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=                         The_Valley_of_Fear                         =
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                            Introduction
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'The Valley of Fear' is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by
British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is loosely based on the Molly
Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first
published in the 'Strand Magazine' between September 1914 and May
1915. The first book edition was copyrighted in 1914, and it was first
published by George H. Doran Company in New York on 27 February 1915,
and illustrated by Arthur I. Keller.


                                Plot
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Sherlock Holmes receives a cipher message from Fred Porlock, a
pseudonymous agent of Professor Moriarty. Holmes deciphers the message
as a warning of a nefarious plot against a man surnamed Douglas, a
country gentleman residing at Birlstone House. Some minutes later,
Inspector MacDonald arrives at 221B Baker Street with news that
Douglas was murdered the night before. MacDonald, Holmes, and Watson
travel to Birlstone House to investigate.
Birlstone House is surrounded by a shallow moat, which the murderer
appears to have crossed as they fled the crime scene. After
interviewing Cecil Barker, a frequent guest at Birlstone House who
discovered the body, they agree that suicide is out of the question
and that someone from outside the house committed the murder. Barker
explains that Douglas married after arriving in England five years
earlier. Barker believes a secret society of men pursued Douglas, and
that he retreated to rural England out of fear for his life. Mrs.
Douglas said her husband mentioned something called "The Valley of
Fear". Holmes learns that the housekeeper heard a sound, as if of a
door slamming, half an hour before the alarm; Holmes believes that
this sound was the fatal shot.

Local detective White Mason and Inspector MacDonald track a bicycle
found on the grounds of the house to an American staying at a guest
house. The American appears to be the murderer, but there is no sign
of him. Holmes asks MacDonald to write to Barker, telling him that the
police intend to search the moat the next day. That night, they lie in
wait outside Birlstone Manor and see Barker fish the clothes of the
missing American out of the moat. Barker refuses to explain the
situation. At that moment, Douglas appears, alive and well. He hands
Watson a written account called "The Valley of Fear", which explains
why he feared for his life.
Douglas explains that he had spotted an enemy of his, Ted Baldwin, in
the area and expected an attack. When Baldwin attempted to shoot
Douglas in his study, Douglas grabbed onto Baldwin's shotgun; in the
struggle, Baldwin was shot in the face. With Barker's help, Douglas
dressed the man in his clothes to confuse his enemies. He then hid
himself in the old priest hole at Birlstone.

The main narrative pauses to explain Douglas' past in America.
Douglas' real name was Birdy Edwards and he had been a Pinkerton
detective in Chicago. Working undercover for the Pinkertons, Edwards
had travelled to Vermissa Valley (the titular Valley of Fear) under
the name 'Jack McMurdo' to infiltrate a corrupt coal miners trade
union, secretly a cover for a murderous gang known as the Scowrers.
After Edwards brought the gang to justice, the surviving criminals
attempted to kill him. Edwards changed his name to Douglas and fled to
England.

Holmes urges Douglas to leave England. Douglas takes this advice, but,
shortly after, Holmes learns from Barker that Douglas was lost
overboard on the ship to Africa. Holmes believes Moriarty was
responsible for ending Douglas' life and he swears to bring Moriarty
down.


                        Publication history
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'The Valley of Fear' was first serialised in 'The Strand Magazine'
from September 1914 to May 1915. In the 'Strand', it was published
with thirty-one illustrations by Frank Wiles. In the United States,
the novel was serialized from September to November 1914 in Associated
Sunday Magazine supplements to various newspapers around the country.

'The Valley of Fear' was first published in book form by George H.
Doran Company in New York on 27 February 1915, after the serialisation
was completed in the United States but before it had finished in the
'Strand'. The first British book edition was published by Smith, Elder
& Co. on 3 June 1915. Like the first Holmes novel 'A Study in
Scarlet', 'The Valley of Fear' has two parts. The first part is titled
"The Tragedy of Birlstone", and the second is titled "The Scowrers".
The novel concludes with a short epilogue.


                        Structure and themes
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Doyle crafted 'The Valley of Fear' as "two parts and a coda". The
novel has a number of major themes, including "problems of ethical
ambiguity", and attempts to comment seriously on terrorist activity as
profiled by American union struggles. Critics have shown how the
American union struggles deal with similar issues in the contemporary
political situation in Ireland.


Film
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Several films have adapted the book, among them:
* 'The Valley of Fear' (1916), a silent film starring H.A. Saintsbury
and Booth Conway.
*  'The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes' (1935), a British film starring
Arthur Wontner as Holmes and Ian Fleming as Watson.
* 'Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace' (1962), although intended
to be an adaptation of 'The Valley of Fear', only minor elements of
the story remained in the final film.
* 'Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear' (1983), an animated film
starring Peter O'Toole as the voice of Holmes.


Television
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*"The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun" (1954), an episode of the
television series 'Sherlock Holmes' (1954-1955) starring Ronald Howard
as Holmes and Howard Marion-Crawford as Watson.
*"La valle della paura", episodes 1-2-3 of the Italian television
series 'Sherlock Holmes' (1968) starring Nando Gazzolo as Holmes and
Gianni Bonagura as Watson.
*"The Crime Machine", an episode of the animated series 'Sherlock
Holmes in the 22nd Century' (1999-2001), with Jason Gray-Stanford
voicing Holmes and John Payne voicing Watson. Despite the opening
credits saying the episode is inspired by 'The Valley of Fear', there
is actually no connection between the two.
*An episode of the puppetry television series 'Sherlock Holmes' was
loosely based on the story.
*"The Final Problem" (2017), the final episode of the 4th series of
the BBC series 'Sherlock', makes a reference to Moriarty's brother
being a station master, albeit switching the original role of railway
station master for a broadcast station master.


Radio
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'The Valley of Fear' was the only Sherlock Holmes story not adapted
for the 1930s radio series 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', and
was not adapted for radio until 1960. Radio adaptations of the story
include:
* A 1960 BBC Home Service adaptation, dramatised by Michael Hardwick
as part of the 1952-1969 radio series, starring Carleton Hobbs and
Norman Shelley, and featuring Garard Green as Inspector Mason.
* A 1986 BBC Radio 4 adaptation starring Tim Pigott-Smith as Holmes
and Andrew Hilton as Watson, with James Aubrey as Douglas and Edward
de Souza as White Mason. Roy Apps adapted the story.
* A 1997 BBC adaptation by Bert Coules as part of the 1989-1998 radio
series, starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as
Watson, and featuring Iain Glen as John Douglas/McMurdo, and Ronald
Pickup as the narrator.
* A 2015 radio adaptation by M. J. Elliott in the American series 'The
Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', starring John Patrick Lowrie
and Lawrence Albert, with Jeff Steitzer as Cecil Barker.


Stage
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*'The Valley of Fear', a 2004 popular stage adaptation by Adrian Flynn
for the Oxford Playscripts series, for amateur productions.
*'The Valley of Fear', a 2022 stage adaptation by the Blackeyed
Theatre Company.


                              See also
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* "Person on business from Porlock"


                          Further reading
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*
*
*
*'Conan Doyle and an Anglo-Irish Quarrel', Jane Stanford, Carrowmore,
2017, pp. 50-57.


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