Online editions: Project Gutenberg · LibriVox audio
Final short-story collection, published 1927. Twelve stories originally published in The Strand (1921–27). The last Holmes fiction Doyle published. Markedly different in tone from earlier collections — darker, more experimental, sometimes narrated by Holmes himself or in third person. Holmes is older, semi-retired, keeping bees in Sussex.
Stories
| # | Code | Title | Notable for |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | ILLU | The Adventure of the Illustrious Client | Baron Gruner; vitriol attack; Holmes physically assaulted |
| II | BLAN | The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier | Narrated by Holmes himself; wartime leprosy scare |
| III | MAZA | The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone | Third-person narration; Holmes uses a wax dummy |
| IV | 3GAB | The Adventure of the Three Gables | Blackmail; Isadora Klein; widely criticised for racial stereotyping |
| V | SUSS | The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire | Apparent vampirism; rational explanation; Holmes in Sussex retirement |
| VI | 3GAR | The Adventure of the Three Garridebs | American con-man; Watson shot; Holmes’s rare emotional display |
| VII | THOR | The Problem of Thor Bridge | Neil Gibson; Mrs. Gibson’s murder staged; bridge/gun mechanism |
| VIII | CREE | The Adventure of the Creeping Man | Prof. Presbury; monkey-gland injections; rejuvenation horror |
| IX | LION | The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane | Narrated by Holmes (retired in Sussex); Cyanea capillata jellyfish |
| X | VEIL | The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger | Circus lion attack; Holmes as confessor; no crime to solve |
| XI | SHOS | The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place | Race-horse fraud; hidden death; gambling debts |
| XII | RETI | The Adventure of the Retired Colourman | Josiah Amberley; wife and lover murdered; Holmes’s most cold-blooded client |
Key takeaways
- BLAN and LION are the only stories in the Canon narrated in the first person by Holmes. They offer a rare view of how Holmes perceives himself — more self-deprecating than Watson’s portraits suggest.
- 3GAR contains one of the most emotionally resonant moments in the Canon: Holmes’s reaction when Watson is shot. “You’re not hurt, Watson? For God’s sake, say that you are not hurt!” — Holmes’s rare open expression of love for Watson.
- CREE (The Creeping Man) is one of the most science-fictional Holmes stories: a professor injects himself with monkey hormones as a rejuvenation treatment. Doyle was interested in the Voronoff gland grafting experiments of the 1920s.
- VEIL is the most formally unusual: Holmes visits a former circus performer simply to hear her confession about a crime she committed on herself. There is no case to solve — it is purely pastoral and melancholy.
- RETI ends the collection with a particularly dark client: Josiah Amberley is himself the murderer, and Holmes’s satisfaction in unmasking him has a cold, almost ruthless quality.
- The collection as a whole reflects Doyle’s waning enthusiasm for Holmes; several stories feel perfunctory, but THOR, 3GAR, and LION stand with the best of the Canon.
Narrative experiments
| Story | Narration | Departure from formula |
|---|---|---|
| BLAN | Holmes, 1st person | No Watson present |
| MAZA | 3rd person omniscient | Watson reduced to bit part |
| LION | Holmes, 1st person | Set in Sussex retirement, no London |
| VEIL | Watson, but no case | Confession story, no mystery |