José Cruz Parker's Reviews > The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story

You know, Watson, I don't mind confessing to you that I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal. This is the chance of my lifetime in that direction.

It is no secret that Edgar Poe exerted an enormous influence on Arthur Conan Doyle. We all know that Sherlock Holmes is based on Poe's Auguste Dupin, the amateur sleuth who stars in The Purloined Letter, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and The Mystery of Marie Roget. In fact, A Scandal in Bohemia is so similar to The Purloined letter that we should consider it a shameless rip-off by Mr. Conan Doyle.

The tale that I'm reviewing, Charles Augustus Milverston, bears a resemblance to The Purloined Letter. It's about a professional blackmailer who collects secrets and then extorts money out of people in exchange for his secrecy. This unlikable gentleman is Holmes's nemesis in this short story.

To my knowledge, this is the only time when Sherlock resorts to illegal methods in one of his cases. Anyhow, it is a very entertaining text. The ending is particularly satisfying.