sarahthecoat

for @astudyincanon book club this week it’s Silver Blaze, a favorite since I first read these stories as a horse-crazy teenager giving something my dad was obsessed with a try. (you could open his complete Sherlock Holmes book at random and read one sentence, and he could tell you which story it was part of)

I love Watson always being so delighted to get away into the country with Holmes, and so disappointed this time to be rushing back to London so quickly. Aww, don’t worry babe, you’ll be turning around and going back to Dartmoor soon, to see the race! And while people have canon/fanon’ed Watson having a bit of a gambling problem, here we see Holmes flagrantly manipulate the outcome of a major race! (and bet on the following event)

The other thing I love in this story that I probably didn’t even register as a teen, is how ACD again without being preachy, does that mic-drop thing with classism. The gypsies camping on the moor get mentioned in the exposition at least three times, and DI Gregson is clearly disposed to thinking they are guilty in some way. But Holmes dismisses them from the case instantly, based on actually knowing something about these people: they avoid attention, they know their horses, and they would never put themselves in the position of receiving a stolen race horse. Nope, the real culprits are the two trainers, people who have abused the trust of their employers, one of whom would even harm an animal in his care.

astudyincanon acd silv silv acd another country getaway
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Dec 12th, 2017