Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Boscombe Pool

About the author

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was born in

Edinburgh, Scotland, of an artistic Irish Catholic family,

attended strict Catholic schools, and went on to train as

a doctor at Edinburgh University. It was there that he

published his first short story, before serving for seven

months in the Arctic as a student doctor on a ship. His life

was always to be a mixture of literature and adventure.

After 1882, Conan Doyle published many stories while

working as a doctor in Portsmouth, England. However,

he did not invent Sherlock Holmes until he wrote A Study

in Scarlet, his first full-length book, in 1887. A Study in

Scarlet did not attract a large readership but its reception

was good enough for Conan Doyle to publish a second

Holmes novel, The Sign of the Four (1889). This time the

story was published in a magazine. Conan Doyle started

writing short stories for magazine publications, and that

really made Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle famous.

Soon Conan Doyle gave up work as a doctor and became

a professional writer.

Conan Doyle now began to publish other stories of

adventure, and invented many other characters. Conan

Doyle tried several times to stop writing Holmes stories,

to free himself for new ideas – but each time he tried the

public begged him to bring the great detective back.

Conan Doyle was an active man all his life, and was

never content simply to write. In 1900 he went to

southern Africa to help the British forces in the Boer War

(1899–1902). He had a strong belief in justice and fought

for many people who were wrongly convicted of crimes.

This and the extraordinary success of his books made him

a popular public figure in his time.

Conan Doyle died in Sussex, England, at the age of

seventy-one. He is recognised now as one of the greatest

story-tellers of his age.

Summary

The story takes the great detective Sherlock Holmes to the

west of England, where he and his friend Doctor Watson

investigate a murder case.

Pages 1–10

On the train to the west of England, Holmes asked

Watson to listen to all the facts that he knows about

the Boscombe Pool mystery. The police are certain that

eighteen-year-old James McCarthy has killed his father,

Charles. Holmes is not so sure.

Pages 11–15

They arrive at Ross, near Boscombe Valley, and meet

Detective Lestrade. McCarthy’s neighbour Miss Turner

comes to tell Holmes that James is innocent. Holmes and

Lestrade go off to see James in prison. Watson stays at the

hotel wondering about the mystery.

Pages 17–26

Next day, Holmes, Watson and Lestrade go to Boscombe

Pool, where Charles was murdered. With his powers of

reasoning and observation, Holmes realises who the real

murderer is.

Pages 26–29

Holmes describes the real murderer to Lestrade, but

Lestrade simply doesn’t believe it. Later, Holmes explains

to Watson the things that enabled Holmes to solve the

mystery. Watson realises who the murderer is.

Pages 29–37

Mr Turner, Miss Turner’s father, comes to Holmes’s hotel

to see him as Holmes arranged earlier. He tells the story

of his secret past and how it has ended up as a murder

case. Holmes decides that the secrets should be kept unless

young James’s life is in danger.