Canon Fodder Friday

We're reading and blogging about all 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories. One story per week, in a randomly assigned order. Want to join us?

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If you've been with us since we started, you have now completed reading all 56 original Sherlock Holmes short stories.

Congratulations!

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Reminder: This week's story is The Creeping Man.

Find out where to read it for free on our resources page, or learn more about #canonfodderfriday on our FAQ page.

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This week: The Creeping Man

Title: The Adventure of the Creeping Man

Published: 1923

Collection: The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

First paragraph:

Mr. Sherlock Holmes was always of opinion that I should publish the singular facts connected with Professor Presbury, if only to dispel once for all the ugly rumours which some twenty years ago agitated the university and were echoed in the learned societies of London. There were, however, certain obstacles in the way, and the true history of this curious case remained entombed in the tin box which contains so many records of my friend's adventures. Now we have at last obtained permission to ventilate the facts which formed one of the very last cases handled by Holmes before his retirement from practice. Even now a certain reticence and discretion have to be observed in laying the matter before the public.

Check out our resources page to learn where to read the rest online for free.

Once you've read the story, join the conversation by posting your take on it to your blog by this Friday. You can create fanart, write an essay, give us your favorite quote, or respond however else you'd like. Just make sure to use #canonfodderfriday as one of your first five tags so the rest of us can find your post!

For more information on Canon Fodder Fridays, see our FAQ page.

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'All right, Watson. Don't look so scared,' he muttered in a very weak voice. 'It's not as bad as it seems.'

Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Illustrious Client

It's Canon Fodder Friday time!

If you're reading along with us, remember to post your reaction to this week's story (in any form you choose) to the #canonfodderfriday tag. Then go browse the tag to see what everyone else has posted!

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Reminder: This week's story is The Illustrious Client.

Find out where to read it for free on our resources page, or learn more about #canonfodderfriday on our FAQ page.

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This week: The Illustrious Client

Title: The Adventure of the Illustrious Client

Published: 1924

Collection: The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

First paragraph:

"It can't hurt now," was Mr. Sherlock Holmes's comment when, for the tenth time in as many years, I asked his leave to reveal the following narrative. So it was that at last I obtained permission to put on record what was, in some ways, the supreme moment of my friend's career.

Check out our resources page to learn where to read the rest online for free.

Once you've read the story, join the conversation by posting your take on it to your blog by this Friday. You can create fanart, write an essay, give us your favorite quote, or respond however else you'd like. Just make sure to use #canonfodderfriday as one of your first five tags so the rest of us can find your post!

For more information on Canon Fodder Fridays, see our FAQ page.

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Reminder: This week's story is The Abbey Grange.

Find out where to read it for free on our resources page, or learn more about #canonfodderfriday on our FAQ page.

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This week: The Abbey Grange

Title: The Adventure of the Abbey Grange

Published: 1904

Collection: The Return of Sherlock Holmes

First paragraph:

It was on a bitterly cold and frosty morning during the winter of '97 that I was awakened by a tugging at my shoulder. It was Holmes. The candle in his hand shone upon his eager, stooping face and told me at a glance that something was amiss.

Check out our resources page to learn where to read the rest online for free.

Once you've read the story, join the conversation by posting your take on it to your blog by this Friday. You can create fanart, write an essay, give us your favorite quote, or respond however else you'd like. Just make sure to use #canonfodderfriday as one of your first five tags so the rest of us can find your post!

For more information on Canon Fodder Fridays, see our FAQ page.

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Reminder: This week's story is The Missing Three-Quarter.

Find out where to read it for free on our resources page, or learn more about #canonfodderfriday on our FAQ page.

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This week: The Missing Three-Quarter

Title: The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter

Published: 1904

Collection: The Return of Sherlock Holmes

First paragraph:

We were fairly accustomed to receive weird telegrams at Baker Street, but I have a particular recollection of one which reached us on a gloomy February morning some seven or eight years ago and gave Mr. Sherlock Holmes a puzzled quarter of an hour. It was addressed to him, and ran thus:

"Please await me. Terrible misfortune. Right wing three-quarter missing; indispensable to-morrow.

