In 2026 I plan to read all the Conan Doyle “Sherlock Holmes” works – 56 short stories and 4 novels (here’s why and how). If you haven’t already read it, Michael Green’s “undiscovered letter” from John Watson is fricking hilarious.
I may also read various Holmes homages/pastiches etc. Who knows? (btw I’d recommend the Seven Per Cent Solution, by Nicholas Meyer where Watson has to trick Holmes into going to Vienna to be treated by Sigmund Freud).
I read Speckled Band, 8/56, in September 2025 “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Arthur Conan Doyle #GBSS19/27. So, onwards…
Title: Review of Sherlock Holmes Short Story 10/56: “ “
Published: March 1892
Wikipedia here
Online here
Review: I would not recommend this – as something to enjoy that is. As something to think about, sure! The engineer-sat-poor-in-his-office-awaiting-business-which-then-arrives reminds me a bit of the architect in that Ayn Rand horror – The Fountainhead…
Best sentence(s):
“Oh, my night could not be called monotonous,” said he, and laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical instincts rose up against that laugh. “Stop it!” I cried; “pull yourself together!” and I poured out some water from a caraffe
A peasant??!
“Early that morning a peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes’ ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their whereabouts.”
Words I didn’t know:
| dottle | /ˈdɒtl/ noun a remnant of tobacco left in a pipe after smoking. |
| Fuller’s earth | Fuller’s earth refers to various types of clay used as an absorbent, filter, or bleaching agent. Products labeled Fuller’s Earth typically consist of palygorskite (also known as attapulgite) or bentonite.[1] Primary modern uses include as absorbents for oil, grease, and animal waste (cat litter), and as a carrier for pesticides and fertilizers. Minor uses include filtering, clarifying, and decolorizing;[1][2] as an active and inactive ingredient in beauty products; and as a filler in paint, plaster, adhesives, and pharmaceuticals.[1] It also has a number of uses in the film and theatre industries. |
| Harmonium | The Indian harmonium, hand harmonium, samvadini, peti (“box”), or vaja, often just called a harmonium, is a small and portable hand-pumped reed organ which is very popular in the Indian subcontinent.[1] The sound resembles an accordion or other bellows driven free-reed aerophones. |
Allusions I had to look up: Just Fuller’s Earth
See also:
Batail, Jacques. ”The Engineer’s Thumb” or Sherlock Holmes on the trail of the uncanny The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis; London Vol. 78, Iss. 4, (Jan 1, 1997): 801
Senli, A. 2024. AN ANOMALY IN THE HOLMESIAN CANON: “THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB
https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3679269
This article investigates the cryptic narrative of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” (1892) and argues that this particular tale is a striking anomaly within the broader Holmesian canon. Unlike the quintessential Sherlock Holmes stories where justice often prevails in the end, this anomaly unfolds as Holmes fails to capture the criminals, thus deviating from the established and satisfactory resolution seen in the famous detective’s other investigations. The study claims that the atypical narrative of “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” serves as a reflection of the prevailing collective anxieties during the time of its creation. By dissecting the narrative elements of this particular story, especially Sherlock Holmes’ failure to re-establish order, and the principles of Victorian detective fiction at large, the article aims to shed light on the underlying tensions and anxieties regarding the perceived threats to the British Empire and English masculinity during the late Victorian era
ELÉNI LAVËN 2013. Detection, Desire and Contamination: The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes
Laura Otis The Empire Bites Back: Sherlock Holmes as an Imperial Immune System
marchudson.net 
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