
His Last Bow
'His Last Bow' Summary
The disappearance of a German spy and the gathering storm that foretells the prelude to World War I is what greets you in this riveting book. The further you read the more mysteries unfold like secret submarine plans with some pages missing found in the hands of a corpse. There's also family insanity in Cornwall, a dead Spaniard and mafia hiding in an empty London flat.
His Last Bow was published in the Strand Magazine circa 1908 and included several other short stories as well. Even during Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's own lifetime, Holmes had acquired cult status. His deductive methods, brilliant powers of observation, eccentric habits, occasional dabbling in drugs, strange and exotic clients and his connections among the high and mighty across many countries and continents went on to attain legendary fame.
In His Last Bow, Holmes tackles themes like adultery (in The Adventure of the Cardboard Box) which resulted in this particular story being left out of American editions. Holmes' enigmatic and secretive brother Mycroft makes a rare appearance in The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans and Holmes famously remarks, “... that Mycroft should break out in this erratic fashion... A planet may well leave its orbit!” This is also the story where one of Holmes' most famous axioms appears, “...when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
The title story is somewhat different from the others. This spy story turned murder mystery is not narrated by Dr. Watson. Conan Doyle experts have dubbed it a propaganda tool written to boost the morale of British soldiers in WWI. There are the famous concluding lines which are often mistakenly attributed to Churchill, “There is an east wind coming, Watson... But it is God's own wind, nonetheless...”
For Sherlock Holmes fans, His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is indeed a thrilling and compelling read from the master of detective fiction.
Book Details
Author

Arthur Conan Doyle
United Kingdom
Arthur Conan Doyle was a British author and physician, born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He is widely known for his fictional detective stories featuring the iconic character of Sher...
More on Arthur Conan DoyleDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Owen Clancy's Run Of Luck by Burt L. Standish
It is a story of luck, love, and danger. The main character, Owen Clancy, is a cowboy who finds himself caught up in a dangerous game of chance. With...

The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart
The Breaking Point was a 1923 Broadway three-act drama written by Mary Roberts Rinehart, produced by Wagenhals and Collin Kemper and staged by Kemper....

Celebrated Crimes, Vol. 1: The Borgias and The Cenci by Alexandre Dumas
Dumas's 'Celebrated Crimes' was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language--has minced no words--to describe the violent scenes of...

The Twin Mystery by Nicholas Carter
In this story, Nick receives a letter foretelling of a murder. His wife, Edith, believes it was from a woman.

A Sharper's Downfall; Or, Into the Net by Nicholas Carter
It follows the story of a clever detective as he investigates a cunning con man who has been preying on unsuspecting victims. Written in the early 20...

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
A young woman who inherits a beautiful diamond known as The Moonstone on her eighteenth birthday becomes the center of this mystery story. The diamond...

The People that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The People That Time Forgot is a fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the second of his Caspak trilogy. The sequence was first publi...

Manalive by Gilbert K. Chesterton
Manalive is a book by G. K. Chesterton detailing a popular theme both in his own philosophy, and in Christianity, of the "holy fool", such as in Dosto...

Old Broadbrim into the Heart of Australia or, A Strange Bargain and Its Consequences by St. George Henry Rathborne
Old Broadbrim, the famous Quaker detective listened as one of the richest men in New York continued "......I want you to guard my person for one year,...

The Room in the Dragon Volant by Sheridan Le Fanu
J. Sheridan LeFanu's Gothic mystery novel is narrated by Richard Beckett, a young Englishman abroad in Napoleonic-era France. He falls instantly in lo...
Reviews for His Last Bow
No reviews posted or approved, yet...