ShortFiction

Cat Stories | Diana Secker Tesdell

Another miserable story from this so far dreary and depressing anthology. “I See You, Bianca,” by Maeve Brennan was essentially 11 pages of description of the MC‘s NYC apartment. There happened to be a cat who goes missing and the MC doesn‘t seem that bothered really. That‘s the plot. What a downer! I‘m very nervous to continue with this collection. If the next story is more of the same I may just shelve this for now.
#catsoflitsy

19 likes

psalva

Cat Stories | Diana Secker Tesdell

My new nighttime short story collection. Kicking it off with “The Islands,” by Alice Adams. Quite a melancholy start, a story about the life and loss of a tailless Manx cat named Pink, named after the MC‘s friend Zoe Pinkerton. Zoe‘s path through life mirrors Pink‘s, both leaving a hole behind in their place. I‘m nervous that every story in this collection will be a downer, but I hope I am surprised. Finn and Jack pictured offering moral support.

psalva #catsoflitsy 2mo

dabbe 🖤🐾🐾🖤 2mo

18 likes2 comments

Rachiiebookdragon

In Bloom | Paul Tremblay

so-so

An ok novella

Read for reading challenges

3.75/5

6 likes

dabbe

The Naval Treaty | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes @Cuilin
#TheNavalTreaty

Thoughts, Sherlockians?

Daisey, erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Born.A.Reader, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, Sace, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, RayHallucinogen, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

Librarybelle I think the mention of the wires and sending out info was mine to a degree. Harrison as the culprit made sense to me, but the storing of such vital documents was a tad sloppy—I know it was his bedroom initially, but it seemed too neat of a way to uncover the documents. We‘ve discussed Holmes‘ nonchalance when dealing with the culprits. He‘s certainly putting a lot of hope on the police to capture a guy who snuck into a room hard to penetrate. 3mo

IndoorDame I was super confused about the rose. We get a lot of missing details in these stories but we don‘t usually get red herrings. And letting him go free seemed nuts. This wasn‘t a minor crime!!!! He‘s right the Foreign Office might not have wanted publicity, but I‘m sure they had ways around that. 3mo

CrystalE02 Yeah, Holmes talking about the rose had me thinking has he lost his ever loving mind. I was also mentally yelling at Holmes for letting him go. Of course I couldn't scream out loud or I would have woke up the entire household last night. 3mo

See All 11 Comments

Cuilin @IndoorDame I was so disappointed that the rose never featured in the solution. Why wax poetic about it at all? 3mo

Cuilin At this stage in our reading, I really wasn‘t surprised that Holmes let the culprit go. This is what the fourth or fifth time we‘ve encountered this? I initially thought the uncle had some involvement in it because to so trust your nephew, but then immediately suspect him didn‘t add up to me. 3mo

dabbe @IndoorDame @Librarybelle @CrystalE02 @Cuilin And he went into the room with a knife! Doesn't that mean he was intending to kill if Phelps or anyone got in his way? This is one criminal that I just can't believe Holmes let go free!

(edited) 3mo

dabbe @IndoorDame @Librarybelle @CrystalE02 @Cuilin

My only thought about the rose episode is that maybe Holmes was stalling for time so that he could look around the room to see where the plans could be hidden. He couldn't go down on his knees with his magnifying glass (a la “The Speckled Band“) because people were in the room, so maybe this was his only way to have a looksie. 3mo

IndoorDame @dabbe I certainly assumed so… I can think of half a dozen other things I‘d try to wrench a window open with before trying a knife 3mo

dabbe I also wondered about the copying of such important documents by hand. They were primitive, but methods of copying documents did exist in that era. You would think that an outfit of the size and prestige of the British government would have invested in these, rather than relying on clerks to copy documents by hand in the middle of the night when nobody is there.

And, how could the side street be left UNLOCKED for anyone to come in? 3mo

Librarybelle That‘s true about the copying of the documents, @dabbe . I had not thought about that, unless it was that top secret a select few had to do the copying in the dead of night??? I also thought the rose musings was to buy time for Holmes to observe the room and draw conclusions. 3mo

dabbe @Librarybelle Good point. The documents may have been so secret that the risk of anyone seeing Percy on the machine might have been too risky. 3mo

39 likes11 comments

dabbe

The Naval Treaty | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes @Cuilin
#TheNavalTreaty

Thoughts, Sherlockians?

