A review by lezreadalot
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

3.0

“I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.”

3.5 stars. REREAD 2022. Still very remarkable to me that this collection houses one of the best Holmes stories ever (The Three Garridebs: fun, hijinks-y, great character moments and a glimpse of Holmes' heart) and also the absolute fucking worst (The Three Gables: racist as hell, dull, no good intrigue/deductions). The good outweighs the bad in the book, especially since we've got the Illustrious Client and the Blanched Soldier, which are both really dear to me. But the bigotry in a few of the stories is enough to sour me.

As always, the entire Holmes canon isn't something that I can ever approach with complete objectivity, because it's tied up in so much nostalgia and affection for me. So while I have some very real and pertinent problems with some of it, doing these rereads of the entire canon just always makes me really happy.

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I love this book because "The Three Garridebs" goes so hard but I also hate it because "The Three Gables" is racist as shit.