The Valley of Fear (1914)
My review:
The last of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, and one of the two
best. It contains more detection in its first section than The Hound of the Baskervilles, with
Holmes (who is off-stage for most of The
Hound) actively investigating the murder at Birlstone, drawing
ever-fascinating deductions from raincoats and dumb-bells.
Indeed, it is the only pure
detective story among the four, with the reader given every opportunity
to solve the crime. Although the solution is justly famous, it is
but a variation on "The Norwood
Builder" at much greater length. The second half of the
tale concerns the doings of the Pinkerton agent Birdy Edwardes in the
eponymous Valley, terrorised by the Freemasons, a gripping and powerful
account which is perhaps of greater interest than the detection.
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