A review by youniseader
The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle

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 .
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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 .
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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 .