His Last Bow (1917) By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last."

This eighth publication of Sherlock Holmes mysteries is a collection of several previously published stories from the iconic Arthur Conan Doyle, each taking place along the timeline of Holmes' investigative career. By now, I was well acquainted with the legendary private detective and his ever-loyal companion, and was prepared for the kind of mysteries and investigations that were in-store.

"There's an east wind coming all the same, such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it's God's own wind none the less and a cleaner, better stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared."

At this point, Doyle had his chatacters and style down to a tee, and much of this novel continued in that familiar vein. He did, however, begin the book with a rather fascinating opening, which set up the last short story in this collection superbly. It was probably my favourite beginning to one of these books that I've read. In many ways, it, and the story that it set up, felt very different to the vast majority of Holmes and Watson mysteries - it felt far more like a spy thriller, and I was highly intrigued by it.

"His incredible untidiness, his addiction to music at strange hours, his occasional revolver practice within doors, his weird and often malodorous scientific experiments, and the atmosphere of violence and danger which hung around him made him the very worst tenant in London."

The other short stories followed the same kind of structure and characterisation that had come before, but that wasn't necessarily a negative point. There's a certain sense of comfort that comes with these stories, despite some of the darker aspects of them. It feels like you, the reader, truly know these protagonists, and reading their many adventures, especially these later ones, where Holmes and Watson are both older and softer, brings with it a sense of sentimentality.

"He seems to have declared war on the King’s English as well as on the English king."

Whilst this is not the most flashy or iconic of Doyle's mystery novels, it does have a sense of heart that I really resonated with; more so than in the prior books. The cheekiness that the author inserts into his mysteries also makes them that much easier and more enjoyable to read, particularly when some of the events in them can be so dark. I have just one collection of stories left, and it feels almost sad to see them through, but, at the same time, I'm excited to finish my journey through the many investigations and mysteries of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

"We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."