The Five Orange Pips

Sherlock Holmes Chronicles #52

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes, the world's 'only unofficial consulting detective', was first introduced to readers in "A Study in Scarlet" introduced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. It was with the publication of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," however, that the master sleuth grew tremendously in popularity, later to become one of the most beloved literary characters of all time.

In "The Five Orange Pips," one of the short stories in "Adventures ..," John Openshaw visits Baker Street to consult Sherlock Holmes as to the mysterious deaths of both his uncle and father upon the arrival of letters containing only five dried orange pips and an envelope mark 'K.K.K.'. The young gentleman further relates that he too has received a similar envelope with instructions to surrender some papers. Holmes quickly deduces that his client faces imminent danger from a secret society in America.

The short stories comprising "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" have been amusingly illustrated using only Lego® brand minifigures and bricks. The illustrations recreate, through custom designed Lego models, the composition of the black and white drawings by Sidney Paget that accompanied the original publication of these adventures appearing in "The Strand Magazine" from July 1891 to June 1892. Paget's iconic illustrations are largely responsible for the popular image of Sherlock Holmes, including his deerstalker cap and Inverness cape, details never mentioned in the writings of Conan Doyle. This uniquely illustrated collection, which features some of the most famous and enjoyable cases investigated by Sherlock Holmes and his devoted friend and biographer Dr. John H. Watson, including "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Red-Headed League," is sure to delight Lego enthusiasts, as well as fans of the Great Detective, both old and new.

Librarian's note: this entry relates to the story, "The Five Orange Pips." Collections of short stories, including the entry for "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" can be found elsewhere on Goodreads.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Detective

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1891

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[فايز غازي Fayez Ghazi · Rating 3 out of 5]

- لغز وراءه احدى المنظمات السرية (العديدة في العالم)، برتبط بتاريخ الولايات المتحدة وزمن العبيد والاسترقاق. الأوراق المطلوبة كانت تثبت تاريخاً اسوداً لرجال حاليين (في حينها) وأرادوها بشدة من شخص هرب عائدا الى بريطانيا. قتلوه وقتلوا ورثته وقتلتهم يد القدر بالنهاية.

- القصة ذات نهاية مفتوحة، غير اكيدة، لكن المحقق قد فك اللغز بشكل عام لكنه لم يتثبت من استنتاجاته.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. "The Five Orange Pips" is a classic Sherlock Holmes story, published in 1891, and then anthologized in the The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes set (which you can read online or download free here at Project Gutenberg).

A young man, John Openshaw, comes to visit Sherlock and Dr. Watson. He tells them that four years ago his uncle, a bitter recluse who lived for many years in America before returning to England, had received a letter postmarked from Pondicherry, India. When he opens the envelope, five dried-up orange seeds fall out. The envelope is otherwise empty ... but then John and his uncle notice that the letters K.K.K are written on it. John's uncle shrieks in horror, saying that his sins have overtaken him. Seven weeks later his uncle is found dead, drowned in a small garden pond, an apparent suicide.

The uncle's property is inherited by John's father, who similarly receives an envelope inscribed K.K.K., with five orange seeds, instructing him to ‘Put the papers on the sundial.’ He dies three days later in what looks like an accidental fall. And now John himself has received a similar letter and five orange pips. What to do?

This is a far better story than the last two in this anthology. It's got a lot of atmosphere and, again, shows a more human and fallible side to Sherlock Holmes. What it isn't, is a very well thought-out mystery. Arthur Conan Doyle took the idea of the KKK and then ran with it, creating whatever fictional details he liked (like the threatening five orange seeds) with a supreme disregard for actual facts about the KKK. Sir Arthur, we all wish that the KKK had collapsed in 1869!

The mystery has a lot of logical holes in it and doesn't really bear close examination; Doyle apparently dashed it off quickly without thinking it through too deeply. If you want to know more about those holes and the background of the story, there's a great summary and analysis here by a Sherlock Holmes fan, worth reading after you've read this story. (The best part of the analysis is toward the bottom of his web page, under "Plot Holes and Continuity Errors.") Or you can just read this story and appreciate it for what it is. :) Doyle liked it: he rated it #7 on his own list of favorite Sherlock Holmes stories. The list is in the comment thread to this review.

