For so short a story the discussion schedule will be only seven or eight days. If any of you Sherlock fans are interested in joining in please let me know here so that I can move it to Upcoming Attractions and schedule the discussion. Also, if you would like to read this tale on line please click The Complete Sherlock Holmes link in the heading. This short story can be found under The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I believe "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" is the fourth story listed under that heading. After you click on it you will see "Text on Line" I belive "bookrags" offers the best reading font.

 

"Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking 
building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches 
of lichen upon the gray walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless 
chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight 
of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, 
when the maid, at Holmes's request, showed us the boots which her 
master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the 
son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured 
these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes 
desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed 
the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool."

I belive "bookrags" offers the best font face for reading the story on line. Here's a link

The Sherlock Holmes stories have held a fascination for me from a very young boy to this day. Through the years I have imagined Sherlock Holmes as a living person and not as some book character a live only on the written pages of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Of course I know better and always have, but I suppose most of us have experienced this feeling at one time or another about Sherlock Holmes.

I selected this short story because it is an easy read and the plot is not to difficult to understand. So here is a chance to express your feelings about the Sherlock Holmes character, his pursuits and the author of the stories. And, of course, the selected story .

Many thanks to Marjorie for assisting me with the heading

"Come Watson the game is afoot!"

And Sherlock Holmes should've had a compliment for Mrs. Watson, also. She was in every respect understanding when Dr. Watson tore away from the breakfast table to accompany the detective on the trip.

Yes, I got a chuckle out of Sherlock's left handed compliment to Lestrade, but I couldn't help but wonder if Lestrade chose to ignore the pointed remark or, as you say, the comment was lost on him. The inspector was the perfect foil for Holmes. However, Lestrade seemed to look upon Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as friendly counterparts and, to the best of my knowledge, never thought of them as foes to be reckoned with.

In the opening paragraphs of the story, Conan Doyle showed us the presumptuous nature of SH. The telegram Sherlock sent Watson gave the doctor only a few hours to join him on his trip to Boscombe Valley. This showed a disregard or lack of understanding for the doctor's medical practice as well as any arrangements Mrs. Watson may have planed.

Swrawler, I seriously doubt Watson was married five times, however your reflections on the doctor and Mrs. Watson gives us all pause for thought. ) But perhaps our doctor was looking a little pale.Yes, Babi, Holmes does compliment Watson as being a very reliable partner. Thank you for bringing that my attention.

Horselover, I suppose this is unwarranted, but when I read the son's name was Charles McCarthy, I couldn't help but think of the famous pair of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Seeing the name appear in your post jogged my mind of them again. Did any of you think of this.

I would imagine traveling in such a compartment in that era was most comfortable. Holmes tells Watson, "If you keep the two corner seats I shall get the tickets." Do you suppose that to obtain such a compartment would mean paying first class fare?

To view more of the larger and much better Sydney Paget illustrations of Holmes and Watson please click on this link

After Marvelle brought the following to our attention "…retained Lestrade…" it gave me pause and I reread that part.. I place a section of the paragraph here for your convenience

"There are several people in the neighborhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the accused, who believe in his innocence, and have retained Lestrade…to work out the case for them."

I noticed the title Inspector was not used and both Holmes and Watson refer to Lestrade as Mr. Lestrade, and as was pointed out Lestrade referred to Holmes as a colleague. I can't help but suppose Lestrade was working as a private investigator because he "referred the case to Holmes???? However, that being said, who represented the official police? Conan Doyle was not very clear on this and has somewhat confused me.

I believe Holmes looks upon Watson as a truly trustworthy, reliable friend, a friend that will back him up when the "chips" are down. We have seen Holmes' trust of Watson's judgment in other stories, when he sent Dr. Watson off alone on missions pertaining to a case.

Scrawler, you also ask. "Would you have read it"

Well, I believe I would have because the Sherlock Holmes stories that appeared in The Strand had an eagerly awaited following. The British citizens of that era seemed to love reading about the aristocracy and other wealthy land holders. Perhaps I have been a bit redundant in that last sentence.

"Does it truly reflect the times?".

Well, it depends on what you mean. The Holmes stories, for the most part, do not deal with the impoverished class of England, they do describe the life of the wealthy and landed gentry of the period. These are the people that could afford his services. I don't imagine for an instant that Sherlock Holmes did all his cases pro bono. However, I'm sure this is the class of people that Conan Doyle believed the masses wanted to read about in order to escape from their every day humdrum life. For example, we here in America display an avid interest in reading about celebrities and British royalty(I here excuse myself)what sugar plum fairies go dancing throug a readers head while reading about these things.

You have asked very good, thought provoking questions, questions that make a discussion worthwhile. I shall endeavor to learn the chronology of this story.

I said then, "There are several people in the neighborhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the accuse, who believe in his innocence…" I should have typed, "…among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighboring landowner…"

Please excuse the error.

The same can be seen by clicking on the "Complete Sherlock Holmes" link found in the heading.

 
Did the half hour mean it was 10:45?  
Did Holmes really need Watson's help?  
Why a cloak instead of a coat?  
Is a person in their thirties young or middle-aged?  
Why did James start back for his house?  
What are platform tickets?  
Why did Watson's wife want him to leave?  
Was Holmes wearing a deerstalker?  
Did Holmes want company or assistance? Who paid Watson's expenses?  
Is "the" in "the two corner seats" meaningful?  
Was it a carriage or only a compartment?  
Why the reference to London papers when local papers were at hand?  
Would Holmes and Watson normally be digesting their breakfast after 11:15?  
Was England's murder rate high?  
Were Turner and McCarthy Australian or English?  
How old really was James McCarthy?  
Did Patience Moran see Turner?  
Where is the right hand side of one's bedroom?  
Did Watson have the moustache of The Red Circle days?  
Did Holmes err as to the case of the "self reproach and contrition"?  
Having requested Watson's assistance, why did Holmes abandon him the first night?  
Who were the serving-man and groom?  
Why Petrarch rather than conversation?  
Do you carry a gun if you wouldn't hurt a fly?  
Why was there "the quick blush"?  
Was the hideous outcry consistent with the head wound?  
Would you want James to marry your daughter?  
Was the cape waterproof?  
Was Turner vigorous for one so ill?  
Was the stone bloodied?  
Did Holmes apply his blood test (from stud)? Was Turner's secret really safe?  
Could McCarthy have made a convincing accusation against Turner?  
What are the odds of Alice Turner and James McCarthy living happily ever after?

