The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle ****

Reading dates: 22 May – 17 July 2025

Returning to Sherlock Holmes after Peter Whimsey, even if The Case-book is considered the weakest of his collection of stories, was absolutely fresh air. The characters are so well crafted, the stories so diverse and interesting … It felt archetypal, and it probably is. I love the Macmillan Collector’s editions: their size, how they feel in my hand, the hint of luxury without preciousness. But I could not see myself re-reading Whimsey, so I sold my copy. This is not true of Sherlock Holmes, I could see returning to these stories on cold winters, sickness, or simply when in need of comfort.

This might be considered his worse collection because it is very dark, inconsistent when it comes to narrators (Holmes himself tells one of the stories but the voice is not distinct enough from good old Watson) and women don’t fare very well (murdered, mutilated, harassed), but it is still very enjoyable.

When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. The highest type of man may revert to the animal if he
leaves the straight road of destiny . . . There is danger there – a very real danger to humanity. Consider, Watson, that the material, the sensual, the worldly would all prolong their worthless lives. The spiritual would not avoid the call to something higher. It would be the survival of the least fit. What sort of cesspool may not our poor world become?’

‘Yes,’ said the woman, ‘the case is closed.’
We had risen to go, but there was something in the woman’s voice which arrested Holmes’s attention. He turned swiftly upon her.
‘Your life is not your own,’ he said. Keep your hands off it.’
‘What use is it to anyone?’
‘How can you tell? The example of patient suffering is in itself the most precious of all lessons to an impatient world.’