Despite what the title might make you think, this is actually the penultimate Sherlock Holmes short story collection. While it is often said that Arthur Conan Doyle lost his enthusiasm for these stories as the series went on, I think there are a lot of really good ones here, and His Last Bow itself is one of my overall favourite Sherlock Holmes stories. Here are my thoughts on each one:
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
One of the more gothic Sherlock Holmes stories that sees Holmes and Watson heading to a home in the countryside to investigate a brutal murder. It all ends up being tied to some shady secrets in the past and altogether, I thought it was pretty engaging.
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
The title of this story makes it seem like it’ll be a really boring one, but it’s actually quite an unusual and intriguing one. It’s about some mysterious deaths, ones that can’t even be easily explained – of course, Holmes soon gets to the bottom of it, and it’s pretty bleak.
The Adventure of the Red Circle
A landlady comes to see Holmes because she has a suspicious lodger who she never sees. It might not sound like there’s much to this one, which is also what Holmes thinks, but there are lots of unexpected twists and turns that I quite enjoyed. Lots of moments where it looks like one thing is happening, but actually another is happening.
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
This is a pretty cool one, because it is obviously set in the looming shadow of the First World War and features Mycroft Holmes coming to his brother to investigate the loss of plans for a new type of submarine. It’s one of those cool, international affair sort of Holmes stories, and one of my favourites in this collection.
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
Another classic and one of my overall favourites. The story starts with Holmes horribly, horribly ill and seemingly on the brink of death. It’s interesting to see a seemingly more vulnerable Holmes, but that’s all I’ll say because I don’t want to spoil anything.
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
What makes this story quite interesting is that it gives Watson quite a lot to do while he heads off Holmes-lessly to investigate the disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax. It feels quite different from most others with a lot of travelling around,
The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot
This is one of those stories that has Holmes investigating something seemingly supernatural, which, of course, is ultimately not as it seems. Nonetheless, everything is very creepy at first, and I enjoyed the slow debunking process.
His Last Bow
The grand finale of the collection! At the furthest point in the timeline, we get a story set during the First World War. Unlike most of the others, it isn’t narrated by Watson and for the longest time, it isn’t even clear how it ties into the earlier stories at all – but it all comes together to create a brilliant epilogue to the Holmes canon.
It’s a really high quality selection of stories and is sure to delight anyone who has enjoyed the earlier Holmes adventures and, with His Last Bow being “the end” for series, I strongly recommend this as essential reading for Sherlock Holmes fans.
Rating: 9.4/10
