Description

A young man is anxious to unravel some very bizarre family secrets in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1891 tale The Five Orange Pips. In 1869, John Openshaw’s uncle Elias suddenly arrived in England. A most unusual man, Elias had established himself in the American South, working as a planter in Florida, and even serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. However, after the war’s conclusion, Elias is back in England and his nephew goes to live with him at his estate in Sussex. As soon as John moves into Elias’s house, he begins to notice strange phenomena. The estate contains a forbidden room, with trunks belonging to Elias that no one is allowed to disturb. Then, as years pass, letters start arriving—mysterious messages marked only with very particular initials and, strangest of all, containing five orange seeds, or pips. What do the initials and the pips mean? Events escalate to a crisis when John’s father receives one of the strange letters and turns up dead soon after. John is distraught and turns to the only man in England who could possibly make sense of it all—Sherlock Holmes. Hang onto your hat as Holmes pieces together the bizarre clues to this transatlantic mystery.

About the Author

A doctor by profession, Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) began writing short stories as a young medical student. After setting up his first practice, he took up writing again when business was slow. It was his second foray into literature, in 1887, that brought about the debut of Doyle's beloved character Sherlock Holmes. More successful as an author than a physician, Doyle went on to write many short stories and novels featuring Sherlock Holmes. Among some of Doyle's most famous works are A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and The Hound of the Baskervilles.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which present strange and interesting features that it is no easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, have already gained publicity through the ...