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jenn

Murder by Death

I read cozy and historical mysteries, a bit of Paranormal/UF, and to mix it up, I read science and gardening books on occasion.

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -  Arthur Conan Doyle, Paul Hogarth

Happy Halloween Bingo 2016 everyone!

 

My first post, my first square - Creepy Crawlies.

 

I chose The Adventure of the Speckled Band from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  It's a re-read but it's easily one of my top 5 favourites of the Holmes canon.

 

A young woman living under the repression of her step-father comes to Holmes in fear for her life, but unable to say what exactly it is she has to fear; only that her twin sister died two years previously under circumstances that are starting to repeat themselves.

 

As a matter of my own personal opinion, nobody does a short story the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle does.  In just a few pages you know all the facts, you're completely at sea as to what could cause them and in another page or so you're in the thick of things.  In one paragraph Doyle ratchets up the tension to nail-biting levels; I always remember the waiting part of this story as stretching out too long, but it's just one paragraph.

 

The result, which I won't discuss because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, is macabre and fantastic.  A little implausible, perhaps, but such a good story.  It's creepy and crawly, it's a locked room mystery, and at one point there's even a dark and stormy night.  What more could you possibly want from a Halloween season read?

 

Creepy Crawly Bingo Square