The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #9

by Arthur Conan Doyle

One of the stories collected in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." It's full of danger with a lesson for us all.

A young London engineer, contracted to service a hydraulic press at a country house, discovers that the owner is using the machine for illegal purposes. After confronting the owner, the engineer narrowly escapes death and loses a thumb when the owner turns on him. The young man, Victor Hatherley, escapes and comes to see Holmes who, upon hearing the story, deduces the actual use of the machine and sets off to bring the evildoers to justice. The main question is, "What's is actually going on at Eyford in Berkshire?"

Librarian's note: this entry is for "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb," the 9th of 12 short stories from the 1892 collection, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." Collections and other stories by the author are located elsewhere on Goodreads. The series includes four novels and 58 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: "a Sherlock Holmes Short Story."

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Detective

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1892

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Aishu Rehman]

The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb takes its name from the basic fact that an engineer, by the name of Victor Hatherley, has had his thumb chopped off in a murderous attack. Hatherley had been employed by a shadowy German figure to repair a hydraulic press, and when the engineer had found out too much its operation.

The case is one with no real mystery; the criminals are known, and even Victor Hatherley knows the reason why the attack occurred. The only possible mystery is the actual location of the press, and whilst Holmes deduces this, on arrival in the general locale, its location is obvious to all.

The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb is one of the handful of cases that was not dramatised by Granada TV for their Jeremy Brett starring Sherlock Holmes series. As such it is often a case that is forgotten about, and of course, as there is no great detective work undertaken by Sherlock Holmes, it is less memorable than many other written stories.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

3.75 stars for "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb," one of the Sherlock Holmes stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (which is a Kindle freebie, at least on Project Gutenberg).



An injured gentleman is brought to Dr. Watson's medical office: his thumb has been cut clean off (ouch!!). After treating him, Watson decides that young Mr. Hatherley needs to tell his story to Sherlock Holmes, so off they go to see the great detective. Hatherley explains to Holmes and Watson that he was engaged by a man with a German accent to check out a hydraulic stamping machine that was having issues.

What is a hydraulic stamping machine? you may ask. (I did.) It's a type of hydraulic press.


I didn't know they had those back in Victorian days, but yes. And the one Hatherley was supposed to fix fills an entire room. For some reason the project was top secret, but Hatherley was being paid well enough for a night's work that he didn't demur. Even being carted to an isolated house in the dead of night, and a grave warning from a woman at the house, didn't convince him to leave. He lives to regret it, but at least he lives to tell the tale. To Sherlock Holmes.

And now it's up to Sherlock to figure out what exactly happened, and why.

This was one of the better stories in the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collection. I didn't figure out the mystery, even though the clues were all there. And there's a very tense scene in the middle of the story!



Okay, not quite like this. But it was pretty scary, in that rather restrained Victorian way.

Free online here at Project Gutenberg as part of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collection.

[Jim Ef]

7.7/10
This starts a bit different. Here we have Watson bringing a client to Holmes.
It all begins when a man is in need of Watson's medical skills. The person is an engineer and has lost his thumb. But it wasn't an accident.. After attending the patient, Watson listens to his story about what happened. There is quite the mystery, so he suggests they pay a visit to his friend Sherlock.

[Igor Zveglic]

The story was published in the "Strand" in March 1892 and set in 1889.

Dr Watson recalls a story of a young hydraulic engineer who entered his consulting room one summer morning seeking medical assistance for he had suffered the most brutal injury by losing a thumb. After attending to his patient, Watson brings him to Baker Street and we learn about the young man's adventures along with Holmes and Watson.
Just yesterday Mr. Hatherley, the engineer, was engaged by one Colonel Lysander Stark to pay him a visit at his home in a small country-place in Berkshire and attend to his hydraulic press that is malfunctioning. Even though the colonel seems to be very secretive and frightening, the engineer is seduced by a huge promised fee and accepts the job. He travels to Eyford, Berkshire and his (mis)adventure begins...
Will Holmes be able to establish what happened and what were the intentions of the guilty party?

