The next Sherlock Holmes story is The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. It found it a middle-of-the-road effort by Arthur Conan Doyle, but not because it felt average throughout. Instead, it had high peaks and low valleys that totaled out to an unfortunately lackluster tale.
The story revolves around a stolen gem found in the throat of a Christmas goose, and on the efforts of Holmes and Watson to backtrack through the buyer and seller of the goose to determine who was responsible for the jewel's theft. This idea at the heart of the tale is compelling. A jewel heist! What's not to like?
The odd place in which the gem was found certainly starts the mind imagining what must have transpired to get it there. And then there's the fun element of the goose having passed through numerous hands, any one of whom may have been responsible for the jewel theft while the others never even knew the treasure that was passing through their hands. This is all fun background for a rousing adventure.
The problem is that every single plot development in the tale hinges on coincidence. It's mere coincidence that the last owner of the goose was assaulted in the street and happened to drop it, setting the entire tale into motion. And while Holmes is of course able to use his famous deduction to track down the seller of the goose, it's pure coincidence that the culprit behind it all happens to show up at exactly the same moment to be apprehended by the detective.
So while the adventure does have an intriguing conceit, and the story opens with an especially entertaining and impressive display of Holmes' deductive gift, the sum impression of this particular tale is that Holmes is simply more lucky than skilled. Not a good outing for the master then, I'm afraid. I'd call it a C, all told.
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