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Cover of The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Book 8 of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

  • 61 pages ยท about 1 hour
  • First published 1891
  • 57 editions

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1 About this book

"The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the eighth story of twelve in the collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was originally published in Strand Magazine in February 1892.

"The Speckled Band" is a classic locked-room mystery that deals with the themes of parental greed, inheritance and freedom. Tinged with Gothic elements, it is considered by many to be one of Doyle's finest works, with the author himself calling it his best story. The story, alongside the rest of the Sherlock Holmes canon, has become a defining part of detective fiction. It has been adapted for television, film, theatre, radio and a video game. It is part of the exhibit at the Sherlock Holmes Museum. The theatrical adaptation was written and produced by Doyle himself, directed by and starring Lyn Harding as Grimesby Roylott. The role of Holmes was played by H. A. Saintsbury.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Good for readers who want: a mystery, adventure, and a short read.

  • Amorality
  • Mystery
  • Locked-room mysteries
  • Private investigators
  • Adventure
  • Crime
  • Anglo-Saxons
  • Aristocracy (Social class)

2 About Arthur Conan Doyle

1859โ€“1930

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 โ€“ 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He is best known for his four novels and fifty-six short stories about the fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, which are milestones in crime fiction, and for his first work featuring Professor Challenger, The Lost World (1912), which gave its name to a subgenre of speculative fiction.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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