The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb
"The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a newly severed human thumb."
Missing engineers, missing gangs, and missing thumbs - “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” is a delicious macare story about near-death experiences, the perils of working in engineering, and Sherlock Holmes’ lack of tact.
This week’s discussion delves into the inherently Gothic nature of this somewhat understated tale, how much we love when Watson’s doctor skills get to shine, and the interesting tension of detective stories without any real conclusions.
“The story is governed, pressurized by its lack of answers, its unidentifiable and unknowable realities. Something’s going on, in “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb,” and we never actually find out if we’re right in thinking what has happened. I suppose that’s what “experience” means: that sometimes things can never be explained or known, and we’ll have to just live with that.” - Crime Reads
Listen to our narration of the story:
From The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" by Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Remy.
Remy (he/him) is a plushie maker, character illustrator, TTRPG and video game designer, and a multimedia artist. He has a side project where he reviews detective fiction and mystery media called "A Study in Spectrum" due to his lifelong special interest in and love of Sherlock Holmes.
Bluesky: @orchidrabbit.bsky.social Tumblrs: orchidrabbit.tumblr.com, studyinspectrum.tumblr.com Websites: https://orchidrabbit.neocities.org/blog/, studyinspectrum.bearblog.dev