Reviews

El Valle del Miedo by Arthur Conan Doyle

youniseader's review against another edition

3.0

The Valley of Fear is a detective novel of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . It is the fourth and the last novel Sherlock Holmes of Conan Doyle . As the other three novels of Doyle, it is thoughtfully-written , well-descriptive and the clever chronological organization of the events makes the reader enjoys and feels the awe of Doyle’s style. I loved the story and what I loved most was the precise author’s imagination of the stor as well as the relations between the events throughout the story .
The first part of the novel starts with Sherlock Holmes receiving a cipher message from Fred Porlock, an agent of Professor Moriarity. Porlock was afraid that Moriarity would discover what he has sent, afraid of being killed for treasonso he decides to send a note to cipher the message . Sherlock Holmes could decipher the message that was a warning of a crime that will happen . And so it did . Then Inspector Macdonald arrives at Baker Street to declare that Mr. John Douglas of Birlstone Manor House, Birlstone, Sussex was killed , and he is amazed to know that Sherlock knew that already . So, Sherlock, his companion Watson and Inspector Macdonald travel to Birlstone House, (the place of the crime)to solve the mystery of the crime .
The murdered man is Mr Douglas. His head was blown and parted into pieces . Cecil Baker, who is Mr Douglas’s friend was the first one who saw the corpse and narrates what he has witnessed . But the case is very dodgy as the chamber where Mr Douglas was killed overlooks on a moat .There is a drawbridge that is closed at 6:00 PM and the man was murdered at 23:00.
Sherlock Holmes and detective McDonald start investigating the matter immediately after examining all the details that was in the room where Mr Douglas was shot and killed . They find a card with initials “V.V” on it and Douglas’s wedding ring missing, and also some kind of tattoo of a triangle within a circle in Douglas arm as well as a muddy boot-print next to the window . After thorough deductions and deep observations done by Sherlock Holmes , the matter is unexpectedly solved in an awe manner .
The second part of the novel talks about the historical context of the previous matter . It takes the reader some years back in time before the crime was done in a different country and a different place . This way of plotting is common in all Doyle’s novels . At the end ,the author makes a very clever connection between the first part and the second part and giving the novel an open end to make the reader eager to follow the sub-sequent stories .
-
As far as a Sherlock Holmes’ fan, I loved the story and I finished the novel with more admiration for the great author Conan Doyle . What I love in Doyle’s novels is the specific description of the events and the characters that gave me a clear picture of the story in my mind , which I see as an amazing exercise of the imagination . I like the clever sequence of the crime and its solution Yet, what I liked more was the second part . The second part detaches from the first part definitely that you even want to stop reading as the connection of the two is too far, but after going through the events, you find yourself nodding at the exquisite way of relating the two parts together in only few pages . The novel discusses themes of moral ambiguity and truly enhances logical thinking .
-
As a final thought, the Valley of Fear is one of the best novels of Arthur Conan Doyle due to the smart organization of the events, the mysterious ending of the plot . It will undoubtedly delight the realistic readers and the lovers of mystery and the fans of detective stories .

sbrewer71's review against another edition

4.0

Another Sherlock Holmes mystery

This was a good story with half of it focused on the mystery that Sherlock is investigating and the second half about the American, Douglas, who had fled to England. The story ends with a little twist when Douglas appears to have been killed by Moriarty.

wkubica's review against another edition

5.0

To było moje pierwsze spotkanie ze słynnym detektywem w wersji papierowej i nie spodziewałam się, że będzie aż takie dobre! Książka nie była dla mnie ani trochę przewidywalna i szczerze powiedziawszy nie domyśliłam się tych dwóch plot twistów. Może to być spowodowane tym, że na co dzień nie sięgam po taki rodzaj literatury, więc mój umysł nie przywykł do rozwiązywania kryminalnych zagadek, także nie wiem czy książka nada się dla starych wyjadaczy, ale mi zdecydowanie się podobała.

rjea's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

samanthawattam's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

laz_'s review against another edition

3.0

3.25 or 3.5 stars idk ratings are subjective

So I actually kind of enjoyed one of ACD’s novellas!!! Usually I find the extra backstory padding he includes to make a short story a longer novella really tiresome and poorly inserted, but this, while just as disconcerting, is actually equally as interesting and had a lot of twisty murder goodness that I’ve been wishing from other Sherlock stories.

I still stand by the fact that the short story collections are better reads than the longer length novellas, but this one kind of has rights I guess ??

closteroven's review against another edition

3.0

(5/10)- Not my favourite. It was an interesting (but somewhat predictable) case, and the ending surprised me, but the entire explanation plot line was completely unnecessary and was longer than the actual Sherlock Holmes part. Definitely not my favourite.

sarahlreadseverything's review against another edition

3.0

2.5 rounded up. Probably my least favourite of the Holmes books to date - the structure is definitely a product of its time - maybe cutting edge then but outdated today. We know the resolution to the mystery by half way through, so then going back in time to document the lead-up to it has no narrative tension.

limmaren's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

nyom7's review against another edition

5.0

I enjoyed learning about a time in US history that I knew nothing about. Whilst I probably prefer on the whole the short story collections of Sherlock Holmes this single story was captivating and did not drag in any way thanks to it basically being two separate stories that are linked.