Sir Arthur presents yet another very original story. We know who is the criminal from the get go, but we are in the dark for quite a long time regarding their plans and motives. Of course, brilliant deduction by Holmes leads us to the answers and somewhat ambiguous conclusion.

A very good episode in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" adding another layer to the Holmes lore.

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora)]

Este relato también me pareció súper divertido porque empieza de una manera muy extraña, con un hombre con un pulgar cercenado y con un encargo extraño que le hicieron unos supuestos alemanes para que fuera a revisar una prensa hidráulica. Al final todo termina siendo una historia súper extraña que involucra a falsificadores, incendios y casi asesinatos.

Me encantó cómo llegaron a la conclusión, aunque de nuevo no pude adivinarla.

Amo ver a Sherlock actuar y, sobre todo, dejar en ridículo a los de Scotland Yard.

[Lou]

I'm slowly working myself through the Sherlock Holmes stories and I've found some of the stories intriguing, some tiresome, and some exciting. This was definitely more exciting than anything.
The only thing was, there isn't really a mystery to solve other than where the location of the perpetrators are.

[Mohammed Ali]

مغامرات شارلوك هولمز، تأليف السيد آرثر كونان دويل

قضية "إبهام المهندس" هي القضية -أو المغامرة- التاسعة من مغامرات شارلوك هولمز .

من القضايا القليلة التي بقيت مفتوحة وبدون نهاية محددة، هي قصة أحد المهندسين (مهندس هيدروليكي) استدعي من طرف شخص ألماني (اتضح في الأخير أنه عضو في عصابة لتزوير العملات الفضية) فلما أحس هذا الشخص بخداع الرجل الألماني قرر الهرب لكنه قوبل بهجوم حاد تسبب في قطع إبهامه، ليلجأ إلى الدكتور واطسون لعلاجه والذي بدوره حوله إلى زميله شارلوك لمسعادته في فهم ملابسات هذه القضية الغامضة.

[Razvan Banciu]

Medium as usual, even a bit darker than other stories involving Holmes.
The only bright idea is Sherlock's assumption that the carriage moved in a sort of circle, so the distance from the railway station to the house is almost zero.

[Maliha Tabassum Tisha]

3.75 stars

Not a mystery in the classic sense of the word, but quite enjoyable nonetheless.

[ESRAA MOHAMED]

شيرلوك هولمز❤️ ❤️ أذكي وأنبغ وأجرأ تحري خاص في عالم الروايات قدرته المدهشة علي استخلاص الحقائق من تفاصيل صغيرة تُدهشك 😎😎...
يفقد مهندس هيدروليكي إبهامه وتُرشده الصدفة إلي الدكتور واطسون الذي يقدمه لشيرلوك هولمز ويبدأ في سرد مغامراته مع تعقيبات للمتحري خاصتنا مما يجعله يكتشف عصابة لتزوير العملة ...
استمتعوا ..
دمتم قراء ... ❤️ ❤️

[Ahtims]

A hydraulic engineer who is called for some work gets more than he bargained for.
Not a very interesting mystery , just readable.

[SHERINE]

3.5/5

[Yousra]

في إطار ممارسة القراءة الخفيفة للخروج من المزاج السيئ بسبب الحظ السيئ والإرهاق الناتج عن أعباء مدرسة أولادي، ومن بعد أن أعدت قراءة بعض أعداد ما وراء الطبيعة القديمة، تهيأت نوعا ما للعودة للقراءة عن طريق عمل جديد خفيف ممثلا فيما هو متوفر لدي من أعداد تلك السلسلة التي لم أكن أنتوي الإحتفاظ بها لنفسي لولا بعض الظروف السعيدة لي بصفتي قارئة تسعد بأي كتاب مطبوع يتوفر لديها :))

مغامرة ممتعة ومختلفة عن العدد الذي قرأته قبلا سواء من حيث أسلوب الكتابة ودور هولمز المحدود فيها وحتى النهاية التي راقت لي كثيرا

استمتعت بها وبرسوماتها كثيرا

[Cora Tea Party Princess]

5 Words: Perfect length for a cuppa.

Well, that one was a little gruesome, wasn't it?

