#91 A Scandal in Bohemia- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Yes, this is about Sherlock Holmes, and why not? He was “the
most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen…” The man
who “loathed every form of society with his whole bohemian soul…buried among
his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition.”
Who wouldn’t want to read a story about Sherlock Holmes?
As with most of the Holmes stories, this one is narrated by
his assistant Dr. Watson. This has all the telltale markings of a good Sherlock
Holmes mystery, all the intrigue, scandal, blackmail, plot twists, and of
course the secret identities that he assumes:
“It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His
expression, him manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part he
assumes. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoned,
when he became a specialist in crime.”
The King of Bohemia has had a lurid affair with a woman
below his station, Irene Adler. She threatens to make public the affair with
proof of a photograph. Retrieving that evidence is Holmes mission. A fantastic
series of pranks, and deductive tricks ensues.
In the end, the King is safe from humiliation, but Holmes is bested by
the equal mind of Irene. Fun!
Notable Passage: “It is a capital mistake to theorize before
one has data.”