Daisey, erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Born.A.Reader, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, Sace, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, RayHallucinogen, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

Librarybelle I noted the mention of the siblings‘ home area too—how did Holmes know??? I was also surprised he could send wires so quickly. At least for the wires, perhaps we have to suspend belief or know that Watson is not as detail oriented as Holmes and may not be a reliable note taker for every part of their journey. I just kind of went along with it for the story‘s sake! 😂 3mo

IndoorDame Those were both odd. I probably would have totally glossed over those details in another story because it‘s so typical for Holmes to know things we don‘t, and to do things off page so I‘m not in the habit of scrutinizing the timeline… but this story was filled with detail. The accounts were precise, he told us exactly how many clues he was working off of, he took us along on follow up interviews… so I did notice both those discrepancies. 3mo

CrystalE02 I think that Holmes was a bit of a show off in this story. I also think he already knew about the case before Watson ever came to him. 3mo

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Cuilin @CrystalE02 Yes! I think it‘s quite possible that Holmes knew of the mystery before Watson told him. 3mo

dabbe @Librarybelle You bring up a really good point: we only know what Watson is willing to share with us. It's up to him to give us more details--but then the story would have been even longer! 😂 3mo

dabbe @IndoorDame Very interesting what you noted. Because we had time to follow along closely, we were able to pick up on the discrepancies more clearly. 3mo

dabbe @Cuilin @CrystalE02 ... He does read the papers daily and has a big so-called encyclopedia of people. But would the government have published that the treaty went missing when national security was at stake? 🤔 3mo

Cuilin @dabbe So if I was making an adaptation of the story, I would have Mycroft leak the story to Sherlock, with all the extra information of course but instruct him not to investigate until Watson brings him the case, (for sure he knows Percy and Watson are old school chums.) 😆 3mo

dabbe @Cuilin And I think you've hit on the #1 use of Mycroft in so many pastiches ... he has government access and could have (probably did) give numerous cases to Sherlock. For only appearing in two stories, he is an excellent character to be seen as a “hidden“ informant. 3mo

Cuilin @dabbe exactly!! On another off topic note I also think it‘s interesting that the stories have many detectives yet the adaptations tend to use Lastrade only. 3mo

dabbe @Cuilin I wonder if the adapters didn't trust the public to remember more than one detective! 😂😂😂 3mo

30 likes11 comments

dabbe

The Naval Treaty | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes @Cuilin
#TheNavalTreaty

Thoughts, Sherlockians?

Daisey, erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Born.A.Reader, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, Sace, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, RayHallucinogen, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

Librarybelle While others have elements of intrigue and deception, the focus on this is how can the theft take place in a secure location. It‘s a locked room mystery, and Conan Doyle wants the reader to know how impossible it is to get in the room (the blueprint was handy). 3mo

IndoorDame It‘s a locked room myself, which I love. But outside of the recounting actual document going missing we have several secondary locations we get descriptions of, and more characters are introduced that I feel like are typical to a Holmes short story. 3mo

CrystalE02 I loved it. We got more of the investigation and also a locked door mystery which I enjoyed very much. 3mo

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Cuilin @IndoorDame I agree I think the fact that there is a secondary location it almost feels like there are two problems to decipher which will solve the overall mystery. Interestingly, it doesn‘t feel like it‘s the longest one. (edited) 3mo

dabbe @Librarybelle @IndoorDame @CrystalE02 @Cuilin ... Interesting to note that this story was so long that THE STRAND published it in two parts. I would have been dangling at the edge of my seat waiting for the second issue! 😂 To me, it also felt like the story had room to breathe, and we all had time to ponder the red herrings, to investigate several suspects, and to take time to enjoy the ending. 3mo

CogsOfEncouragement I didn‘t even realize it was longer. We did have the misdirect of the Mrs. Tangey in this one. 3mo

IndoorDame @dabbe I‘m 💯with you. This was the perfect length, but I would‘ve had the complete opposite opinion if I‘d been waiting for conclusion to be released 3mo

