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On the Case with Holmes & Watson #9
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Six Napoleons
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson learn of a criminal destroying Napoleon busts all over London. At first, they aren’t sure what to think. But when the criminal turns to murder, they know they must take action. Can they solve the case before the statue-smashing lunatic strikes again?
48 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2011
27 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Murray Shaw
38 books7 followersMurray Shaw is a kitchen designer and a writer of books for children about Sherlock Holmes.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 21, 2024
La resolución fue un poco de sorpresa, me hubiera gustado más tiempo para hacer más sospechas y más conexiones. Me gustó como se iban siguiendo las pistas, muy bueno para ser la primera historia qué leo del famoso Sherlock
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January 7, 2012This book was really confusing at first, because they said so much names that it was hard to keep up with them. Its basically about Holmes and Lestrade trying to solve who keeps going into peoples houses and smashing the Napolian heads. After that they found an Italian boy that had his throut cut in the street beside a Journalists home. Holmes found a picture in the dead mans pocket and went to the company to ask if they knew the boy in the picture. Holmes found out that the boy in the picture worked for the factory and got kicked out when the police caught him stabing another person in the streets late at night. While Lestrade exaimined the body and found out information about the killer by the investigator that told him that the killer was in some kind of mofia. There were two more statues left so Holmes, Lestrade, and the narator, all went to a house in Londen because they knew that it was nearest to the other houses that were being broken in. They wanted to find the real reason that these cheap sculptures were being smashed in pieces. Its intersing how holmes solves the case just by taking time to look at the surroundings before he decides his next move into solving the problem. Over all it was pretty intersting compared to the other mystery books that I have read.
January 1, 2025
تُعد قصة “النابولنيات الستة” من مغامرات شيرلوك هولمز التي كتبها السير آرثر كونان دويل، ونُشرت ضمن مجموعة “عودة شيرلوك هولمز” عام 1904. تدور أحداث القصة حول سلسلة من الحوادث الغامضة المتعلقة بتحطيم تماثيل صغيرة لنابليون بونابرت. في البداية، تبدو الحوادث عشوائية وغير مهمة، لكنها تتطور لتشمل جريمة قتل وتكشف عن وجود لؤلؤة مسروقة تُعرف باسم “لؤلؤة بورجيا”، مخبأة داخل أحد التماثيل.
القصة تستعرض بوضوح أسلوب كونان دويل في بناء الألغاز المعقدة التي تبدأ بتفاصيل صغيرة تتشابك لتشكل حبكة مترابطة. كما أن العلاقة بين شيرلوك هولمز والدكتور واطسون تضيف بعدًا إنسانيًا للحكاية، مع لمسات من الفكاهة وسط توتر الأحداث.
وعلى الرغم من أن “النابولنيات الستة” تُعتبر قصة جيدة ضمن مغامرات شيرلوك هولمز، إلا أنها ليست من أفضل أعمال كونان دويل. هناك قصص أخرى ضمن السلسلة تحمل حبكات أكثر تشويقًا وتعقيدًا، مثل “فضيحة في بوهيميا” أو “كلب آل باسكرفيل”، التي تبرز بشكل أكبر عبقرية هولمز في مواجهة تحديات أكثر إثارة. مع ذلك، تبقى “النابولنيات الستة” إضافة ممتعة لعالم شيرلوك هولمز، خاصة لمن يهتم بالتفاصيل الدقيقة في التحقيقات.
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons is one of Sherlock Holmes’ cases written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1904. The story revolves around a series of mysterious incidents involving the smashing of small busts of Napoleon Bonaparte. Initially, these events seem random and insignificant, but they escalate to include a murder and reveal the existence of a stolen pearl known as the “Borgia Pearl,” hidden inside one of the busts.
The story clearly demonstrates Doyle’s skill in crafting intricate mysteries that begin with seemingly minor details, which later interweave to form a cohesive plot. The dynamic between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson adds a human touch to the narrative, with moments of humor interspersed amidst the tension.
While The Adventure of the Six Napoleons is a good story within the Sherlock Holmes canon, it is not among Doyle’s best works. Other stories, such as A Scandal in Bohemia or The Hound of the Baskervilles, feature more thrilling and complex plots that better showcase Holmes’ brilliance. Nevertheless, The Six Napoleons remains an enjoyable addition to the world of Sherlock Holmes, particularly for readers who appreciate the intricacies of detailed investigations.
القصة تستعرض بوضوح أسلوب كونان دويل في بناء الألغاز المعقدة التي تبدأ بتفاصيل صغيرة تتشابك لتشكل حبكة مترابطة. كما أن العلاقة بين شيرلوك هولمز والدكتور واطسون تضيف بعدًا إنسانيًا للحكاية، مع لمسات من الفكاهة وسط توتر الأحداث.
