", Doyle came under intense pressure to revive his famous character.

The first story is set in 1894 and has Holmes returning in London and explaining the period from 1891–1894, a period called "The Great Hiatus" by Sherlockian enthusiasts. Also of note is Watson's statement in the last story of the cycle that Holmes has retired, and forbids him to publish any more stories.

Contents

Summary

The Adventure of the Empty House

Sherlock Holmes astonishes Dr. Watson and the world by reappearing in London and revealing that he was not killed at the Reichenbach Falls in 1891, as stated in "The Final Problem". Holmes outwits and defeats "the second most dangerous man in London," Colonel Sebastian Moran, who attempts to kill Holmes, and resumes his practice as a consulting detective.

The Adventure of the Norwood Builder

A young lawyer named John Hector McFarlane asks Holmes to clear him of the charge murdering Jonas Oldacre soon after McFarlane prepared Oldacre's will. Inspector Lestrade believes McFarlane to be guilty, but by using some forensic science and staging a fake fire, Holmes is able to flush the still-living Oldacre out of hiding.

The Adventure of the Dancing Men

Hilton Cubitt hires Holmes to help him find out who has been sending him weird encoded messages that are disturbing his wife. Holmes cracks the code. He arrives too late to prevent the death of Hilton and the attempted suicide of his wife, but is able to identify the criminal.

The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist

Violet Smith consults Holmes because an unknown man has been following her by bicycle on her weekly trips from the house where she works as a music teacher to the railroad station. Smith recently met two friends of her deceased uncle. One of the men, Carruthers, hires Smith as a governess and then proposes to her, but Smith is already engaged and declines. The other man, Woodley, disturbs Smith with his comments and behaviour. Holmes connects the clues and arrives in time to save Smith after she is kidnapped by Woodley.

The Adventure of the Priory School

A young heir disappears from an elite boarding school, and the head of the school hires Holmes and Watson to find him. During their search they find a missing teacher dead and fear for the boy's safety. Their search leads them back around to the boy's own father, the Duke of Holdernesse, and his secretary James Wilder. When confronted, the Duke makes a shocking confession: James Wilder is the Duke's illegitimate son. The supposed secretary hired a man named Reuben Hayes to help him kidnap his younger half-brother in an effort to force his father to enable him to inherit his property. The young boy is recovered safely and is reunited with his parents.

The Adventure of Black Peter

A ship captain named Peter Carey is found dead, stabbed through with a harpoon. A police inspector named Stanley Hopkins brings Holmes the case; Hopkins is being mentored by Holmes. Peter Carey was an abusive man, so so he has many enemies. After a stakeout, Holmes, Watson, and Hopkins catch a man named Neligan at the scene of the crime, apparently retrieving some incriminating evidence. Neligan claims innocence and Holmes believes him. After further investigation Holmes catches the real killer: Peter's old first mate, Patrick Cains, who knew about Black Peter's past as a murderer and a thief.

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton

Milverton is a notorious blackmailer who has ruined many people and caused many more grief. Holmes is hired by a lady who is being blackmailed by Milverton, and is determined to stop him once and for all. Milverton is very crafty and Holmes is unable to find actionable evidence against him. Finally, Holmes and Watson break into Milverton's house in an effort to retrieve their client's incriminating letters. While there, they witness Milverton's murder by an unknown woman. The two escape and never reveal the identity of Milverton's killer to the police.

The Adventure of the Six Napoleons

An unidentified man is destroying small busts of Napoleon Bonaparte. What begins as a weird nuisance quickly turns deadly after a statue owner finds a dead man on his doorstep and a smashed statue outside. Holmes determines that the statues were all made by the same worker, and he connects the dots back to an Italian named Beppo. After catching Beppo, Holmes buys the last Napoleon statue and breaks it open himself, revealing a famous pearl Beppo hid inside it before he was captured and imprisoned previously.