CogsOfEncouragement I also thought it fun that Forbes didn‘t like SH and explained that SH takes all the credit, etc etc. SH replies out of 53 cases only 4 have mentioned his name. 3mo

dabbe @CogsOfEncouragement And I wasn't satisfied with the reason for her RUNNING from the building ... just to get home on time? For what? 3mo

dabbe @CogsOfEncouragement That was a supreme takedown!!! 😂 3mo

CogsOfEncouragement Yeah, Mrs. Tangey was into some shady stuff and got herself into trouble with bad folk. I feel like a poor woman who had to do everything herself (maybe help from the daughter, but no other) always had a ton of work waiting for her. No washing machines, no microwaves, it was her go to excuse that could seem reasonable enough. Of course she needed to get home. lol 3mo

dabbe @CogsOfEncouragement While her husband only had to bring up the cup of coffee to Phelps ... and fell asleep on the job. #oytothevey 😂 3mo

CogsOfEncouragement LOLOLOL Yep! 3mo

30 likes14 comments

dabbe

The Naval Treaty | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes @Cuilin
#TheNavalTreaty

Thoughts, Sherlockians?

Daisey, erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Born.A.Reader, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, Sace, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, RayHallucinogen, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

CatLass007 Watson‘s old friend was very detail oriented. Not quite on par with Holmes, but observant enough to make Holmes‘s job a bit easier. Of course, if it was ever in any doubt, Holmes could have solved the case if the client was a chimpanzee. 3mo

Librarybelle I agree with @CatLass007 . Percy is very detail oriented. I can see why this would be listed as a favorite—it‘s a locked room mystery with high stakes government secrets. 3mo

IndoorDame I liked that this one genuinely felt high stakes both for the client personally and for national security. And I always like a locked room mystery. 3mo

See All 16 Comments

CrystalE02 I liked this one a lot. It was a little bit longer than the other stories. I loved the idea of the locked door mystery. 3mo

Cuilin I really liked this one. There was lots of details and I felt I could participate. 3mo

dabbe @CatLass007 Too true! Holmes can find that needle in a haystack usually no matter what! 😂 3mo

dabbe @Librarybelle And we are pretty much given all the clues this time! 🤩 3mo

dabbe @IndoorDame Me, too! Maybe that's why AND THEN THERE WERE NONE is my #1 Christie--a locked island mystery! 😂 3mo

CogsOfEncouragement I liked this one. Happy that Percy had a faithful fiancé indeed. 3mo

dabbe @CrystalE02 It's Doyle's longest story of the 56, but I kept flipping those pages! 🤩 3mo

dabbe @Cuilin It's nice to have all of the clues for a change, isn't it? 😂 3mo

dabbe @CogsOfEncouragement And one who followed Holmes's request in order to keep that room intact! 3mo

kelli7990 I liked this story. 3mo

dabbe @kelli7990 I'm glad. 🤩 3mo

27 likes16 comments

dabbe

The Naval Treaty | Arthur Conan Doyle

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Getting ready for tomorrow's discussion. 🤩

“The July which immediately succeeded my marriage was made memorable by three cases of interest, in which I had the privilege of being associated with Sherlock Holmes and of studying his methods.“

49 likes

dabbe

The Naval Treaty | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes @Cuilin @LitsyEvents
#TheNavalTreaty

Hi, Sherlockians~
Yet another fabulous discussion today! Next up: “TAO (The Adventure of) The Naval Treaty“; link for more information re: the story is below (with a summary--spoiler alert!). Next discussion will be on 8/17 and will be led by me. Have a lovely week! 🤗
Link: https://bit.ly/3WIgcbr

Cuilin 👍 thanks. 3mo

dabbe @Cuilin 🩶🖤🩶. I tried to find definitive proof that Mycroft was modeled after Wilde, but I've only been able to find theories. Same with you? 3mo

Librarybelle Thanks! 3mo

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dabbe @Librarybelle 🩶🖤🩶 3mo

Liz_M @LitsyEvents 3mo

dabbe @Liz_M I did remember this time, but thanks for the resend! 🩶🖤🩶 3mo

53 likes6 comments

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