The Sherlock Holmes canon includes a total of 60 stories from the original author, AC Doyle. Of the 60, only four were full novels including this one. The rest are short stories published in five books, totaling 9 books. The first two stories penned by Doyle were the novels, Study in Scarlet (where Holmes and Watson first meet), and A Sign of the Four (which includes Watson meeting his wife). This is followed by short stories in book 3, the Adventures of SH. Ideally the stories are best read in order, but not critical. Unlike the rest of the canon, the two novels, Hound of the Baskervilles and Valley of Fear, can be read at any time - especially since they each defy the chronology. Hound was written about 8 years after the short story, The Final Solution, when Holmes died in a mortal struggle with the Napoleon of crime, Professor Moriarty, who was also killed. (But, Holmes doesn't die and is brought back, very cleverly and very credibly, 10 years later, in the story, The Empty House, written 2 years after Hound. Anyway, 10 years after all that Doyle wrote, The Valley of Fear - which is one of two stories that include Prof Moriarty - this is not a spoiler to the story and the Prof is only talked about in present tense. I guess my point is, this novel, and Hound of the Baskervilles can be read at any time whereas everything else is slightly better if read in order. Okay, enough of the background on the canon.
Valley of Fear is simply a great read with wonderful twists at the end that the reader will not likely see coming. I would put Valley and Hound as the two best novels, with Hound perhaps slightly better, but better is all about taste and preference. Anyway, this novel is broken down into two main parts, Part 1 is the Murder mystery, who killed...? Part 2 is a backstory, about 20 years earlier and has nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes. The part 2 story provides the motivation for the murder mystery in part 1. This format is the same as found in the first two novels but the backstory here is probably the best of the three - Doyle now has almost 30 years of writing experience. There is a very short part 3, the Epilogue which brings us back to Baker Street for a final update.
The Valley of Fear part 1 mystery the reader gets most of the clues the same time as Holmes does and is more or less free to try to figure things out himself but as I mentioned, there are twists and nothing in Valley of Fear is what it seems!!!! One noticeable difference for myself, who has now read 7 of the 9 books, and possibly fellow Sherlockians, is that the deep friendship between Holmes and Watson is just not there. The first page was almost disturbing in that regard. Watson is more of an object then a subject to Holmes, more like the modern adaptations. It's just something that jumped out at me since other than the
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series
series, which is extremely faithful to the original stories, Holmes and Watson have a deep personal friendship and respect. Watson is a friend, gentlemen, medic, soldier, and chronicler - not the bumbling sidekick of the Basil Rathbone movies. Anyway, the story, both part 1 and 2, are excellent and much better than I expected. Highly recommended.
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Top reviews from other countries
Les Brock
A great Tale, If A Little Drawn Out
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2024
ecnrb
The Valley of Fear - O Vale da Morte, Conan Doyle
Reviewed in Brazil on November 25, 2019
