Pull on your Scotch bonnett and tuck that goose under your arm - it's nearly Christmas and that means a trudge through the December sleet and snow in pursuit of The Blue Carbuncle ! * Being the season of goodwill to all men, the Christmas setting seems to have rubbed off on Doyle as much as on Holmes, for we have a story filled with heart-warming characters - such as the (very honest) Commissionaire, good old Henry Baker (gratefully the recipient of a replacement goose) and a jolly publican - and most of these experience unexpected good fortune, even with the villain, most famously, being let off the hook. Henry Baker may be described by Holmes as having lost the love of his wife but this seems an exaggeration when one pictures them tucking in together to their delicious fresh goose. (Holmes' 'deductions' have drawn ample criticism over the years so perhaps we don't have to take his comments on the hapless Mr Baker too seriously) And of course there are the mental ...