Next Sherlock adventure: The Man with the Twisted Lip. Sounds creepy!

[Francesc · Rating 3 out of 5]

El caso empieza muy bien ya que el enigma es muy interesante, pero el final no me ha convencido: Inacabado.

The case starts very well since the enigma is very interesting, but the end has not convinced me: unfinished.

[Ali Mahfoodh · Rating 4 out of 5]

قراءة أخرى.
قصة مشوقة وهي الخامسة بالترتيب من سلسلة المغامرات، يلجأ فيها أحد أفراد عائلة أوبنشو لشيرلوك أملًا لإيجاد حل بعد تورط عائلته مع جماعة الكو كلوكس كلان العنصرية. طريقة تحليل هولمز للقضية كانت مذهلة وتمنيتها لو كانت رواية طويلة وبتفاصيل أكثر بدلًا عن قصة قصيرة فقط، لكن مع ذلك أعجبتني الطريقة التي انتهت بها.

[Aishu Rehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would write the short stories to fit perfectly into a single edition of the Strand Magazine. The stories were normally fast paced, but also easy to follow. The Five Orange Pips though, is perhaps constrained by its length, because the reader cannot use the evidence provided to solve the case. There are a number of elements that only Holmes is privy to, and are only revealed when Holmes reveals the solution to Watson.

At the same time, the modern reader will have some advantages over the Victorian reader, as the letters KKK, which strongly feature in the storyline, are more recognisable today, than they were a hundred years ago.

The Five Orange Pips does provide further insight into the character of Sherlock Holmes. In all the previous cases the superiority of Holmes has been evident, but in this case, Holmes is shown not to be infallible, and to a certain degree fails in bring the case to a conclusion. The Five Orange Pips also shows for the first time that Holmes is not just cold and logical, but also from time to time, he will also display anger.

The concept of The Five Orange Pips has been used recently in both the American TV series Elementary, and the BBC series Sherlock; although in the case of Sherlock there is no real link to the original storyline.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this short story at lunch today. I didn't know what a pip was in this story, other than a bad omen, until near the end. Instead of a color, the orange referred to the fruit; ahh then one could know that it was an old British word for seed.

A client, J.O., arrives with a strange story of mysterious letters in which only orange pips and some instructions are within. The first recipient, J.O's uncle already displaying eccentric behaviors at time, becomes even more so and fearful after the envelope arrives. About 6 weeks later he is found dead supposedly by suicide. His father is the next recipient and scoffs at the thought that it may be an omen and he also is found dead which the authorities say was accidental. Now JO himself has received an envelope with instructions. He has come to Holmes for help to find out what is the meaning of the letters, who has sent them and to confirm his suspicions that his uncle & father were murdered.

[Piyush Bhatia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ideal reasoner, would, when he had once been shown a single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only the chain of events which led up to it but also the results which would follow from it.

3/5 stars !

[Alecsandra Velez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this short story was not wrapped up nice and tidy. It showed Sherlock Holmes was, in fact, a mere mortal. This is the most human he has seemed so far in my readings, especially when he first finds out about the murder of Openshaw. He takes it so hard. It is not just that he could not prove his deduction right but also that someone else has paid the price for his failing. He tries to rectify the situation the only way he knows how but revenge still escapes him in the end.

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creo que este relato sí me gustó más que los anteriores porque se trató de un misterio familiar de varias generaciones, de cartas misteriosas y de un asesinato sin resolver. Además, desde el principio estaba clarísimo que tenía que ver con el Ku Klux Klan, lo cual me pareció bastante curioso.

Ahora, lo que más me encantó de este caso es que, de alguna manera, Sherlock se ve un poco derrotado, pues a pesar de que ha encontrado a los culpables, nunca puede ponerles las manos encima. Además, amé que desde el principio admitiera sus derrotas en otros casos, pues me gustó ver ese lado más humano de un personaje que parece súper poderoso.

[ولاء شكري · Rating 3 out of 5]

لطيفة 💙 استمعت لها صوتياً 👇

https://youtu.be/4c0IQooUJCk

[Heba Hssn · Rating 3 out of 5]

أرجعتني طفلة تشاهد كونان في سبيستون مرة أخري 😍😍

[Samia chellat · Rating 3 out of 5]

"لقد جاء إلي طلبا للعون، وأنا أرسلته ليلقى حتفه!"
إحدى هزائم هولمز الصغيرة 💔

[Sanjay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Tragic Story, where Holmes fails even before starting. Dark and sinister forces are at play.