— Overton."

Check out our resources page to learn where to read the rest online for free.

Once you've read the story, join the conversation by posting your take on it to your blog by this Friday. You can create fanart, write an essay, give us your favorite quote, or respond however else you'd like. Just make sure to use #canonfodderfriday as one of your first five tags so the rest of us can find your post!

For more information on Canon Fodder Fridays, see our FAQ page.

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I have been very obtuse, Watson.

Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist

It's Canon Fodder Friday time!

If you're reading along with us, remember to post your reaction to this week's story (in any form you choose) to the #canonfodderfriday tag. Then go browse the tag to see what everyone else has posted!

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Reminder: This week's story is The Solitary Cyclist.

Find out where to read it for free on our resources page, or learn more about #canonfodderfriday on our FAQ page.

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This week: The Solitary Cyclist

Title: The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist

Published: 1903

Collection: The Return of Sherlock Holmes

First paragraph:

From the years 1894 to 1901 inclusive Mr. Sherlock Holmes was a very busy man. It is safe to say that there was no public case of any difficulty in which he was not consulted during those eight years, and there were hundreds of private cases, some of them of the most intricate and extraordinary character, in which he played a prominent part. Many startling successes and a few unavoidable failures were the outcome of this long period of continuous work. As I have preserved very full notes of all these cases, and was myself personally engaged in many of them, it may be imagined that it is no easy task to know which I should select to lay before the public. I shall, however, preserve my former rule, and give the preference to those cases which derive their interest not so much from the brutality of the crime as from the ingenuity and dramatic quality of the solution. For this reason I will now lay before the reader the facts connected with Miss Violet Smith, the solitary cyclist of Charlington, and the curious sequel of our investigation, which culminated in unexpected tragedy. It is true that the circumstances did not admit of any striking illustration of those powers for which my friend was famous, but there were some points about the case which made it stand out in those long records of crime from which I gather the material for these little narratives.

Check out our resources page to learn where to read the rest online for free.

Once you've read the story, join the conversation by posting your take on it to your blog by this Friday. You can create fanart, write an essay, give us your favorite quote, or respond however else you'd like. Just make sure to use #canonfodderfriday as one of your first five tags so the rest of us can find your post!

For more information on Canon Fodder Fridays, see our FAQ page.

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Reminder: This week's story is The Crooked Man.

Find out where to read it for free on our resources page, or learn more about #canonfodderfriday on our FAQ page.

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This week: The Crooked Man

Title: The Adventure of the Crooked Man

Published: 1893

Collection: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

First paragraph:

One summer night, a few months after my marriage, I was seated by my own hearth smoking a last pipe and nodding over a novel, for my day's work had been an exhausting one. My wife had already gone upstairs, and the sound of the locking of the hall door some time before told me that the servants had also retired. I had risen from my seat and was knocking out the ashes of my pipe when I suddenly heard the clang of the bell.

Check out our resources page to learn where to read the rest online for free.

Once you've read the story, join the conversation by posting your take on it to your blog by this Friday. You can create fanart, write an essay, give us your favorite quote, or respond however else you'd like. Just make sure to use #canonfodderfriday as one of your first five tags so the rest of us can find your post!

For more information on Canon Fodder Fridays, see our FAQ page.

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The Inspector shrugged his shoulders. 'I don't quite know, sir. Between ourselves, I think Mr. Holmes had not quite got over his illness yet. He's been behaving very queerly, and he is very much excited.' 'I don't think you need alarm yourself,' said I. 'I have usually found that there was method in his madness.' 'Some folks might say there was madness in his method,' muttered the Inspector.

The Adventure of the Reigate Squire

It's Canon Fodder Friday time!

If you're reading along with us, remember to post your reaction to this week's story (in any form you choose) to the #canonfodderfriday tag. Then go browse the tag to see what everyone else has posted!

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Reminder: This week's story is The Reigate Squire.

Find out where to read it for free on our resources page, or learn more about #canonfodderfriday on our FAQ page.