The Adventure of the Copper Beeches is the twelfth and final short story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Summary
When a young governess, unemployed and desperate for a position, accepts a job with a couple living in a remote country home, her positive first impressions of the man and his family begin to change. With a mixture of fear and uncertainty, she asks Sherlock Holmes to investigate the increasingly disturbing events that have begun to unfold around her.
Favourite Quote
I couldn’t chose between these two:
“Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell.”
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“Data! Data! Data!” he cried impatiently. “I can’t make bricks without clay.”
Review
This was one of the more exciting stories in the collection, with a bit more action and drama in it than some of the previous stories. Violet Hunter, the governess, is an interesting character: strong and sensible, which coupled with the mystery at The Copper Beeches made for a very enjoyable read. There is quite a lot going on in this little story, ensuring that the pace is fast and the storyline engaging.
Analysis
One of the particular deductive skills that Holmes displays and explains in this case is the estimation of a suspect’s personality by that of their child. While explaining this method of reasoning, Holmes refers to Watson’s medical profession; we can understand this to mean that Holmes is up to date with the most current medical and psychological theories, insofar as they may be of use to his detective work. More so, or at least more explicitly than in other cases, Holmes finds it important to form a psychological profile of the suspect both in order to ascertain guilt and to form a plan of action.
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