[Osama Ebrahem · Rating 3 out of 5]

بحب القصص اللي الكاتب فيها بيهزم الشخصية بتاعته وبيبينلك انه عادي مش كل عبقري بيكون بيرفيكت
والمميز في المغامرة دي كمان ان النهاية مفتوحة مش فعل قاتل في البداية وجزاءه في النهاية..

[Jaksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only three stars this time. (I am currently reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories.)

In this one, Holmes is out to solve a mystery involving a man who has received five orange pips, or seeds, in an envelope, along with the initials KKK written on it. Okay, any American would right away say we know who the KKK are. Holmes does, too, but needs to explain it all to Watson. (Does Watson never read a newspaper? Any history?)

Haha, so anyhow, after the man receives the pips, he dies a few weeks later.

There's more, and it involves the man's nephew, who wants to figure out what's going on and why. Problem is that in this story Holmes fails. YES, he fails. He doesn't save the man's nephew - who came to him with the mystery in the first place - because he acts too late. Yes, TOO late! Holmes does 'solve' the mystery and identify the evil-doers, but they aren't punished because of other extenuating circumstances. For Holmes it's a miserable disappointment in more ways than one.

Which, ironically, is one of the reasons many Holmes fans like this story so much - because it shows the man's fallibility! There are also multiple errors in this one which the 'Grand Game' members love to pick apart and point out. The errors don't take away from the story, however, and this is said to be one of the best, but meh, I think three stars is fair enough.

(Btw, the 'Grand Game' is made up of devoted readers, including experts from all fields of science, who study and investigate every tiny possible minute detail in the Holmes' stories for 'errors.' They work from the POV that Watson and Holmes are - or were - real people and take it from there. The first of these were four brothers who wrote Doyle with a list of criticisms about this very story. Good old Sir Conan thought it amusing, and even silly that anyone would take his work so seriously, though he did admit that the story was quickly, and somewhat 'carelessly' written.)

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this with an audiobook. I don't hate Southern American accents (in fact, I rather like them), but this narrator's voice was distracting. He made Holmes' accent a southern, high-pitched sound that I really didn't like. But it was a free book, so enough of my complaints.
The book was very short (the audiobook lasted for only 40 minutes) but it wasn't a very exciting or thought-provoking case. The victim who came to Holmes actually died. And then it mentions Holmes was shook but then he's like "Wow, that hurt my pride, moving on" xD I don't know what to make of it! I didn't know Holmes was a boxer, so that was something (and I didn't know he was a cocaine addict, so that certainly was something). So overall, it was a quick read which I probably would have enjoyed better if the narrator's voice was not so oldmanly when he spoke as Sherlock!

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars & 5/10 hearts. This story used to frustrate and sadden me, but now it’s one of my favourites. It humanizes Holmes so much—showing the professional, the cynic, and then the real human passionate for justice—and also showing him actually making mistakes and failing. The plot is unique, with the K.K.K. involvement, and I loved seeing Holmes take on the part of “stalking the stalker.” And let’s just admit the setting/mood is epic. ;)

Content: drinking, smoking, swearing x3.

A Favourite Quote: “Well,” he said, “I say now, as I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.”

[Yousra · Rating 4 out of 5]

كان ذلك لغزا سهلا ولكن من الممتع رؤية كيفية مواكبة آرثر كونان دويل لعصره وما يستجد فيه :))

وأعجبتني الروح الإنتقامية لهولمز
^_^

وهي المرة الأولى التي ألاحظ فيها أن مسلسل الكارتون الشهير المحقق كونان ما هو إلا نوع من أنواع التأثر بروايات آرثر كونان دويل واختيار الإسم الأوسط الذي قد يتماشى مع الثقافة اليابانية منبع هذا الكارتون هو اختيار ذكي فعلا
:))

[Franci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah!!! The wheel turns!!!!!

