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

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Thor Bridge gets me on a variety of levels, because Gibson's sexually harassing an employee AND ignoring his wife (and, it is heavily suggested in the Granada version, complicit in the employee teaching the children to be ashamed of their mother's heritage.)

Mind you, the employee seems to have decided that she can "do good" by encouraging alienation of affection, so I'm not particularly on her side.

I always wanted Thor Bridge to end with Mycroft offering to send a nanny to help with the kids of the second family. But don't worry, she won't be a THING like the mother... Gibson is exactly the sort who's going to get bored of the new angel in the household in about 5 years and a kid or two.