Classics Considered

While many Sherlock Holmes stories lend themselves to spooky season, I found myself especially creeped out by His Last Bow. This 1917 collection contains some of the most gruesome (and memorable) episodes in the entire series, along with an inordinate dose of Mysterious Women and Sinister Foreigners. Dated elements aside, I really enjoyed His Last Bow, and it made me think maybe Doyle also enjoyed this outing. Having not succeeded in killing his monster, he must at least have a bit of fun.

What really brings His Last Bow back on par with earlier Holmes outings is its unrestrained novelty. Has any other Victorian collection featured severed ears, poisonous plants, and… imperial Germans? My favorite tale might still be “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax”—although whether my partiality originates in the text or in the chilling Jeremy Brett adaptation, it’s hard to say. I just know that I really like Sherlock Holmes and Watson breaking into houses. We need more of this, I say.

Though the side characters’ relationships feel shallower to me than in earlier collections, Holmes and Watson’s comradeship has never been stronger. It is put thoroughly to the test in “The Dying Detective” and “The Devil’s Foot,” and our long-suffering Watson proves again that Holmes would be lost without his Boswell. In the oddly third-person “His Last Bow: An Epilogue of Sherlock Holmes,” we see this relationship as an outsider, no less heartwarming for being a bit distant.

The titular story is a bit of a misfit, as it takes place during WWI and is more of a propaganda piece than a mystery. It feels exactly like one of the Basil Rathbone WWII movies that became so famous. I have the fondest memories watching all the Rathbone movies with my little brother (it was our “project”), so this is not a complaint, just an observation. Doyle, for his part, was no stranger to writing in the service of the state; it’s believed he was knighted for his book on the Second Boer War.

Considering I have yet to finish my reread of The Valley of Fear, I can say I really enjoyed my reread of His Last Bow. There is just The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes left, which we will read in December. I have previously read some of the extras like “How Watson Learned the Trick,” but officially speaking, the series ends with The Case-Book.