Story Review: The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Image courtesy of Goodreads.
The season calls for a fitting story, and this 7th adventure from the collection was the first that came to mind.
At about four in the morning, Inspector Peterson coming home from a Christmas Eve party came upon a man wearing a hat and carrying a Christmas goose, who was being accosted by some ruffians at Goodge Street. However, seeing a man in uniform running towards them, they all rushed off, only the hat and the goose remained on the scene. The good inspector then knocked on Baker Street and handed the hat to Sherlock Holmes in hopes of finding the owner, but took the promising goose home with him.
On the 2nd day after Christmas, Dr. John Watson came to belatedly greet his friend a merry holiday. It wasn’t long after that Inspector Peterson came knocking back and presenting to Sherlock a gem that his wife had found inside the Christmas goose. As it happens, the morning paper just announced that the Countess of Morcar’s Blue Carbuncle was stolen from her room at the Hotel Cosmopolitan.
The mystery then is how in the world did that gem got itself inside the goose?
Aside from the setting, there are several reasons why I love this particular adventure and set it apart from the rest:
(a) There is no client on this adventure. Not that Sherlock cares about that. Clients are no particular to Sherlock, he cares more about solving a good mystery, you see.
(b) Sherlock’s power of deduction is always something to behold. With the use of his magnifying glass alone, he drew some pretty awesome deduction from the tattered hat. No modern science or technology to aid him.
(c) I love how Sherlock smartly duped Mr. Breckenridge into revealing information about his geese supplier through a bet on proving whether the geese were country or town-bred. I can’t help laughing at that scene.
(d) Sherlock being James Bond. No, he was not in the middle of drinking a Shaken Martini before introducing himself to James Ryder, but it was awesome just the same.
My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don’t know.
(e) For a sociopath, Sherlock sure has a golden heart. In spite of all the shreds of evidence he had against the culprit, he let him free in the spirit of Christmas.
After all, Watson… it is just possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward.
(f) This adventure is 79 years older than I am, which made this even more amazing. Now, don’t turn Sherlock on me and deduce my age. You just have to trust me on that information.
It was fun going back to this adventure. I’d love to know what this season has prompted you to read too. Do share.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
If you want to read this story, Lit2Go offers a recorded narrative to go along.
Collected, 7th story from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Rating: 5/5 stars
The Short Story Station 
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