52 pages • 1 hour read
Arthur Conan DoyleA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
“A Scandal in Bohemia”
“The Red-Headed League”
“A Case of Identity”
“The Boscombe Valley Mystery”
“The Five Orange Pips”
“The Man with the Twisted Lip”
“The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”
“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”
“The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb”
“The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor”
“The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet”
“The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
This story takes place in April 1883, but Watson recounts it at a later date as he was initially sworn to secrecy. The client’s recent death makes it possible to tell of the case, which is one of Holmes’s more unusual and morbid ones.
A young woman, Helen Stoner, comes seeking Holmes’s aid as she is terrified for her life. She is an orphan, living with her abusive and hot-tempered stepfather in an isolated manor in the countryside. Helen is about to be married and fears she will soon die. She used to have a twin sister, who was also set to be married shortly before dying under mysterious circumstances. The night of her death, the sister told Helen that she has been hearing strange whistling and clanking sounds for several nights. Then, in the middle of the night, she began shouting, came out of her room, and fell over in a convulsion. When Helen tried to help, her sister said, “It was the speckled band!” before falling unconscious and eventually dying (152). The police investigated but did not find anything suspicious.
Several years later Helen finds herself in a similar situation. She is about to be married, but due to some last-minute and unnecessary construction work, she has been moved to her sister’s room and has started hearing a whistling sound at night.
By Arthur Conan Doyle
A Case Of Identity
Arthur Conan Doyle
A Scandal in Bohemia
Arthur Conan Doyle
A Study in Scarlet
Arthur Conan Doyle
His Last Bow
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of the Four
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Valley of Fear
Arthur Conan Doyle