The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Entry 4

February 25th 2012
Book Pages(212-280)


Entry IV:
Stories: The Engineer's Thumb/Red-Headed League

    In this adventure, a young hydraulic mechanic Mr. Victor Hatherly, lost his thumb to a machine, which Dr. Watson came by and treated him, Holmes was there with Watson. At the hospital, a mechanic chief, Colonel Stark, offers Mr. Hatherly a job, he agrees, but Holmes becomes weary. One day, Colonel Stark was locked up in a shack, and the new facility was burned down by an imposter of Colonel Stark and other henchmen. Luckily, Holmes and Watson were nearby and managed to save Hatherly, but runs away later in fear. Holmes realized the story, there were criminals who wanted Hatherly's job, but failed to make the cut, so they planned to destroy the facility. This case may be solved, but Holmes failed to stop the criminals in this story.
   In this last adventure, a red-headed man, Mr. Wilson, tries to get himself a job in a bank, but turns out to be in line with red-haired people like him. Holmes and Watson are contacted once more to inquire about the red-haired style like Mr. Wilson's. Holmes learns of the case and claims that the "league of red-heads" was a set-up by bank robbers who plan to rob a nearby bank, but their choice of disguise was a red-haired person. Incidentally, their choices were all same by coincidence. They were arrested in the next day.
   This book is full of dramatic insight and adventures that bring the reader to wonder how mysteries can be solved. The novel has turned suspenseful and difficult enigma into a series of episodes of logic that can be solved by Sherlock Holmes. The stories are interesting to what Holmes truly thinks and determines how the criminal tried to perform an act of impossible. This book takes the idea of a set of riddles and turns it into a set on how to solve them.
    I really believe that everyone should read this book. Especially those with a taste of solving puzzles or mysteries and how ancient forensics were used and criminal motives could be used today. This book brings great tales and teaches us how to use our brain power for any issues and how what criminals demand from their acts. I like the novel that a mercenary detective and a known doctor try to save lives, but how they interact and their cooperation with other people and how to solve the case at hand. I recommend this book to everyone.