The Valley of Fear (Arthur Conan Doyle, 1915)

Not good at all, I struggled to get through this one. It's divided into two parts: the first is just a classic detective mystery, and the second is truly terrible. 

It starts with Holmes receiving a ciphered message announcing some terrible crime to be committed. He, of course, easily cracks this code (a pretty obvious one in my opinion), and in no time at all, it also turns out that the dark force behind this “sinister affair” is – once more – none other than Sherlock’s mortal enemy, Dr Moriarty. 

And here is where I started to dislike the book already. Is there really a need to involve this criminal mastermind in every single crime Holmes investigates?  I’m perfectly okay about him fucking with highly secret state affairs documents, blackmailing politicians, stealing priceless artworks and so on. But come on! I find it hard to believe that in the meantime, he can manage to find time and resources for every single petty crime. But I’m a bit ahead of myself here because at this point in the book, we still don’t know that our crime is/will indeed be petty (spoiler - it is). Another thing about this Moriarty business is that he is simply introduced too early in the story. At this point, there’s absolutely no need for some ominous background; an anonymous tip would do just fine. 

So now crime has been committed and Holmes, with Dr Watson and the cop (sorry, it’s of course inspector/constable) named MacDonald (nope, no Lestrade in this one), rushes to – surprise, surprise- the English countryside to an old house (ups sorry – it’s actually called a mansion). Here they find the murdered man’s best friend, his wife and – another surprise, you won’t believe this – fucking butler! And beside these people, there’s just one more character - some mysterious and, of course, sinister stranger who has arrived at the nearby village hotel just shortly before the crime and disappeared afterwards. So Holmes has a really hard job on his hands, right? 

And we follow his unusual methods, witty observations, arrogance and so on to the final shocking conclusion. But it’s hardly some big twist since the dead guy’s face was blown off by the shotgun, and you can smell the change of identity trick right from the start.

In all honesty, it’s not as bad as it sounds. It is a good old-fashioned Sherlock Holmes mystery, maybe a bit predictable, but still quite enjoyable, although sometimes hard to follow for a non-native English speaker because of all that crappy archaic language. 

The second part is totally redundant, and I have no idea why it was ever written. It has next to nothing to do with the first one, and it gives the impression that Mr Doyle was being paid by the page. So do yourself a favour and close this book after the first part. You’ll save some time and keep the respect for the old master and his famous detective.

2/5

Facts

Hero: 
Sherlock Holmes

Body count: 
One in the first part, many in the second

Dames: 

You kidding? 

Cover: 
By Glen Orbik. I liked the colours, but the girl's facial expression could be more terrified.

Location: 
The first part starts in London and quickly moves to the English countryside. The second part takes place in some godforsaken mining town in the States.