وعلى الرغم من أن “النابولنيات الستة” تُعتبر قصة جيدة ضمن مغامرات شيرلوك هولمز، إلا أنها ليست من أفضل أعمال كونان دويل. هناك قصص أخرى ضمن السلسلة تحمل حبكات أكثر تشويقًا وتعقيدًا، مثل “فضيحة في بوهيميا” أو “كلب آل باسكرفيل”، التي تبرز بشكل أكبر عبقرية هولمز في مواجهة تحديات أكثر إثارة. مع ذلك، تبقى “النابولنيات الستة” إضافة ممتعة لعالم شيرلوك هولمز، خاصة لمن يهتم بالتفاصيل الدقيقة في التحقيقات.
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons is one of Sherlock Holmes’ cases written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1904. The story revolves around a series of mysterious incidents involving the smashing of small busts of Napoleon Bonaparte. Initially, these events seem random and insignificant, but they escalate to include a murder and reveal the existence of a stolen pearl known as the “Borgia Pearl,” hidden inside one of the busts.
The story clearly demonstrates Doyle’s skill in crafting intricate mysteries that begin with seemingly minor details, which later interweave to form a cohesive plot. The dynamic between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson adds a human touch to the narrative, with moments of humor interspersed amidst the tension.
While The Adventure of the Six Napoleons is a good story within the Sherlock Holmes canon, it is not among Doyle’s best works. Other stories, such as A Scandal in Bohemia or The Hound of the Baskervilles, feature more thrilling and complex plots that better showcase Holmes’ brilliance. Nevertheless, The Six Napoleons remains an enjoyable addition to the world of Sherlock Holmes, particularly for readers who appreciate the intricacies of detailed investigations.
September 21, 2022
Ok, so I love Sherlock stories but this one irritated me from the beginning. Someone keeps on smashing Napoleon figurines and the police think it's someone who hates Napoleon? Seriously? Holmes, of course, knew why they were being smashed from the beginning and anyone with half a brain could guess the same thing. I had a hard time caring about who did it and why I was so fixated on the fact that everyone kept talking about this person who hated Napoleon so much he broke into houses just to smash the figurines. Too silly!
April 2, 2024
Fun one as it was possible to follow along and surmise what the motive of the case was. Sherlock is told by Lestrade that somebody is breaking into houses Abe breaking busts of Napoleon. Immediately Sherlock believes there is something more to this than simple craziness, and we find that the bust destroyer soon moves to murder while breaking another statue. Through tracking the busts, Sherlock finds where the next one will go and they intercept the murderer. In sum, we find that he had put a stolen pearl in one of six busts made by him, and was looking to get it back
July 12, 2024
Lestrade visits Holmes and relates a petty crime where someone smashes busts of Napoleon. The busts all come from the same cast and Lestrade believes it's a nutter.
Holmes is curious and when another bust is found smashed to pieces, there's also a dead body. Time to get involved.
An enjoyable quick read with Holmes more than solving the case.
Holmes is curious and when another bust is found smashed to pieces, there's also a dead body. Time to get involved.
An enjoyable quick read with Holmes more than solving the case.
April 29, 2018
I read this during the Dewey's 24-hour readathon because I wanted some easy things to finish. It was really cute, though the mystery wasn't that complex. Even though I don't think graphic novels are for me, I would at least consider reading more in this series.
March 2, 2022
A man goes around breaking busts of Napoleons and the pool ice don’t care until someone is murdered. I figured that there must be a hidden gem in one of them and I was rights - one concealed a stolen pearl. I feel like I read this one before but about Christmas gooses.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2021
I can say the worst case of Sherlock Holmes, but even it is fun to read.
June 19, 2022
As always, Sherlock Holmes stories are Irresistible :)
March 10, 2025
ممتعة
توقعت النهاية بالفعل وكنت سعيدة بأنه طلعت نفس الشي😂
توقعت النهاية بالفعل وكنت سعيدة بأنه طلعت نفس الشي😂
January 23, 2026
This one is pretty clever, has a very fun resolution, and some rare moments of Holmes showing human emotion which is touching.
February 2, 2024
Read it in english class. Somehow this book has become my first ever classic book I’ve read, but I’m not mad about it. This book/story was very interesting. A perfect quick read.
March 9, 2026
I love how Sherlock Holmes basks in compliments in this story. It's not like him and I thought it was sweet.
