Reviews

The Valley of Fear is the final full-length novel written by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes, but canonically it takes place prior to The Sign of Four in the timeline.

It begins with Holmes tracking the activities of his arch nemesis, Professor Moriarty, through his connections. However, his workings are interrupted by the visit from the police who request Holmes' assistance on a case in the countryside. A man has been brutally murdered.

From here, the story follows Holmes and Watson as they explore the scene of the crime accompanied by London inspector MacDonald and local detective White Mason. Their investigation leads the two parties down separate paths of inquiry, but Holmes, of course, makes the case shattering discovery which turns everything up on its head.

The second half of the story takes us back in time and across the ocean to America to provide the backstory for the parties involved in the case similar to A Study in Scarlet. It may seem jarring to first time readers of Doyle's Holmes stories, but I am well acquainted with it by now and paid it of no mind. The story itself was fascinating and moved along at a good pace. Much like Holmes himself, Doyle adds a dramatic flourish to the events and, though somewhat predictable, they still have plenty of intrigue and tension to make a good yarn. Though not quite as complex as The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear is a fun and interesting entry in Holmes' repertoire.

blow_'s review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

curlyhairedbooklover's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

4.0

nicole_schmid's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

[read in the German translation by H. D. Herzog]
I would say this book is quite of its time. The depiction of workers (who had been fired by a good boss for being drunk and lazy and not working) trying to blackmail or kill their boss for firing them was icky, as well as the way big conglomerates taking power instead of small, privately owned businesses was portrayed as good. Capitalism is criticised by a murderer, enough so that it sounds like a mockery. I also found the second part of the story overly long; taking out some details about which not-important character killed which not-appearing character could have helped with that. We get that they're killers, we don't need their every conversation to be about having killed someone or planning to kill someone or ordering someone to kill someone.
I cannot say whether I once read this book ten years ago, but still remembered it subconsciously, or if I'm permanently damaged by all the police procedurals I liked to watch, but there was no great mystery hidden in either part of the story for me. Not that there has to be! I still enjoyed seeing how Holmes came to his conclusions. The second half, however, hinged too much on a plot-twist reveal for me to enjoy it much.