The adventure of the Cooper Beeches: (low cost). limited edition

By Arthur Conan Doyle

Book Overview

Violet Hunter visits Holmes, asking whether she should accept a job as governess; a job with very strange conditions. She is enticed by the phenomenal salary which, as originally offered, is ?100 a year, later increased to ?120 when Miss Hunter balks at having to cut her long hair short (her previous position paid ?48 a year). This is only one of many peculiar provisos to which she must agree. The employer, Jephro Rucastle, seems pleasant enough, yet Miss Hunter obviously has her suspicions.She announces to Holmes, after the raised salary offer, that she will take the job, and Holmes suggests that if he is needed, a telegram will bring him to Hampshire, where Mr Rucastle's country estate, the Copper Beeches, is situated.After a fortnight, Holmes receives such a message, beseeching him to come and see her in Winchester. Miss Hunter tells them one of the most singular stories that they have ever heard. Mr. Rucastle would sometimes have Miss Hunter wear a particular electric blue dress and sit in the front room reading, with her back to the front window. She began to suspect that she was not supposed to see something outside the window, and a small mirror shard hidden in her handkerchief showed her that she was right: there was a man standing there on the road looking towards the house.At another such session, Mr Rucastle told a series of funny stories that made Miss Hunter laugh until she was quite weary. The one astonishing thing about this was that Mrs. Rucastle not only did not laugh, but did not even smile.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1516834186
• ISBN13: 9781516834181
• Release Date: August 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Interesting, but a bit of a disappointment

One day Sherlock Holmes receives a visit from a young lady describing the strange requests of a prospective employer. Watson is surprised when Holmes predicts that something ominous is behind the man's requests. But, not two weeks later, they hear again from the young lady. Something strange is going on in Hampshire, something that only Sherlock Holmes can get to the bottom of! This story was first published in Strand Magazine in June of 1892. It is a very interesting story, but a bit of a disappointment. No spoilers here, but the situation does somewhat solve itself, with Holmes merely explaining what happened. But, that said, I did enjoy the story, and think that it is a very nice part of the Holmes Canon.