![\"sh_develop_your_mind_by_mad_samurai-d4n8hxi\"](\"http:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/sh_develop_your_mind_by_mad_samurai-d4n8hxi.jpg\")
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But in the end, where would we be if it wasn\u2019t for the stories, in the first place? Whether films and series interpret the existing stories, or use them as a departure point for new episodes that seem in line with Holmes and Watson\u2019s adventures (BBC\u2019s\u00a0Sherlock<\/em>\u00a0has done a good job of that), Doyle\u2019s stories are still the source. So, in the spirit of appreciation, I\u2019ve put together a short list of a few of my favorites (it was so hard to narrow it down). So if you haven\u2019t had a chance to read Doyle\u2019s mysteries before, I hope this peaks your curiosity. I admit, all my favorite stories are from the first three volumes written by Doyle (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes,<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0<\/i>The Return of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>).\u00a0The e-books are available for download for free.<\/p>\n Now then, the list in an arbitrary order of preference. I\u2019ve done my best to avoid any major spoilers.<\/p>\n 1)\u00a0The Adventure of the Speckled Band<\/strong>\u00a0(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>) 2)\u00a0The Adventure of the Engineer\u2019s Thumb<\/strong>\u00a0(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>) 3)\u00a0The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual<\/strong>\u00a0(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>) 4)\u00a0The Adventure of the Dancing Men<\/strong>\u00a0(The Return of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>) 5)\u00a0A Scandal in Bohemia<\/strong>\u00a0(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>)<\/p>\n The fact this is one of the more frequently adapted Holmes stories just makes it all the more worth reading. The premise is that a compromising photograph, showing an opera singer named Irene Adler and the King of Bohemia, must be recovered by Holmes to avoid it being used as blackmail against the King as he prepares to wed a princess.\u00a0The story has great elements of social intrigue and potential for scandal and Holmes gets to dress up in a disguise (I just love when he does that). The most notable part, however, is the way Holmes matches wits with the clever and resourceful Adler, with Doyle creating the most notable character (besides Moriarty) in the entire canon.<\/p>\n 6)\u00a0<\/b>The Adventure of the Yellow Face<\/strong>\u00a0(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>) 7)\u00a0The Adventure of the Copper Beeches<\/strong>\u00a0(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>) Sherlock Holmes is a cantankerous, brilliant man with an infectious …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[731],"tags":[786,780,779,788,785,783,784,782,787,781,790,789],"class_list":["post-1044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whichbookwouldyouread-bookoftheweek-themes-themeoftheweek-quotes-inspirationalquotes","tag-a-scandal-in-bohemia","tag-dr-watson","tag-sherlock-holmes","tag-the-adventure-of-the-copper-beeches","tag-the-adventure-of-the-dancing-men","tag-the-adventure-of-the-engineers-thumb","tag-the-adventure-of-the-musgrave-ritual","tag-the-adventure-of-the-speckled-band","tag-the-adventure-of-the-yellow-face","tag-the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes","tag-the-memoirs-of-sherlock-holmes","tag-the-return-of-sherlock-holmes","cat_731"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1044"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448,"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions\/2448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThis story combines some of the best elements present not just in Sherlock Holmes stories, but mystery stories in general. (Doyle also considered it his favorite Holmes story and I\u2019m obviously in agreement.) There is a damsel in distress, an intriguing and eerie death, and a cold-hearted father figure. It\u2019s an example of a \u201clocked room mystery,\u201d where Holmes and Watson have to figure out the nature of the crime that took place in a supposedly locked and inaccessible room. Plus, if you\u2019re into satisfying endings where the bad guys get their just rewards in the best way possible, this one has it, too.<\/p>\n
\nThe Industrial Revolution brought with it many new and exciting elements to be included in mystery fiction of the time. In this case file, Watson recounts the story of a young hydraulic engineer who arrives at the Baker Street digs with a severed thumb and a confusing story that needs to be untangled. It\u2019s a creepy little story (no supernatural elements \u2013 just criminals) that made me really terrified about enclosed spaces when I read it as a kid.<\/p>\n
\nIn short, this is a story about a man\u2019s disappearance and about a secret society with its mysterious rituals. Holmes deciphers the hidden meaning in the riddle that is a family document, dating back to the 17th century, in the house of his\u00a0acquaintance\u00a0Reginald Musgrave.\u00a0When Musgrave\u2019s butler is caught reading the document, he disappears shortly after (along with the maid), and Holmes is brought on to figure out the disappearance. Who doesn\u2019t like stories involving secret societies with their cryptic rituals?<\/p>\n
\nHolmes\u2019 new client, Mr. Cubitt, arrives with a piece of paper showing a cryptic arrangement of little dancing stick figures. \u00a0The note arrived by mail and has made his wife distracted and upset, although she wouldn\u2019t tell her husband why. More notes bearing similar figures appear and Holmes decides that they are a cipher. Solving the code of the dancing men will help provide the answers to the mystery. It\u2019s a good, solid mystery story and when I first read it as a kid, I went around drawing the little dancing men on figures of paper. Oh, kids.<\/p>\n
\nHolmes and Watson are bored. They haven\u2019t had a case for a while. Enter Munro, a man who is suspicious of his new wife\u2019s strange behavior and enlists the detectives\u2019 assistance in figuring out the truth. When she thinks she is not being watched, she visits a neighboring home where a mysterious person wearing a yellow mask peers through the window. What is the truth behind Munro\u2019s wife\u2019s behavior and who is the stranger in the window? This is not so much a stellar example of Doyle\u2019s mystery writing as a departure; it\u2019s a sentimental story, with an ending that hints that Doyle was perhaps more socially progressive than the community of the time. It\u2019s also a rare example of a case where Holmes actually makes mistakes in his deductive reasoning.<\/p>\n
\nSimilarly to\u00a0The Adventure of the Speckled Band<\/em>, this is another one that reminds me of Gothic mystery fiction. Holmes is approached by a young woman who is alarmed after taking a job as a governess, which comes with a few strange conditions. For one, the new employers required that she cut off almost all of her beautiful, long red hair. They also sometimes make her wear a bright blue dress and sit with her back to the street-facing window, where she realizes a man stands outside, watching her. Add to that a really foreboding atmosphere at the house (including a pair of creepy housekeepers) and you have a great little mystery on your hands. Never fear, Holmes solves it and the young woman escapes unscathed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"