The Adventure of The Speckled Band
A best friend/roommate of a brilliant and eccentric amateur detective narrates how said friend outsmarts the police and solves a locked room mystery in the Victorian era. So, its Sherlock Holmes this week? Actually....yes this time! We meet two of the most famous literary characters in Western canon this week: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson.
The Facts Text: The Adventure of The Speckled Band Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Detective fiction, Mystery, Crime fiction Year: 1892
Available: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Public Domain (Free!)
Content Warning: Violence against women, period typical attitudes about class, race and colonialism.
The Fiction
Of all the stories I've written about and all the ones I will write about in the future I know you've heard of this one, or at least the protagonists of this one. The world's most famous detective, one of the codifiers of mystery and crime fiction, and arguably the birth of modern fandom: Sherlock Holmes. The detective and his loyal doctor were so beloved in their own time that when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle got bored of them and tried to kill Holmes off people mourned. Shops closed, people wore black arm bands to show their grief, and they would not let it go to the point that Doyle resurrected the character to great success a decade later. That fervor and devotion has not lessened in our modern world, and I think its kind of cool that one of our most beloved characters came from serialized and short stories. So lets look at one of those original short stories that made these characters so famous.
The Adventure of the Speckled Band is a locked room mystery with everything that makes a Holmes story great: the Watson and Holmes friendship, Holmes being sympathetic and helping a woman in a hard situation, lots of deductions, and an element of danger. In this story Holmes has to solve a two year old murder in order to save his terrified client from facing the same fate.
Other features include: travelling Romani, an angry stepfather who threatens the Holmes and Watson duo, a locked room, a baboon (yes Poe fans there's a monkey in this one too), a cheetah, suspicious renovations, and Holmes taking a shot in the dark (so to speak). Like last week I don't want to say too much more as this is a mystery, and spoilers, but I will say this case is less about whodunnit, as there's only ever really one aspect, and more about how they did it.
The Feeling Last week I questioned why Poe's Dupin was not as famous a detective as Holmes when he was clearly the archetype for the character. And it is clear that Doyle had read The Murders in the Rue Morgue, as the locked room, and the striking detail of the baboon on the grounds in The Speckled Band are two elements from the Poe story that appear in this one.
So why is this story so successful? What makes this story in particular work as a classic and enduring piece of detective fiction?
I think the Holmes and Watson dynamic can not be overstated. There are some great moments in this story from Holmes waking Watson up early, to their shared encounter with the baboon, to Holmes' confessed worry at brining Watson along into danger that highlight their friendship really well. These characters clearly care about and enjoy spending time together, and so we care about and enjoy spending time with them too. (Again Poe sets up this dynamic with Dupin and his narrator, but the relationship is not as fleshed out as Doyle will get it to, as demonstrated by the fact Poe's narrator, the "Watson" prototype, is never named.)
Another thing that's great about this particular Holmes story is the element of danger. In The Murders in the Rue Morgue Dupin and his narrator only ever have a sense of being in danger themselves at the very end of the story when confronting the suspect, and end up not being in much danger at all. In The Speckled Band the tension and stakes are raised. It is not just a matter of solving a murder, but Holmes needs to solve the case in order to save the life of his client, Helen Stoner, before its too late. Holmes and Watson himself are also put in danger multiple times throughout the story from Ms. Stoner's angry stepfather bursting into Baker Street to threaten them, to spending the night in the dark of the crime scene waiting for the killer to make a move. These immediate stakes and dangerous encounters raise the excitement of the story and make it a more thrilling read.
Finally, I think there is an element to Holmes' character in this story, one that often gets over looked in modern adaptations, that really makes this story work. That is his compassion towards Helen Stoner. Many modern Holmes adaptations play the great detective as a rather rude, and self centered genius who doesn't really care about his clients or the victims, only the case. But that isn't really true to the original character, and definitely not true to this particular story.
While Poe's Dupin is only solving the murders after the fact, Doyle's Holmes is working to solve the case in time to save his client. He shows immense sympathy for Ms. Stoner, most strikingly when he sees the bruises left on her wrist by her stepfather and condemns him for them. Throughout his investigation he takes care to make sure she is safe and that his and Watson's presence is not putting her in more danger. At the end of the story he expresses no regret, and actually seems proud of how he helped her get justice regarding her stepfather. All of these characteristics humanize Holmes. His compassion makes him not only more likeable, but a more engaging protagonist invested in the outcome and livelihood of his client. Personally I think more modern adaptations need to embrace this protective, caring side of the detective.
The Sherlock Holmes stories can be read stand alone and in any order. Although they may occasionally reference another case, you don't need to know previous stories to enjoy any of the others. I think The Speckled Band is a good place to start for a taste of the most famous mystery stories, and some of the most famous short stories in the world.
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