A sudden realization on Holmes canon

[neadods]

I'm listening to Edward Hardwicke reading the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes while I work, and in the middle of Copper Beeches, I realized something. From The Red-Headed League onwards, Holmes canon is just riddled with people doing dumbass things for money, even when the money comes so high or so easy that someone with 5 functioning brain cells would hear all kinds of warning bells.

BUT!

The men all take the money and come to Holmes afterwards, after things inevitably fall apart.

The only woman to get a offered a deal like this, Violet Hunter, comes to Holmes FIRST, saying "I really need this money, but this stinks on ice. I need your advice."

Copper Beeches has long been a favorite because Violet is smart and proactive, but this is the first time I realized that she is not only smarter than the antagonists in her story, but also than about a third of the men in canon.

Comments

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Hm. "Chestnut" to me always means brown, but then, I'm American; I don't know what it would mean in the UK. And some of us brunettes freckle quite easily.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I've always interpreted that as meaning red/brown hair, the kind an American would have called "a particular shade of auburn" or "... russet."

[penguineggs.livejournal.com]

Would the colour of Gillian Anderson's hair be about right?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Pretty much.