#copper beeches

[fatigued-skeleton]

Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes Study. He is surprisingly hard to draw. Perhaps he is too pretty and my meager skills cannot do him justice...

[gooolabatooo]

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

[amypihcs]

And for today's letter from Watson we have.

- Holmes and our dear Doc deciding that there's not time to pick the Lock and just KNOCK DOWN THE DOOR

(let's assume that Watson used the good shoulder, he's not that reckless)

DIFFERENTLY from a certain Mr Sherlock Holmes who's always keen on inventing parkour a century early and/or just showing us that he's, deep down, just a cat in human form

I can literally HEAR Watson sigh for a moment as Holmes just climbs on the roof.

[skyriderwednesday]

"Hey, Vi, you're incredibly brave and competent. Could you do something for me?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Lock the housekeeper in the cellar."

HOLMES.

[pop-goes-the-weasel]

Holmes lighting his pipe in the most unusual way possible, by a glowing coal from the fireplace

(Link along with image)

[noxhominis]

Irene Adler is a badass. I know this. Almost anyone who has ever read the books knows this. She is such an Iconic Character who has been reduced to the love interest of Sherlock Holmes for so long. It would be really nice to see her properly represented in modern media.

But, I would like people to talk more about Violet Hunter. This lady was a serious badass too. And she is so smart. Seriously, the first time I read the Copper Beeches, I was so amazed by the amount of information this lady seemed to have gathered by not giving a fuck about the rules. Violet Hunter would survive a horror movie. She has in fact survived the equivalent of a horror movie in the SH Universe.

Also, she is extremely relatable. She basically went Refuse a well paying job that looks shady? In this economy? And that is not the only time she is relatable. She sees something shady going on, and like the majority of the population on Earth, decides to pry, instead of leaving it alone. She is so good at giving excuses. And she is braver than we are led to believe in the beginning. She was an active part of the investigation for almost the entire story. In fact, we mostly follow her story instead of Holmes and Watson's. I absolutely loved how Adventures of Sherlock Holmes started with a story that had feminist undertones and ended with one that had a little different, but still recognisable feminist undertones.

And that is not all. Violet Hunter, as I have said before, is smart. This is a girl who was sensible enough to go to Sherlock Holmes for advice on whether to take a job or not. And that shows a remarkable amount of forethought. I identified with her so much when I was young (I still do, a little). Because I had this friend who would just call me Irene Adler because there weren't enough female characters. After BBC Sherlock, the name Irene Adler was something I didn't really want to be associated with. So one day I just told him to call me Violet Hunter if he absolutely had to (I would call him Watson, because we had both decided Sherlock Holmes was a sacred name).

On an unrelated note, Watson followed up with Miss Hunter after the events of the story. I don't think he does that to all the clients. So she was a special case.

When Letters from Watson starts in 2023, I want to make a detailed analysis of my favourite characters and stories. I would really like to do a more in depth analysis of Violet Hunter and by association, The Copper Beeches.

[rin-the-cat]

I've gotta say, this is not what I was picturing when they said "electric blue dress."

[theriseofthesea]

Good god Watson. You are so incredibly dramatic when describing that you’re thinking about your client and you’re worried about her. Maybe just say that and get to the point?? I’m starting to see what Holmes means about getting to the point and not romanticizing stuff.