[READ: March 24, 2024] “The Beryl Coronet”
The eleventh story in this collection sees Holmes getting back to his old sleuthing skills–he even uses a magnifying glass!
The Beryl Coronet is a gold crown studded with jewels. It is worth a fortune. The backstory is that a banker has come to see Holmes. He is so bad-looking that Watson presumes him to be a destitute alcoholic when he arrives. But he is, in fact, head of the bank. He says that he was recently approached by a man who needed a lot of money immediately. Normally the bank would say no, but the man produced this crown (which is a national treasure) as collateral.
The banker said okay, but then was so nervous about it being stolen in the bank that he brought it to his house (which cannot possibly be more safe than a bank).
He proceeded to tell his son and niece (long story short: her parents are dead, he’s like a father to her).
Later that night, the banker hears a ruckus and his son (who is kind of a lazy boy and has recently asked for money) is seen in the anteroom with the crown (now broken). The banker freaks out and accuses his son of theft. The son says nothing, just gets offended and walks off. The niece (whom the banker had often times implored to marry his son) rushes to his defense.
The banker is freaked, obviously, as the crown is ruined and three jewels are missing.
Holmes does some lengthy detection and figures things out. The son is obviously innocent. The thief is cleverly alluded to and there is much hand wringing.
I enjoyed this one quite a bit–even if the banker (once the crown part is recovered) is still left with a broken crown!
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The four novels of the canon:
- A Study in Scarlet (1887)
- The Sign of the Four (1890)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
- The Valley of Fear (1915)
The 56 short stories are collected in five books:
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
- His Last Bow (1917)
- 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
- “A Scandal in Bohemia” (June 1891)
- “The Red-Headed League” (August 1891)
- “A Case of Identity” (September 1891)
- “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” (October 1891)
- “The Five Orange Pips” (November 1891)
- “The Man with the Twisted Lip” (December 1891)
- “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” (January 1892)
- “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” (February 1892)
- “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” (March 1892)
- “The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor” (April 1892)
- “The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet” (May 1892)
- “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” (June 1892)
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