I love literature and music. This blog has to do with these—Books (book reviews, articles, essays, authors, etc.), Poetry (loved poems and poets), and Music (songwriters, musicians, bands, songs, lyrics, etc.) They are treasures built up from the same basic building block viz; word(s). Hence the title of this Blog—'Treasures in Words!'
When George Edalji (1876–1953), the eldest son of Reverend Shapurji
and Mrs. Charlotte Edalji (the former a Parsi of Indian origin, and the latter an Englishwoman, who had settled in Staffordshire, central
England) faced unfair accusations of mutilating domestic animals, he approached Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes’s creator) for help.
The latter agreed to investigate the case and campaigned on Edalji’s behalf, leading finally to an admission by the British authorities
that it was a “miscarriage of justice".
The George Edalji case (1903-1907) became famous not only because of Doyle’s association with it but also because, from it, the public
became aware that the British legal system (till then perceived as just) had been crushing an innocent man. Doyle’s intervention was critical
in saving Edalji from more unfair punishment.
Nearly a century and a quarter later, similar miscarriages continue to occur, as in the recent case of Alan Bates vs the British Post Office
(roughly 2000-2024), signifying that the British legal system has not yet cleansed itself from the evils exposed by the Edalji case.
Consequently, it continues to be under watch by concerned citizens, legal experts, historians, reformers, and the like.
This book is a grand compendium of some important books and dramatizations
on the George Edalji case. It includes
Conan Doyle und der Fall Edalji(German film, 1966),
The Edwardians(television series, 1972),
Conan Doyle Investigates(radio play, 1972),
Conan Doyle and the Edalji Case(radio play, 1987),
Conan Doyle's Strangest Case(radio play, 1995),
and Arthur & George by
Julian Barnes, which appeared as a novel (2005), stage play (2010),
and television miniseries (2014).
You can form your own opinion of the case by reading it.
While we look on helplessly, the flesh trade industry takes a toll on thousands upon thousands of poor girls, many of them minors, who are lured, trapped, and sold into a life of shame. Usually, they are forced into exploitation in vice dens. They find their captors too powerful to fight against and prevail. And if threatened, their captors may kill them. This renders them helpless, and because the industry receives tacit support/protection from highly placed persons in governments and law enforcement, it’s practically impossible to root out the flesh trade for good.
However, affected individuals like parents, siblings, and friends cannot sit back—they must fight until they get justice. Outraged by the injustices, some noble souls in the public, not directly related to the victims, also join the fight. In this book, Holmes and his associates fight the wily operatives of the velvet underworld of Victorian England on two occasions to pay them back for their utter wickedness—the first in Cambridge, around 1868, and the second in London, around 1893.
What makes the book stand out is the author’s innovativeness in writing two interlinked mysteries involving the same villain, spaced 25 years apart.
I recommend this book to all fans of Sherlock Holmes worldwide.
Talking of the world of Sherlock Holmes novels, I think the plot rarely gets more complex than in this one.
The Clockmaker’s Bequest is a traditional, full-length Holmes story. The plot revolves around the murder of a brilliant clockmaker and technology wizard who creates a highly advanced clock before his death. The chimes consist of unique musical sequences. Coded within the chimes is the killer’s name.
Holmes needs to crack this complex code to find the killer.
I found it enjoyable and definitely worth reading.
In this crossover story, Holmes comes face-to-face with an odious, Ripper-like serial killer. Their intelligence matches.
The killer is bold and cunning, and a master of disguise. Despite Holmes's best efforts, nine deaths must happen before he and the London police trap and arrest the perpetrator.
Who could the brilliant enemy be? If it isn’t Prof. Moriarty or one of his minions, then who else?
Let’s find out by reading this captivating detective novel.
View the review now?
Sherlock Holmes (and his sidekick, Dr Watson) keeps rolling on.Nearly 140 years after his first public appearance in 1887, and long after
Doyle stopped writing about him, he’s unstoppable!
His fans keep moving him up with the times. By now, they’ve created second-generation detectives who follow his methods,
and imported him into dimensions surely Doyle wouldn’t have even dreamed of (like angels and the celestial world, confrontation
with occult practitioners, etc.) And as we move on in time, what more can we expect? Possibly themes like time travel, interstellar
crime, robot-assisted crime investigation, unraveling criminals causing dystopian tragedies, and more...? Whatever the
new themes, one thing is certain: Sherlock Holmes will continue into the foreseeable future. He refuses to die!
So, what does this collection offer? Five great Holmes short stories,
each neatly solved in about 30 pages!
If you are the impatient kind of reader, look no further, here’s instant gratification for you!
The formula for looting large banks:
distract the police by a prior high-profile crime and while they are disoriented and focused on it,
loot the bank! In this Sherlock Holmes story, the formula is
synchronously applied to steal millions from Banque de France and
Bank of England by an international network of big time criminals. Yet, Sherlock Holmes and his French counterparts snatch victory from
the hands of these powerful criminals just in the nick of time.
There’s a reason why the robberies are committed at the same time and hence the book’s title ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Synchrony
Stratagem’. Read this book to find out, while you uravel a great story!
