The Sign of Four
Broadview Reprint Edition
📘 About This Book
It is in this, the second Holmes novel, that the great detective comes fully to life—not only as a melancholic and an inscrutable master of deduction, but also as an incurable drug addict. "Which is it today?" Watson asks Holmes matter-of-factly on the opening page of the novel, "morphine or cocaine?" "It is cocaine," Holmes famously replies. "A seven-per-cent solution. Would you like to try it?" Mary Morstan comes to Holmes in the hope that he will be able to solve a mystery. Ten years earlier her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, had returned to London on leave from his regiment in India where it is said that he and one Thadeus Sholto, "came into possession of a considerable treasure." By the time his daughter arrived at his hotel, he had vanished without a trace. The Sign of Four remains a small masterpiece of suspense, and the novel has enjoyed a steady readership ever since its first publication in 1890. In recent years, however, it has not been readily available except as a part of larger omnibus Holmes anthologies. This Broadview edition provides a reliable text at a very reasonable price. It contains textual notes but no appendices or introduction.
📖 Summary
Arthur Conan Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel, published as a 172-page work in the year 2000, offers readers a deeply atmospheric and character-defining journey into the Victorian underworld. It is in this text that the great detective truly comes fully to life, stepping off the page not merely as an inscrutable master of deduction, but also as a melancholic figure struggling with an incurable drug addiction. The novel opens with one of the most famous exchanges in detective fiction, setting a tone of moody introspection as Dr. Watson matter-of-factly asks Holmes whether he is choosing morphine or cocaine that day. Holmes coolly replies that it is a seven-percent solution of cocaine, even offering a share to his astonished companion. Beyond this vivid psychological portrait of the detective, the overarching plot is set into motion by the arrival of Miss Mary Morstan. She comes to Baker Street seeking the assistance of Holmes and Watson to solve a baffling decade-old mystery. Ten years prior, her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, had returned to London on leave from his regiment stationed in India. According to the background of the case, Captain Morstan and a man named Thadeus Sholto had come into possession of a considerable treasure, yet by the time his daughter arrived at his hotel to meet him, he had vanished completely without a trace. As Holmes and Watson take on Miss Morstan's case, they are drawn into a complex web of secret pacts, hidden wealth, and historical entanglements originating in the British colonial empire. The search for the missing captain and the elusive treasure expands into a high-stakes investigation that tests the limits of Holmes's razor-sharp intellect while simultaneously introducing a romantic spark between Dr. Watson and the gentle client they are sworn to protect. Through meticulous observation, rapid deductive reasoning, and the navigation of foggy London streets, the narrative explores themes of greed, betrayal, justice, and the lingering consequences of the past. Conan Doyle expertly balances the gritty realism of Victorian detective work with exotic elements of adventure and suspense, cementing the enduring legacy of the world's most famous consulting detective and his loyal chronicler.
🎯 Key Lessons
⚖️ Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
Provides a fascinating and complex psychological look at Sherlock Holmes.
Features an engaging and mysterious plot involving a lost treasure.
Strong dynamic and developing friendship between Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Rich, atmospheric descriptions of Victorian London.
⚠️ Cons
Contains dated colonial perspectives reflective of its historical publication era.
Some readers may find the pacing of the exposition heavy at the start.
✍️ About the Author
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a British author and physician best known for creating the detective Sherlock Holmes, whose stories established many conventions of the modern detective genre.
View all books →❓ FAQ
Who is the author of The Sign of Four? +
The novel was written by Arthur Conan Doyle.
What substance does Sherlock Holmes use at the beginning of the book? +
Holmes famously asks Watson if he prefers morphine or cocaine, and chooses a seven-percent solution of cocaine.
Who brings the central mystery to Sherlock Holmes? +
A young woman named Mary Morstan seeks Holmes's help regarding the disappearance of her father.
What happened to Captain Arthur Morstan? +
He vanished without a trace in London ten years prior after returning from India, where he and Thadeus Sholto had supposedly found a great treasure.
How many pages long is this edition of the book? +
This edition spans 172 pages.
