The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (SH #9)

There's something preposterous about these short stories, always summed up into nicely convenient bite-size chunks and this volume #9 is no different, which is a good thing as I was expecting mostly dregs and out-takes. None of that, this is solid stuff in the continued Sherlock Holmes canon of works.

Stories consist of far-fetched investigative secrecy that lead up to sudden conclusions. Rarely does Holmes discuss his doubts or mental reasonings, even with Watson, but in this volume he goes into more detail about his methods and results, which lends to a more inclusive and realistic experience. Many stories seem like reprints of previous tales though, with the same scopes and ideas, but volume #9 feels like even more mature writing. It's a shame that this back-end work will be missed by many people as excessive bloat, or maybe I'm accustomed to the writing style now and expect less from it, always remembering that it’s entertainment first and foremost and not science.

Some of the stories are excellent, there's even an unusual vampire tale of sorts. There are two stories told from the first-person perspective of Sherlock Holmes himself, which are super rare, including more detailed descriptions on how he goes about his investigative business, making it easier to second-guess the mysteries through your own detective work.

Unfortunately, there are negative racial stereotypes abound and multiple uses of the N word - tolerable back then - but intolerable today and should be edited out. There are also repeat descriptions of mysteriously beautiful women in so many chapters, each being incredibly attractive and always out of reach, suggestive of rehashed ideas but also, and more importantly, emphasizing the permanent bachelor status of Holmes as a man too engrossed in his own affairs to get involved with fickle relationships, indicative of the incorrigible and almost perfect detective we know and love.

This literally is the final volume - volume #9 out of #10 - because the final set of short stories is really brief and not directly focused on Sherlock Holmes. Also, by completing this book, you will have read everything about the great detective. It's a challenge and a slog in places, but worth it.