The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes #2) by Arthur Conan Doyle, Peter Ackroyd - Starting February 10th 2020

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

As a dense yellow fog swirls through the streets of London, a deep melancholy has descended on Sherlock Holmes, who sits in a cocaine-induced haze at 221B Baker Street. His mood is only lifted by a visit from a beautiful but distressed young woman - Mary Morstan, whose father vanished ten years before. Four years later she began to receive an exquisite gift every year: a large, lustrous pearl. Now she has had an intriguing invitation to meet her unknown benefactor and urges Holmes and Watson to accompany her. And in the ensuing investigation - which involves a wronged woman, a stolen hoard of Indian treasure, a wooden-legged ruffian, a helpful dog and a love affair - even the jaded Holmes is moved to exclaim, 'Isn't it gorgeous!'

[Claire]

Chapter 1
(view spoiler)[Oooh! So the conversation about Harry's phone in BBC Sherlock was adapted from this story, it's awesome how they modernised it but managed to keep so much of the story the same :D

And yay Mary is here! I didn't know that she showed up so early on in these stories. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader)]

Chapter 1
(view spoiler)[BBC Sherlock did a great job sticking to the source material. I'm impressed.

Also, what a way to start off the book with a bang with Sherlock just casually doing cocaine. LOL. Crazy.

I really liked Mary on the show so I'm very excited to see how her character is in the stories. I had no idea she would show up so soon either. Now I'm excited to get to Irene. She's my favorite. (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) wrote: "Chapter 1
[spoiler removed]"

(view spoiler)[Right? 😂

Victorian era medication was wild, they used to give cocaine(or was it heroin?) to kids for colds hahaha (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader)]

(view spoiler)[
Yep, they gave it to kids for colds back then! 😂 I can't even imagine.

Germany used it for children's toothaches as well back then. How did children even make it to adulthood in those times? LOL. Poor kids.
(hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[That is some spooky imagery 😱

I always get suspicious when twins are involved in a mystery... So much potential for shenanigans. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader)]

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[I love the way Doyle writes. Very atmospheric and sometimes creepy. Also, John's feelings for Mary are just so precious. Insta-love, but precious all the same. haha

Also, I never trust twins when it's a mystery. They're always up to no good. LOL. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[I wasn't nearly enthralled with this one as I was with A Study in Scarlet. I did love the introduction of Mary and I thought the ending section was pretty good but other than that, ehhh. Not my favorite. (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[Whew, I know that this book was written at a very different time but it's still really jarring to read those awful descriptions of Tonga. (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Finished!
(view spoiler)[Yeah, I agree that this one wasn't as good as the first. I still really liked it overall, especially the part where Small tells his story in the end.

Thanks for reading these with me! :D (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader)]

No problem! I had fun it was great finally starting to read these. :)

[Claire]

I'm not sure if your copy of the book had the same afterword as mine, so in case it didn't: (view spoiler)[It points out that between the first and second book, the author was inconsistent and the location of Watson's wound changed from his shoulder to his leg. That must be why the show had that bit in episode 1 about his psychosomatic limp when his wound was actually in his shoulder :D (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader)]

Claire wrote: "I'm not sure if your copy of the book had the same afterword as mine, so in case it didn't: [spoilers removed]"

My copy didn't have that! Thanks. LOL. I didn't even notice that his wound had changed! 😂 I remember from the show but somehow missed it/wasn't paying that close attention in the book. That's hilarious.

[Claire]

Yeah I didn't notice either! I have a terrible eye for detail 😂