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The Beryl Coronet - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
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Sherlock Holmes 2025: Week 04/Story 05 - Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, The
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The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
Discussion Questions
1) Who do you suppose was the man who gave Mr. Holder the coronet?
2) How do you think the owner of the coronet will react to it being returned to him damaged?
3) Do you think there is significance to Mr. Holder’s residence being named “Fairbank?” If so, why?
4) How does the idea of deception function within the story?
5) Do you think Arthur’s relationship with Sir George Burnwell will change? If so, how?
6) At the end of the story, in regard to the whereabouts of Mary, Holmes says, “... they will soon receive a more than sufficient punishment.” What do you think Holmes means by this?
7) Ultimately, is Mary or Sir George Burnwell responsible for the stealing of the coronet? Why?
This is another standout story from the second half of the book for me. I didn't remember much about it (perhaps as it wasn't filmed), but like the Blue Carbuncle, the sound of drama and romance and pleasing number of letters of the alphabet in the words "beryl coronet" has stuck with me. I was always quite taken with the name Beryl too as a result (I believe there's a character called Beryl in the Hound of the Baskervilles too, no?)Anyway, a great adventure, a nice little mystery, a dastardly villain and plenty of scope for Holmes to peer at footprints and get into costume.
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I actually thought the "crime" part would be something to do with the Coronet being left as security for a very short term loan, that it would turn out to be a fake and the nobleman absconded with £50K from the bank.
Mary's punishment will either be that Sir George will not marry her and she will be a "fallen woman", or he WILL marry her and she will lead a life of misery between his dishonesty and his affairs.
Frances wrote: "I actually thought the "crime" part would be something to do with the Coronet being left as security for a very short term loan, that it would turn out to be a fake and the nobleman absconded with £50K from the bank."I thought that too! Especially with the nobleman making such an issue of how losing any part of the coronet was as bad as losing the whole thing. As it stands, I'm not sure what he'll say when he gets it back in pieces... but then he probably shouldn't be using public goods to take out a private loan...
Frances and Emily, I also was suspicious of the unnamed nobleman. As with all the Sherlock Holmes stories, I enjoyed this one despite some obvious flaws. Bringing the coronet home was just plain stupid, for one thing. Telling his family about it was equally stupid, and CD certainly telegraphed that someone in the house was going to commit a theft. I also wondered what was going to happen when the coronet was returned in such a damaged condition. Since all the beryls were recovered, the item could be repaired, but I suspect the nobleman would be highly incensed at its condition.
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That was my thought. I kept thinking why would you DO that?
To me the real villain was Mary, even if she did have an obsessive blind love for Sir George. She was his special tool that Sir George needed to carry out this crime. But Mary did more than just hand him the coronet out of the window.We are told that the banker had taken Mary in when destitute and provided her with all the love and kindness she needed, not to mention the material wealth of a substantial home.
She had foolishly given her heart to that known villain, Sir George, but in stealing the coronet she knew that she herself was committing a serious crime and ruining the man who had helped her so much in life. To me that was despicable.
The letter she left behind seemed fallacious. I can’t believe that she didn’t see how much harm it would have done to the family that had rescued her from complete poverty, probably the workhouse.
Yet again a criminal gets away with a crime, even though the goods were retrieved. I think that there is no doubt that Mary would have been, used, abused, then cast aside by Sir George whether he married her or not. But Sir George himself would have continued to carry out other crimes when both criminals should have been locked up, scandal or no scandal.
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The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
Availability - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1661
Background Information
"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the eleventh of the twelve stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The story was first published in The Strand Magazine in May 1892.
The short story that is "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" sees Sherlock Holmes dealing with a case of theft. However, it is a delicate matter for the consulting detective to deal with. Arguably, more important than solving the case is proving that the chief suspect is innocent. Holmes shows that the most obvious suspect is not always guilty.
Publication History
"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" was first published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in May 1892, and in the United States in the US edition of the Strand in June 1892. The story was published with nine illustrations by Sidney Paget in The Strand Magazine. It was included in the short story collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in October 1892.
A Short Review
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet is one of the stories from the canon of Sherlock Holmes that is often overlooked, and yet it is a story in keeping with many other Conan Doyle stories. Indeed, there is cause for the detective to don a disguise and even solve the case for the client with a dramatic flourish.
The case of the Beryl Coronet is brought to Holmes by Alexander Holder, a banker who had been entrusted with the precious crown. A theft had occurred, and some of the precious stones were missing; there seems to be only one suspect for the theft, Arthur Holder, Alexander’s son, as Arthur was apparently caught in the act.
Holmes, of course, looks beyond the obvious to discover the real solution to the case, with Holmes observing rather than simply seeing.
Making the obvious solution not the correct one was something that many other crime writers have subsequently taken up. Agatha Christie indeed was famous for making Inspector Japp and Captain Hastings take the obvious as read, whilst Poirot would use his "little grey cells."
"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" is perhaps overlooked because it was not one of the Sherlock Holmes stories adapted by Granada TV, with Jeremy Brett starring as Holmes. The short story, though, did make an appearance as an episode in the 1965 BBC series of Sherlock Holmes, airing on the 10th of April 1965, with Douglas Wilmer in the lead role.