Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Dancing Men (On the Case with Holmes and Watson) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

On the Case with Holmes & Watson #4

by Murray Shaw

"Can Holmes decode the message of the dancing men? When Hilton Cubitt finds strange messages around his house, he is puzzled. When his wife sees them, she is terrified! Cubitt turns to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson for answers. Will the duo be able to crack the case before disaster strikes?"

Genres: Graphic Novels, Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, Classics, Historical Fiction

Paperback

About the author

Murray Shaw is a kitchen designer and a writer of books for children about Sherlock Holmes.

Reviews

[Anthonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always liked Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed reading this adventure in comic book form more like graphic novel form. A must read

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and ultimately sad story for Holmes revolving a married couple in a stately home and mysterious symbols which they find. This was ultimately a rather good story as we see Holmes willing to work with a local inspector rather than letting his ego take hold and solve it himself.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love me some Sherlock Holmes!!!!

[Katie Solt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is my favorite add of all of the book

[Siddharth Shyam sunder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood prank or a carefully crypted text, only person can solve this case 😁

[Karisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another tricky mystery, but with an unsatisfying, sad ending.

[Jacqueline Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Level: Q
Book Level: 4.0
Book Summary: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson help a man decipher secret codes that he keeps finding around his house that are scaring his wife terribly. After receiving a number of notes, Holmes deciphers the code, a little too late, and then solves the murder and the mystery.

Mentor Book Writing Trait:
This murder mystery graphic novel demonstrates how important presentation can be for a story. The pictures add so many details to the story that would otherwise be missed. You know who's talking by who's in the pictures and you can see what evidence is found and what the secret code looks like because of the pictures. This emphasizes to students that you can say a lot with a picture. You could then encourage students to make their own book about the adventures of Sherlock and Watson where the pictures really help depict the crime, the mystery, the evidence, and the solution.

This could also be a great mentor text for learning about patterns and coding. This book could be used as an introduction to teaching about codes and having students eventually create their own code. You could talk about how their are different types of cryptography and ask students to identify what type is used in the book. Then you could have them create their own and identify what type it is. They could then share with a partner and try to crack each other's codes.

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

considering the reason I read this now instead of later when I would have reached it in the reading order of Sherlock Holmes is that we're comparing it with the episode of BBC Sherlock that it is based off of I feel like I am entitled to say that the episode would have been better if they'd tried to stick more to this fun little short story instead of the odd and slightly racist one they produced in the show.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

As long as I was reading Sherlock Holmes, I thought that I might as well read this very short book. I’m glad I did.

99% of the story takes place in two rooms – one Holmes’ on Bakers Street. It wasn’t as much of an “mystery” as is was a “puzzle” with insights into Holmes’ personality and powers of deductive reasoning…Cool.

[Brian Sison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another short story of Holmes & Watson. The whole mystery revolves around a simple replacement encryption code - not exactly the best example of Holmes' superior intellect. Also, I'm not a fan of the fact that Holmes' client ends up dead. Still a good read, but definitely not my favorite.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s good, not great. The medium of graphic novel helps to picture the story as it happens, but it loses some of the plot and the richness of the language. Still, a good introduction for young kids to the World’s Greatest Consulting Detective.

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this fourth adventure, Hilton Cubbit turns to Sherlock Holmes when he begins to find mysterious messages around his house. Kid's who like secret codes may enjoy trying to solve the case!

[Shiela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love coded messages! Fun mini mystery for kids.

[Deirdre · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly illustrated.

[Luca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all of the comics for the Sherlock Holmes books. Really funny and exciting.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holmes cracks a code of dancing men to solve a murder. There was no way I was going to solve this or even know what he was up to on my own.

[St Stephen's C C]

This series introduces a tried and true character in a visually contemporary way. It will be an excellent addition to any collection for readers of the universal sleuth.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elementary, my dear Watson. Elementary.

[pastelreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

similar to the beginning of the murders in the rue morgue and the end of the gold bug! i loved it haha

[Jan Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, Holmes makes monumental leaps in his conclusions. No evidence necessary. He knows everything and is an expert in everything. But it was an interesting tale.