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The Adventure of the Lion's Mane
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
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The Complete Sherlock Holmes - The Adventure of the Lion's Mane
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The Adventure of the Lion's Mane (The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes)
Discussion Questions
1) Why is this story told from Holmes’ point of view?
2) What were Maud Bellamy’s reasons for not telling anyone of her relationship with McPherson?
3) What made Murdoch a reasonable suspect? What evidence does Holmes use to disprove his involvement?
4) What actually happened to McPherson’s dog? How did it die?
5) Why did Murdoch survive his encounter with the Lion’s Mane, while McPherson did not?
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A jelly fish and a red herring all down by the sea. Such a fishy tale. It was one I enjoyed. The most interesting character for me was Murdoch, the Red Herring. I couldn’t quite believe that he would act as a go between for McPherson and the woman he loved.
What were the young woman’s motives for not revealing who delivered the messages? Could it be that Murdoch was to become her next secret lover?
Due to global warming, more and more exotic sea creatures are turning up around the shores of the British Isles, but I hadn’t heard of this particular deadly jelly fish.
https://gazetteer.sherlock-holmes.org...
This was strong on atmosphere if light on plot. Poor Murdoch... I rather hope Maud Bellamy will come to love him in time.Meanwhile, I'll be pleased to get back to Watson's narration. Holmes does a decent job, but it seems rather pointless.
The Adventure of the Lion's Mane (The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes)
Availability The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69700
Background Information
"The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" (1926), one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. It is notable for being narrated by Holmes himself, instead of by Dr. Watson (who does not appear in the story).
Publication History
"The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" was first published in the US in Liberty in November 1926, and in the UK in The Strand Magazine in December 1926. The story was published with seven illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele in Liberty, and with three illustrations by Howard K. Elcock in the Strand. It was included in the short story collection The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in the UK and the US in June 1927.
A facsimile of the original manuscript was published in 1992 by Westminster Libraries and The Sherlock Holmes Society of London.
A Short Summary
"The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" is a unique Sherlock Holmes story set during Holmes's retirement in Sussex, where he solves a mysterious death case without Watson by his side. The story involves the seemingly impossible death of Fitzroy McPherson, a science teacher, (view spoiler)[ who appears to have been killed by a sea creature, specifically a lion's mane jellyfish. (hide spoiler)]
Lion's Mane Jellyfish with diver for scale.