The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the first collection of Holmes short stories, each originally published in the Strand Magazine, then published in book form in 1892. I'm not usually a fan of short stories, but because these deal with the same two characters it's more like a collection of sketches. The stories were fun to read and while often predictable, suspenseful nonetheless. When the client in "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" is trapped inside the terrible stamping machine it reminded me of the hero in The Phantom of the Opera being trapped in the same sort of situation. In several stories Holmes mentions the menace that lies in wait in the quiet country hamlets, spoiling Watson's enjoyment of the scenery while they rush through the countryside by train. It seems funny to me that Holmes eventually retires to the country to keep bees when he seems to have such a horror of it.