The Book Report #66
Episode #65
The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
His Last Bow
The Book
Wordsworth Editions Limited published my edition of the book. It is part of the Wordsworth Library Collection from 2007 and was published with the original illustrations from the original work. The first complete stories book was published in 1928.
This is continuing with the book, from my to-be-read bookshelf. I received this book as a gift from a friend who passed away a few years ago when we took a trip to the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London.
His Last Bow is a collection of short stories originally printed in the Strand magazine from September 1908 to December 1913. The title story was written in 1917 and brought together to create an omnibus book on 22 October 1917 by John Murray in the UK and then in America in the same month by George H. Doran Co.
What Did I Think
I have a query about a character. What happened to Mrs Watson? She has completely disappeared, and they seem none the wiser about it. It is like she never existed. Watson continues to live at Baker Street and hasn’t a care in the world apart from his adventures and logging those details.
After a little bit of googling, it is assumed she died, but there is nothing to say what happened. As Dr Watson is Sherlock Holmes’s biographer, he doesn’t allow his personal life to be added, which is a shame, seeing that he is a part of that world and just as important as the main character.
This is another collection of stories written from the point of view of Dr Watson, but that changes for the last story. The final being the title of the book itself. This series of recollection seems to be more adventurous and of higher stakes than the other books, and I think probably the best written so far.
Dr Watson writes about how some of these stories wouldn’t have seen the light of day if Sherlock hadn’t decided to give his permission. And as the pair were in their later years, it didn’t matter as much anymore. Also, some of the stories would have been classified.
Sherlock is taken away with Watson for some much-needed rest in the get-go of the book. Even though he was given the chance, as always, like it’s the main plot of Sherlock Holmes, trouble begs for help.
With that particular story, I had worked out what was used to kill the victims straight away, and I was quite proud of myself. However, I wasn’t able to work out how.
Service to God and Country
He is called on by his brother, the government, which we find out is pretty much the same thing, and, as always, Lestrade. Missing papers lead to a body falling off a train.
We also get the return of other past characters that help Sherlock in their own way.
The main event, the titled story, is written in a different style, in the author’s point of view, instead of Watson’s. Sherlock has been called out of retirement to help with the war effort during WWI.
German spies are in the UK, and Sherlock has been tasked to find and secure them and hand them over to the British government. Having to go undercover, he calls in Watson for one last hoorah.
This book has brought forward a much-needed faster pace with what seems, to me, more dangerous than previous stories or novels.
The Audiobook
For those who would rather listen instead of read.
Would I Recommend
Again, this is a series that I believe everyone should read, at least once, to see how it all started, instead of relying on TV and movies. This is the best book in the series so far. I have one more book left to read in the series, and it will be sad to get to the end, but it is worth the effort.
So yes, I do recommend.
Please give this book a go.
Would you like to purchase your very own copy?
You could try these online stores: Amazon UK/USA. Waterstones. AbeBooks UK/ USA, Barnes and Noble and eBay UK/ USA.
Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.