Loved the pace of this one and how it was quite different from the previous ones, even if the ending was a little anti-climatic.

[itsdanixx]

"The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" is the ninth story in the The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes story collection, the third publication in the Sherlock Holmes series (after the first two novels, so the first story collection).

Watson treats a patient who comes to him with a cut thumb. The man, an engineer, tells him of how he got the cut - whilst narrowly escaping being killed after being hired for a very secretive job that turned out to be more than a little suspicious - Watson brings him to Holmes to investigate.

A great crime thriller style short.

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ)]

An open end.. Even Sherlock's ingeniosity didn't help hein.. Another great one!

[Shaimaa أحمد]

فقد إبهامه إنقاذاً لحياته
و أكتشف أنه ذهب ليصلح آلة تزويير النقود بدلاً من آلة رفع المياه
كما أخبره الرجل زعيم العصابة

ممتعة و أعجبتني
🌠🌠🌠🌠

[Bill]

I must admit that I loved the bizzare mystery that Arthur Conan Doyle sets up in this story. In fact this was far more interesting than Sherlock Holmes solving the case itself.

[Jack Heath]

4 Stars. Here we have a cautionary story of youth and the risks we sometimes take at the start of our working life. It's a puzzlement! This 21 pager comes from "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," from 1992. It appeared in "The Strand" earlier the same year. I read it in "Sherlock Holmes The Complete Novels and Stories" of 2020. Early one morning, a patient who works at Paddington Station knocks on Dr. Watson's door. He has in tow a young man who suffered a grievous injury - he lost his thumb in an industrial-related crime. The young man is Victor Hatherley, a hydraulic engineer. The previous night a cleaver wielded by an erstwhile employer had separated him from his digit. He hints at an astounding story, the evidence of which could be illusive. Quickly Watson discerns it is a case for Sherlock Holmes and takes him to Baker St. Hatherley tells of the difficulties he has had starting his career, and of Colonel Stark's extraordinary commission of 50 guineas (each is worth just over a pound) for one night's work. To be kept secret. Should he have been suspicious and declined? There's the cautionary aspect. Experience can difficult to come by. (July 2021)

[Claudia DR]

Well, it started well, really... but there wasn't any investigation! I didn't like it much, even though I give it a score of 3/5 because I had very high expectations when I was reading the first part.

[Katja Labonté]

4 stars & 4/10 hearts. This story used to be a little disturbing to me—probably because I read an abridged version as a child and was horrified by the death method. Now, however, I find it much more interesting. The engineer, in particular, struck me as an example of a Victorian freelancer. The romance of the beautiful woman and the murderous colonel, with the silent doctor, will always fascinate me. The way Holmes guessed the truth, and the twist of the ending, create a rather unusual tale in the Sherlockian annals…

Content: Brief description of a wound; 1 euphemism; mention of a horrific death man is pressed to death in a machine; another man is nearly so but manages to escape.

A Favourite Humorous Quote: “Well,” said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return once more to London, “it has been a pretty business for me! I have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I gained?”
“Experience,” said Holmes, laughing. “Indirectly it may be of value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your existence.”

[Crime Addict Sifat]

This short story was different compared to the other’s as it didn’t follow the usual pattern of Sherlock Holmes introducing the case. Rather, this time, it was Watson who did so, and in his narration he mentions it was one of the only two he had ever introduced. This short is also the second in the novel in which the case is not brought to justice or a definite conclusion.

[Jason Parent]

Another favorite so far!

