The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

When I saw this book in one of Canberra’s local bookstores, I knew I had to have it. With a flamboyant purple cover, vibrant yellow pages and new illustrations by Sophia Martinek, I leaped at the opportunity to read a classic collection I’ve never read before: “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” by Arthur Conan Doyle.

This book is the quintissential crime novel. Narrated by his faithful sidekick Dr Watson, we follow the duo as they are faced with and solve the unlikeliest of mysteries. There is no question that Doyle was extremely knowledgeable during his time and his stories showcase his understanding of people, society and the observable world. I very much appreciate his belief that behind every single mystery there is a rational (if often wildly unusual) explanation.

Holmes demonstrates his own favourite kind of inductive reasoning again and again throughout each of these twelve short stories. Drawing on his extremely thorough mental database of the most banal forms of information (e.g. soil composition in various areas around London), Holmes uses his keen sense of observation to match what he sees with what he knows. Although somewhat formulaic, the stories are very novel and very quick. While perhaps not particularly creative when it comes to character development or overarching plot, Doyle was extremely creative when it came to mysterious and often action-packed plots. Little wonder that Sherlock Holmes stories have been retold again and again, they’re a great romp and if you love crime, you’ll love these.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the illustrations in this edition. Martinek has a curious style that certainly captures the both the era of the stories as well as the ambiance. However, her naive art disregard for proportion and perspective coupled with her rather two dimensional characters fall a little flat for a series of stories that concern themselves so on accuracy and detail. I also found it a bit distracting when the illustrations didn’t match the text (e.g. the colour of a snake in one of the stories).

All in all, I quite enjoyed this book. I think however I probably would have been satisfied with four rather than twelve stories. While I am still undecided about the illustrations there is no question that this is a beautiful edition and it looks gorgeous on my bookshelf.