November 7, 2014
In this story, Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard brings Holmes a seemingly trivial problem about a man who shatters plaster busts of Napoleon. One was shattered in Morse Hudson’s shop, and two others, sold by Hudson to a Dr. Barnicot, were smashed after the doctor’s house and branch office had been burgled. Nothing else was taken. In the former case, the bust was taken outside before being broken.
Holmes knows that Lestrade’s theory about a Napoleon-hating lunatic must be wrong. The busts in question all came from the same mould. Why is he breaking them?
The next day, Lestrade calls Holmes to a house where there has been yet another bust-shattering, but there has also been a murder. Mr. Horace Harker found the dead man on his doorstep after investigating a noise. His Napoleon bust was also taken by a burglar entering through a window. It, too, was from the same mould. Also, a photograph of a rather apish-looking man is found in the dead man’s pocket.
The fragments of Harker's bust are in the front garden of an empty house up the street. Obviously the burglar wanted to see what he was doing, for there is a streetlamp here, whereas the bust could have been broken at another empty house nearer Harker’s, but it had been dark there.
Holmes tells Lestrade to tell Harker, a journalist for the Central Press Syndicate, that he is convinced that the culprit is a lunatic. Holmes knows that this is not true, but it is expedient to use the press to convince the culprit that this is what the investigators believe.
Holmes interviews the two shopkeepers who sold the busts and finds out whom they were sold to, and where they were made, Gelder & Co. A couple of his informants also recognize the apish man in the picture. They know him as Beppo, an Italian immigrant. He even worked in the shop where the first bust was broken, having left his job there only two days earlier.
Holmes goes to Gelder & Co. and finds out that the busts were part of a batch of six, but other than that, the manager can think of no reason why they should be special, or why anyone would want to destroy them. He recognizes Beppo’s picture, and describes him as a rascal. He was imprisoned for a street-fight stabbing a year earlier, but has likely been released now. He once worked at Gelder & Co., but has not been back. His cousin still works there. Holmes begs the manager not to talk to the cousin about Beppo.
That evening, Lestrade brings news that the dead man has been identified as Pietro Venucci, a Mafioso. Lestrade believes that Venucci was sent to kill Beppo, but wound up dead himself. Why is the Mafia after Beppo?
After sending an express message, Holmes invites Dr. Watson and Lestrade to join him outside a house in Chiswick where apparently Holmes is expecting another bust-breaking. Lestrade by now is exasperated with Holmes’s preoccupation with the busts, but comes. They are not disappointed. Beppo shows up, enters the house, and comes back out of the window minutes later with a Napoleon bust, which he proceeds to shatter. He then examines the pieces, quite unaware that Holmes and Lestrade are sneaking up behind him. They pounce, and Beppo is arrested. He will not talk, however.
The mystery is at last laid bare after Holmes offers £10 to the owner of the last existing bust, making him sign a document transferring all rights and ownership of the bust to Holmes. After the seller has left, Holmes smashes the bust and among the plaster shards is a gem, the black pearl of the Borgias. Holmes was aware of the case of its disappearance from the beginning. Suspicion had fallen on the owner’s maid, whose name was Lucretia Venucci – the dead man’s sister. Beppo somehow got the pearl from Pietro Venucci, and hid it inside a still-soft plaster bust at the factory where he worked, moments before his arrest for the street-fight stabbing.
After serving his one-year sentence, he sought to retrieve the hidden pearl. He found out from his cousin who bought the busts, and through his own efforts and confederates’, even found out who the end buyers were. He then proceeded to seek the busts out, smashing them one by one to find the pearl.
Although he appears in later published works, this is one of Lestrade's last appearances within the canon. After this he is only mentioned by Holmes or Watson, in "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" and "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" as a working member of the Yard.
I recommend this book to all readers who appreciate a well written mystery story, mainly for those who love Sherlock Holmes.
Holmes knows that Lestrade’s theory about a Napoleon-hating lunatic must be wrong. The busts in question all came from the same mould. Why is he breaking them?
The next day, Lestrade calls Holmes to a house where there has been yet another bust-shattering, but there has also been a murder. Mr. Horace Harker found the dead man on his doorstep after investigating a noise. His Napoleon bust was also taken by a burglar entering through a window. It, too, was from the same mould. Also, a photograph of a rather apish-looking man is found in the dead man’s pocket.
The fragments of Harker's bust are in the front garden of an empty house up the street. Obviously the burglar wanted to see what he was doing, for there is a streetlamp here, whereas the bust could have been broken at another empty house nearer Harker’s, but it had been dark there.
