"Holmes and Watson accompany a woman on a quest which leads them through
the dark heart of London to a one-legged man, a mysterious and
terrifying creature, and an incredible tale of greed and
revenge."-School Library Journal
"The immense talent, passion and literary brilliance that Conan Doyle
brought to his work gives him a unique place in English
letters."-Stephen Fry
"Holmes has a timeless talent, passion and literary brilliance that puts
him heads, shoulders and deerstalker above all other detectives."-
Alexander McCall Smith
Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four is the second novel in the
Sherlock Holmes series, following the enormously successful novel A
Study In Scarlet. With the mysterious disappearance of a British Indian
army officer, a one-legged hooligan, a stolen treasure, and a nefarious
pact between four con-men, this novel of revenge and love is an
exquisite classic of crime fiction.
In the infamous opening of the novel, Dr. Watson finds Sherlock Holmes
in his Baker Street home, bored and in the process of taking cocaine.
Dr. Watson finally confronts his friend, and Holmes retorts that he does
not do well in moments of tedium; luckily the doldrums are evaporated
with the arrival of a beautiful woman at the door of Baker Street; she
is Mary Morstan, a character that Sherlock Holmes fans are very
acquainted with as she eventually becomes the wife of Dr. Watson. Mary
asked for the help in a very strange case; years ago her father
disappeared from his post in India as an army officer, a few years later
she began receiving an exquisite pearl in the mail on an annual basis
for the past six years. Mary revealed a letter to Holmes from the sender
of the pearls, asking to meet in person for clues to her father's
disappearance and the motive behind the pearls. When they meet Thaddeus
Sholto, Holmes and Watson are snarled into a web of a dangerous hunt and
a morass of intrigue including a secret Indian treasure, four ex-cons, a
one-legged gangster. The Sign of the Four, one of the most popular of
the Sherlock Holmes crime novels, has been adapted into numerous film
and TV productions.
With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of The Sign of the Four is both modern and readable.
