I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus.

[READ: March 4, 2024] “The Man with the Twisted Lip”

The sixth story in this collection was rather slight and seemed to have a lot more set up than actual mystery.

It was especially odd because it begins with a woman coming to Holmes (and specifically Holmes’ wife) for help finding her husband.  He has been going to an opium den for quite some time, but he always returns.  But he hasn’t been home for two days!

Holmes goes to the den and finds the man.  He puts him in a cab, but while he’s there, Holmes catches his attention.  Homes has been undercover in the opium den because of a case that he’s on.  He asks Holmes to help him.

The case is fairly straightforward.  A man left his home to go to the city to get presents for his children.  On the same day, his wife heads to the city to pick up a package.  While she’s in town, she sees her husband in the window of the opium den.  When she goes to investigate, she is foiled by the den owner.  The police are quickly called and the only person they can find is a beggar Hugh Boone who is well known to everyone (he has orange hair, a giant scar and a twisted lip).  There’s no sign of the missing man except for his clothes and an open window.

It is presumed that the man was tossed out the window into the sea and is now dead.

Holmes puzzles over this for a night and then reaches the conclusion that solves the mystery.

I know that some of the mysteries are ones that can be solved by the reader, but this one has a lot of details that the reader couldn’t possible know.  In fairness, I guess Holmes wouldn’t know them either.

On the other hand, the backstory about the missing man is pretty interesting and that alone pretty much makes the story a good read.

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The four novels of the canon:

1. A Study in Scarlet (1887)
2. The Sign of the Four (1890)
3. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
4. The Valley of Fear (1915)

The 56 short stories are collected in five books:

1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)
3. The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
4. His Last Bow (1917)
5. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) contains 12 stories published in The Strand between July 1891 and June 1892

1. “A Scandal in Bohemia” (June 1891)
2. “The Red-Headed League” (August 1891)
3. “A Case of Identity” (September 1891)
4. “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” (October 1891)
5. “The Five Orange Pips” (November 1891)
6. “The Man with the Twisted Lip” (December 1891)
7. “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” (January 1892)
8. “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” (February 1892)
9. “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” (March 1892)
10. “The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor” (April 1892)
11. “The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet” (May 1892)
12. “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” (June 1892)