The Adventure of the Three Students

While doing some research in a university town, Holmes and Watson are approached by a professor in need of discreet help. The professor will be administering a scholarship examination in Greek the following day, and someone has entered his office and seen – possibly even copied – the examination paper. Holmes narrows down the suspects to three students who live nearby. After studying several seemingly inconsequential pieces of evidence, he induces one of them to confess to copying the papers, and to the surprising involvement of the professor's manservant. After confessing, Gilchrist says he will leaving school to accept a job in Rhodesia. Scandal averted.

The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez

Stanley Hopkins calls Holmes and Watson in on a baffling case. A young man named Willoughby Smith, assistant to a Professor Coram, has been murdered. Anyone could have entered the house, killed him, and run away. A pair of glasses is found near the body. Holmes puts together the killer's need for glasses and several other clues and realizes the murderer is still in the house. It turns out to be Anna, the professor's Russian wife. Both had been part of a revolutionary movement. Professor Coram who betrayed his friends and fled the country. When she could, Anna followed to obtain evidence to free one of her friends from a Russian prison. She killed Willoughby by accident. After her confession she dies, having taken poison beforehand.

The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter

A young rugby player named Cyril Overton barges in on Holmes and Watson and asks for help finding his missing teammate before their big game. The missing teammate is Godfrey Staunton, who disappeared with an older man after sending a mysterious telegram. Holmes tracks Staunton to a nearby area but is stonewalled by a Dr. Armstrong. Holmes finally locates Staunton, with the help of a tracking dog, and discovers that he had been married in secret to a woman his father would not have approved of; his wife had fallen ill and he went to her bedside. Shortly before they find him, she had died. Dr. Armstrong had been trying to protect the young couple's privacy. Holmes and Watson leave the grieving Godfrey in peace and return home.

The Adventure of the Abbey Grange

Stanley Hopkins returns again and asks Holmes and Watson to help him out on a home invasion and murder case. A woman named Mary Fraser, wife of Sir Eustace Brackenstall, witnessed her husband's murder. She said a gang of men broke into their home, killed her husband, tied her up, and stole some silver dishes. It seems like a clear-cut case, but Holmes's gut tells him otherwise. After some investigation he realises Mary Frasier is lying, but she sticks to her story. He locates evidence that a man named Jack Crocker was involved. Jack confesses all. Sir Eustace was an abusive husband. Jack, who loved Mary, came to see her and was confronted by Sir Eustace, whom he killed in self-defence. Afterwards, Jack, Mary, and her maid Theresa covered up the crime. Holmes agrees that Jack was justified did not identify him to the police.

The Adventure of the Second Stain

Watson and Holmes are hired by the Prime Minister, Lord Bellinger, and the European Secretary, Trelawney Hope, to help recover a stolen political document. If the document were to get into the wrong hands, it could spark a war. Holmes and Watson track the document to a spy named Eduardo Lucas, who has recently been murdered by his wife, who actually was married to one of his assumed identities. After some digging, Holmes realiszs that Trelawney Hope's wife has the letter. She was being blackmailed and delivered the letter to Eduardo, not realizing the trouble she would cause. After his murder she stole the letter back. Holmes quickly puts it back where it belongs, and the international crisis is averted.

Adaptations

The Return of Sherlock Holmes was adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 1992–3 as part of Bert Coules' complete radio adaptation of the canon, starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. Notable guest stars included Denis Quilley as Bob Carruthers in "The Solitary Cyclist", Alex Norton as Cairns in "Black Peter", Peter Vaughan as Charles Augustus Milverton, Peter Sallis as Jonas Oldacre in "The Norwood Builder", and Penny Downie as Lady Brackenstall in "The Abbey Grange". The episodes were written by Bert Coules, Michael Bakewell, Roger Danes, David Ashton, Peter Ling, and Robert Forrest, and directed by Enyd Williams and Patrick Rayner.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Facsimile of the 1st US edition (1905)
  2. ↑ http://www.diogenes-club.com/returninfo.htm
  3. ↑ Bert Coules. "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes". The BBC complete audio Sherlock Holmes. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
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