Holmes tells Lestrade to tell Harker, a journalist for the Central Press Syndicate, that he is convinced that the culprit is a lunatic. Holmes knows that this is not true, but it is expedient to use the press to convince the culprit that this is what the investigators believe.
Holmes interviews the two shopkeepers who sold the busts and finds out whom they were sold to, and where they were made, Gelder & Co. A couple of his informants also recognize the apish man in the picture. They know him as Beppo, an Italian immigrant. He even worked in the shop where the first bust was broken, having left his job there only two days earlier.
Holmes goes to Gelder & Co. and finds out that the busts were part of a batch of six, but other than that, the manager can think of no reason why they should be special, or why anyone would want to destroy them. He recognizes Beppo’s picture, and describes him as a rascal. He was imprisoned for a street-fight stabbing a year earlier, but has likely been released now. He once worked at Gelder & Co., but has not been back. His cousin still works there. Holmes begs the manager not to talk to the cousin about Beppo.
That evening, Lestrade brings news that the dead man has been identified as Pietro Venucci, a Mafioso. Lestrade believes that Venucci was sent to kill Beppo, but wound up dead himself. Why is the Mafia after Beppo?
After sending an express message, Holmes invites Dr. Watson and Lestrade to join him outside a house in Chiswick where apparently Holmes is expecting another bust-breaking. Lestrade by now is exasperated with Holmes’s preoccupation with the busts, but comes. They are not disappointed. Beppo shows up, enters the house, and comes back out of the window minutes later with a Napoleon bust, which he proceeds to shatter. He then examines the pieces, quite unaware that Holmes and Lestrade are sneaking up behind him. They pounce, and Beppo is arrested. He will not talk, however.
The mystery is at last laid bare after Holmes offers £10 to the owner of the last existing bust, making him sign a document transferring all rights and ownership of the bust to Holmes. After the seller has left, Holmes smashes the bust and among the plaster shards is a gem, the black pearl of the Borgias. Holmes was aware of the case of its disappearance from the beginning. Suspicion had fallen on the owner’s maid, whose name was Lucretia Venucci – the dead man’s sister. Beppo somehow got the pearl from Pietro Venucci, and hid it inside a still-soft plaster bust at the factory where he worked, moments before his arrest for the street-fight stabbing.
After serving his one-year sentence, he sought to retrieve the hidden pearl. He found out from his cousin who bought the busts, and through his own efforts and confederates’, even found out who the end buyers were. He then proceeded to seek the busts out, smashing them one by one to find the pearl.
Although he appears in later published works, this is one of Lestrade's last appearances within the canon. After this he is only mentioned by Holmes or Watson, in "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" and "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" as a working member of the Yard.
I recommend this book to all readers who appreciate a well written mystery story, mainly for those who love Sherlock Holmes.
November 16, 2013
Busts of Napoleon are being destroyed. Inspector Lestrade is clueless; Sherlock Holmes solves the case with a flamboyant flourish.
“Lestrade and I sat silent for a moment, and then, with a spontaneous impulse, we both broke out clapping, as at the well-wrought crisis of a play. A flush of colour sprang to Homes’s pale cheeks, and he bowed to us like the master dramatist who receives the homage of his audience. It was at such moments that for an instant he ceased to be a reasoning machine, and betrayed his human love for admiration and applause. The same singularly proud and reserved nature which turned away with disdain from the popular notoriety was capable of being moved to its depths by spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend.”
“Lestrade and I sat silent for a moment, and then, with a spontaneous impulse, we both broke out clapping, as at the well-wrought crisis of a play. A flush of colour sprang to Homes’s pale cheeks, and he bowed to us like the master dramatist who receives the homage of his audience. It was at such moments that for an instant he ceased to be a reasoning machine, and betrayed his human love for admiration and applause. The same singularly proud and reserved nature which turned away with disdain from the popular notoriety was capable of being moved to its depths by spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend.”
March 14, 2013
An obvious one where you could see the reasoning pretty early on but was still an engaging read.
May 21, 2014
Was not as interesting as the others, but still pretty good :)
January 29, 2015
Now this was amazing one...if we are a fan of Sherlock fan we do have this doubt that most of the story are somehow a way to amazing. Love to read it.
July 24, 2015
Cool
Awesome I love that book it is so good and awesome but it was a little bit too complicated. But I like the book.
Awesome I love that book it is so good and awesome but it was a little bit too complicated. But I like the book.
September 24, 2016
Always been a fan of sherlock holmes. I wish people would use their eyes and brain more it would save them a lot of trouble. I like following this adventure in this comic form. A must read.
December 27, 2016
preparing for season 4 of sherlock
November 22, 2020
A typical Sherlock Holmes story. Nice.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews