The Return of Sherlock Holmes

Summary

The Return of Sherlock Holmes collects thirteen stories published in The Strand Magazine from 1903 to 1904, after Doyle yielded to a decade of public pressure and brought his detective back from the dead. 'The Adventure of the Empty House' begins in 1894 with the baffling murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair, shot through an open window in a locked room. Watson, investigating on his own, is visited by an elderly book collector who turns out to be Holmes in disguise; Watson faints for the first and only time in his life. Holmes explains that he never fell at the Reichenbach Falls: he used a Japanese wrestling art to throw Moriarty over and then hid for three years, travelling in Tibet and elsewhere, while Moriarty's lieutenant Colonel Sebastian Moran hunted him. That night they trap Moran in the empty house opposite Baker Street as he fires an air gun at a wax bust of Holmes. The remaining stories show Holmes back at full strength. 'The Norwood Builder' unmasks a man who faked his own murder to ruin a young lawyer. 'The Dancing Men' is a cipher story, in which stick figures drawn on a Norfolk garden wall carry messages from an American gangster. 'The Solitary Cyclist' protects a music teacher from a forced marriage. 'The Priory School' finds a duke's kidnapped son and turns on cattle-shoe prints. In 'Charles Augustus Milverton' Holmes and Watson break into the house of a blackmailer, 'the worst man in London', and watch one of his victims shoot him; Holmes declines to help the police. 'The Six Napoleons' traces a pearl hidden in a plaster bust. 'The Abbey Grange' and 'The Second Stain' show Holmes weighing justice against law, letting a decent man go and returning a stolen letter without exposing a frightened wife. These stories are often judged the equal of the first series, and they include some of Holmes's most memorable moral choices: he is a servant of truth who sometimes judges that mercy serves justice better than a prosecution would.

Plot or Argument

• The Empty House

  Holmes returns in disguise, explains his escape from Reichenbach, and traps Colonel Moran, who shoots at a wax bust in the Baker Street window.

• The Norwood Builder and The Dancing Men

  A faked murder is exposed by a thumbprint; a cipher of stick figures is broken too late to prevent a tragedy in Norfolk.

• The Solitary Cyclist and The Priory School

  Holmes protects a young woman on a lonely road and recovers a duke's kidnapped son.

• Charles Augustus Milverton

  Holmes and Watson burgle a blackmailer's house and witness his death at a victim's hands.

• The Six Napoleons to The Second Stain

  From smashed busts to a missing diplomatic letter, Holmes balances law, mercy and discretion.

Characters

• Sherlock Holmes, detective

  Back from apparent death, sharper and sometimes more merciful.

• Dr. John H. Watson, narrator

  Now widowed, he returns to Baker Street.

• Colonel Sebastian Moran, villain

  Moriarty's chief marksman.

• Charles Augustus Milverton, blackmailer

  Smiling extortionist whom Holmes calls the worst man in London.

• Inspector Lestrade, Scotland Yard detective

  Familiar official who still relies on Holmes.

Lessons

• Law and mercy

  In several stories Holmes lets a sympathetic offender go. Students can weigh when mercy fulfils justice and when it undermines it.

  • Was Holmes right to free Captain Croker in The Abbey Grange?
  • What standards does Holmes use in deciding?

• The worst man in London

  Milverton commits no violence but ruins lives by threatening exposure. Doyle presents blackmail as a deep evil.

  • Why does Holmes despise Milverton more than murderers?
  • Was it right for Holmes to break into his house?

• A friend restored

  Watson's joy at Holmes's return shows the depth of their friendship.

  • How does Watson react in The Empty House?
  • What does Holmes owe Watson for three years of silence?

Context

Doyle had killed Holmes in 1893 but revived him for The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901, set before Reichenbach. In 1903 an American offer of a large fee for new stories persuaded him to bring Holmes back for good.

Composition

Thirteen stories appeared in The Strand Magazine and Collier's Weekly from 1903 to 1904, illustrated by Sidney Paget and Frederic Dorr Steele; collected 1905.

Reception

The stories were an immediate success and are often ranked alongside the Adventures; The Empty House and The Dancing Men are among the most anthologized.

Comparisons

• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

  Ends with the Reichenbach Falls, which The Empty House undoes.

• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

  The first series of Strand stories, which these match in quality.

• The Hound of the Baskervilles

  The novel that first brought Holmes back, set before his supposed death.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• How Holmes explains his survival at Reichenbach.
• The method of breaking the Dancing Men code.
• Holmes's reasons for letting certain offenders go.
• How Watson describes Milverton.

Key terms and names

Baritsu

The fictional Japanese wrestling art Holmes says he used against Moriarty.

Air gun

Silent weapon used by Colonel Moran.

Blackmail

Demanding money by threatening to reveal secrets.

Frequency analysis

Breaking a code by counting how often each symbol appears.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension How does Holmes trap Colonel Moran?
2. Comprehension How does Holmes break the Dancing Men code?
3. Interpretation Why does Holmes refuse to help Lestrade find Milverton's killer?
4. Interpretation What does The Abbey Grange show about the difference between law and justice?
5. Interpretation How has Holmes changed since the Memoirs?
6. Big Question When, if ever, should a private person decide not to report a crime?

Faith Connections

• Micah 6:8 (Scripture)

  Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly; Holmes's choices weigh justice and mercy together.

• Luke 15:24 (Scripture)

  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; Watson's joy at Holmes's return echoes the parable's joy.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Justice is more than enforcing law; a wise investigator must sometimes temper the letter of the law with mercy and discretion.

Rhetorical device: dramatic reveal. The elderly bookseller drops his disguise and reveals Holmes standing in Watson's study.

Debate: Resolved: that Holmes was right to let Milverton's killer go free.

Memory Work

“Come, Watson, come!” he cried. “The game is afoot.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Compare Holmes's moral choices in The Abbey Grange and Charles Augustus Milverton.

Comparison with The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: Compare The Final Problem and The Empty House as an ending and a beginning.

Medical Lens

Watson faints from shock at Holmes's return, and Holmes treats him with brandy; physician and patient roles recur lightly through the stories.

• The Empty House

  Watson faints on seeing Holmes alive.

  Physicians Doctors

Creative Prompts

• Fiction

  Write Holmes's diary entry for one day in Tibet during his years of hiding.

• Essay

  Choose two cases in which Holmes lets an offender go free and judge whether he was right.

• Classroom

  Decode a sentence written in the Dancing Men cipher and explain how frequency analysis works.

Further Reading

• His Last Bow, Arthur Conan Doyle

  The next collection.