[Candleflame23]

.
.
دعوة من شخص مجهول كلفت مهندس
إبهامه ! وقادته بعد ذلك إلى الطبيب
واطسون وهنا التقى المهندس بمحققنا
الذكي شارلوك هولمز وتبدأ بعد تلك المقابلة
عملية تحليل المشهد كعادة هولمز العبقرية .

‏
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رواية خفيفة ❤️
.
.
#تمت
#أبجدية_فرح 3/5
#قضية_إبهام_المهندس #شارلوك_هولمز
#أرثر_كونان_دويل #كتاب_صوتي ❤️📚
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.
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#تحدي_استراحة_السيدات
#استراحة_السيدات
#كتاب_من_أدب_اليافعين
#تحدي_4_كتب_بشهر
.
.

[Jaksen]

This one gets only three lonely stars...



There are just too many 'errors' in this one, which leads me to believe this was written at breakneck speed. Really. Some things just don't make sense. And yes, I'm reading an annotated version, which points out multiple 'don't-make-sense' things, and where there is no continuity from one section to the next. It's an enjoyable read - a young fellow who's lost his thumb shows up at Dr. Watson's door, and after getting 'treated,' asks to see Sherlock Holmes. It's a great premise, just not greatly presented.

Plus they don't catch the bad guys, which is sort of odd for this series.



Three stars, or a C-. Sir Arthur CAN do better.

[Sara]

قصة جيدة لكنها ليست بوليسية بالمعني العام ، أين دور هولمز بالتحديد غير اكتشاف مكان المنزل الفارغ !!
نهاية مفتوحة و شخصيات سطحية و فكرة عابرة كمرور الكرام !! .

[Younes Attoune]

قطعة كعك انهي بها تحدي 20 كتاب في السنة ، كانت نهاية موفقة مع مغامرات شيرلوكوهولمز
قصة كشف فيها هولمز ملابسات قطع ابهام مهندس هيدروليك ،

[Nikki]

Well this story started when a patient came to Watson in the train station profusely bleeding and pale, from there we discovered how he had gotten that way and why he was looking to report it to the police. It was all because a gang wanted the engineers help fixing their machine so they could carry on making money, when the engineer had fixed the machine the suspicious group decided they had to kill him to keep him silent about what they were doing. He told this story to Holmes and Watson who worked out who they were and what they wanted from this man in question.

This is one of the rarer stories where there is no real solution to this mystery and no real justice is served which is unusual in Holmes book but it doesn't distract from the interesting story and the fast pace of this tall tale.

[Vimal Thiagarajan]

How Doyle weaves so much darkness into such a small narrative is a thing to be marveled at. This is one story which bears testimony to the fact that The Adventures of Holmes series is not just limited to and limited by Holmesian deductions.

[G.M.SADRIL HASAN]

হাইড্রোলিক প্রেস মেরামত করার জন্য একজন রহস্যময় জার্মান ব্যক্তিত্ব দ্বারা প্রকৌশলী মিঃ ভিক্টর হ্যাদার্লিকে নিযুক্ত করা হয়েছিল। মিঃ হ্যাদার্লি যখন বুঝতে পারেন যে এই প্রেসটি অনৈতিক কোনো কাজে ব্যবহৃত হচ্ছে তখন সেই জার্মান তাকে হত্যা করার সিদ্ধান্ত নেন। নিজ প্রাণ নিয়ে মিঃ হ্যাদার্লি পালিয়ে আসতে পারলেও আততায়ীর ছুড়ির আঘাতে কাটা পড়ে তার বুড়ো আঙ্গুলটি। কেসটি সত্যিকারের রহস্যের সাথে এক; অপরাধীরা পরিচিত, এমনকি ভিক্টর হ্যাদার্লিকে আক্রমণটি কেন করা হয়েছিল তাও জানে। একমাত্র সম্ভাব্য রহস্য হলো প্রেসের আসল অবস্থান এবং কী কাজে ব্যবহৃত হচ্ছে এই প্রেসটি।