I did find the question "Who paid Watson's expenses" intersting. Surely Holmes paid his friends expenses in all the stories. I would suppose Sherlock Holmes charged a handsome fee for his investigations.

This question was among the questions I I found on the web site, and I feel it is in keeping with the Victorian era of our story. However, when I was a kid in grade school we always hung our coats in the "cloak room." This whets my curiosity. Why is cloak used instead of coat?

When you find a story you like click on the blue font this will take you to the audio page of the story. Then click on the little box beside the story to listen to it. Give it a few a few seconds to load. If you wish to download the story, right click on the little box and then click on "Save Target As…" I download it to my desktop for future listening or in order to burn it to a CD, for my audio library.

After Rathbone retired in 1946, Tim Conway replaced him as Sherlock Holmes. Nigel Bruce still plays Dr. Watson. There are a great number of audio Sherlock stories with Tim Conway and Nigel Bruce. Below is the link for the Conway, Bruce audios. Follow the same procedure for listening.

On Tuesday, we started the second half of our story so we can all feel comfortable with expressing our views on this part and the conclusion of the story.

I must say all of your posts have been excellent and the questions asked have been very good.

I did not agree with Holmes' decision to conceal the confession until after Turner died. Today and, I suppose then, that action would have been considered concealing information or obstruction of justice.

"There but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes." I think Holmes meant that if had a daughter and found himself in a similar circumstance he would probably do the same thing as Turner. I took "…his display of legal talent…"to mean Holmes turned over the evidence he gathered to the defending counsel, however, that would only display his brilliance as a detective.

I thought the ending was very shallow. I realize it was a short story but Conan Doyle ended it too abruptly.

"and must have had the hardihood to return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off…"

Scrawler,

I'm glad you brought that out. When I read the above I found it very hard to swallow. The only thing that might make this action credible is the old man's illness. Turner may have thought, "What the heck it's worth the chance even if he sees me I've nothing too lose, and I accomplished what I wanted…." This is my quote not Turner's or the author's

BaBi,

What you told us about tartans was interesting. I suppose various colors could also show what clans one belonged to.

Thank you for that information about Sydney Paget I particularly liked learning that Paget used his brother for a model. His illustrations are superb and alone are worth the price of any Sherlock Holmes book. . Interesting what all we learn from a book discussion.

BiBi

Sounds good, Ginny, and if it is as cold where you live as it is here you will need that fire. In one of my recent posts I gave a link to a web site that you can click on and listen to the old time radio programs of Raithbone and Watson. Like I said, I copy them to the desk top and then burn them to a disc. I just listened to the "Bruce Parkinton Plans" done by Raithbone and Bruce. So good listening to those two once more. I even enjoyed the annonucer describing what "Groves bromo quinine tablets" can do for a cold ) I believe this program had a date of 1940.

 
l. Would you want James to marry your daughter?  
2. What are the odds of Alice Turner and James McCarthy living happily ever after?

One of the readers asked: Did Sherlock have illegitimate children? Well, in the novel "A Scandal in Bohemia" Watson writes

"TO SHERLOCK HOLMES she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer–excellent for drawing the veil from men’s motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results"

This seems to preclude his having illegitimate children. Perhaps that rumor was spread by Sherlock's old nemesis Professor Moriarity. Maybe Moriarity wanted to pretend he was Sherlock's son )

Irene Adler

I suppose the above illsustration was alos by Sydney Paget, but George Hutchinson also did illustrations for these stories.

"The intriguing illustrations for A Study in Scarlet included here are by George Hutchinson and came from the 1891 Ward, Lock & bowden (London) edition

Although they predate the famous Sidney Paget illustrations and were the first excellent pictorial representations of Holmes, they are rarely reprinted today.

There is a charm, wit, and humanity to these drawings that makes this hsard to understand…."

Bill H

I don't think this was one of Doyle's better Sherlock stories. First, I don't believe Doyle knew what direction he wanted to go with Lestrade. In the beginning of the story it was Mr. Lestrade followed by Inspector Lestrade. Doyle Had him "retained" instead of being sent by Scotland Yard. Then the cover up of the "confession." by Holmes and the recovery of the garment by Mr. Turner only a few feet from were James McCarthy knelt by his father's body without James either hearing or seeing him. Hard to Swallow. But it did make for fun reading.

I'm sure that after this discussion I'll be reading the Sherlock stories with a much more thoughtful viewpoint. I' shall be watching for meaningful clues presented to us by Conan Doyle.

Again, many thank to all of you for making this a great discussion. I hope we can soon do it again with another mystery author.

Thank you for that great post(s)! It was so informative. I'm sorry you missed the Poe discussion we had a few months ago. I'm sure you would've enjoyed it. We had a lot of fun in that discussion with the Ape. The story was The Murder in the Rue Morgue. Thank you for your contribution to this discussion.

Sorry to hear you have the flu. I believe I picked up some kind of an intestinal virus a few days ago, although it seems to be subsiding now. I hope! Thank you for your contributions to this discussion.

To all old time mystery lovers, don't forget to join us in