[itsdanixx · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Five Orange Pips" is the fifth story in the The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes story collection, the third publication in the Sherlock Holmes series (after the first two novels, so the first story collection).

Holmes is visited by a terrified young man who has received an envelope containing five orange pips... the same sort of envelope both his father and his uncle received, just days before their deaths.

The first story, I think, that showed it's age a little but still great.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS is.one of those canonical tales which had the power of becoming a grim and violent saga of racial politics, betrayal and revenge. Unfortunately for us, Sir ACD had rushed this beautiful plot into a short story. I sincerely hope that someday someone will create a proper pastiche out of this seed.
But even as a short story, it’s magical.

[Jack Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars. So ingenious. If you are anything like this admirer of Holmes and his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you'll have to read twice the section in which our idiosyncratic detective breaks the case. It's that complex. It doesn't happen all the time, but there's also a rewarding feeling in this one, "The perpetrators got what they deserved." Their end was nasty. The 1891 story has echoes today. It's that current. I am slowly reading them all - from the 2020 "Sherlock Holmes The Complete Novels and Stories." A two volume paperback. The story first came out in "The Strand." In London's worst storm of the year, a young man, John Openshaw, visits Holmes and Watson and describes the tragic deaths of his uncle and father. They had received letters containing five orange seeds, nothing else, and more importantly, the letters KKK written on the inner flap. Soon they were dead, and now John has received the same letter. It all goes back to slavery, the American Civil War, and the Reconstruction era. Even today, we live with the repercussions of that disgrace. Although less aware of it in London in 1891, they were dealing with it too. (March 2021)

[Mohammed Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

مغامرات شارلوك هولمز، تأليف السيد آرثر كونان دويل

قضية "بذور البرتقال الخمس" هي القضية الخامسة من مغامرات شارلوك هولمز .

من القضايا القليلة التي بقيت مفتوحة وبدون نهاية واضحة و محددة. هي قضية جماعة سرية أسّست في أمريكا من طرف بعض الجنود الإتحاديين في الولايات الجنوبية وقد اختصت بإبتزاز وقتل كل من يحمل فكرا مغايرا لما تتبناه هذه الجماعة. ينفصل عنهم أحد الإعضاء و يعود إلى المملكة المتّحدة حاملا بعض الوثائق المهمة فينطلقون خلفه ثائرين منتقمين فيقتلونه ويقتلون أخاه وابن أخيه الذي لجأ إلى شارلوك قبل وفاته لمساعدته.

[Ali Alghanim · Rating 3 out of 5]

لا بد أن يكون في مقدور المراقب- الذي فهم جيداً حلقة واحدة من سلسلة من الأحداث- أن يحدد كل الأحداث الأخرى بدقة، سواء السابقة عليها أو اللاحقة.

فلإجادة هذا الفن أقصى إجادة من الضروري أن يكون المحلل قادراً على إستخدام جميع الحقائق المتوفرة لديه، و هذا في حد ذاته يقتضي ضمناً ، امتلاكاً للمعرفة بكل فروعها، و هو إنجاز نادر إلى حد ما، حتى في عصرنا هذا الذي تتوفر فيه الموسوعات و التعليم المجاني. و مع ذلك ليس مستحيلاً أن يحوز الإنسان محل المعارف التي من الراجح أن تفيده في عمله.

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 Words: Perfect length for a cuppa.

Quite a bitter-sweet ending to this one, with no clear indication as to whether Holmes was right or not. Which was honestly a little frustrating.

But my faith in the character tells me he is right.

[Rawan · Rating 2 out of 5]

تجربتي الأولى مع مغامرات شيرلوك هولمز، ومع الأسف كانت غير سارّة
ربما لسوء حظي اخترت قضية ذات نهاية مفتوحة عوضاً عن قضية متكاملة مع تحري وجزاء في النهاية
أو ربما لأن معرفتي الوحيدة ب شيرلوك هي عن طريق المسلسل المقتبس عنه ف شعرت بخيبة أمل عند قراءة قصة كهذه
على ما يبدو أنني لن أدخل في عالم مغامرات شيرلوك هولمز وقضاياه....

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this right after Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs (I only just noticed the irony of the recurring number, forgive me) was probably not my best idea.
After a full 200 page novel with a thoroughly built case, characters, interviews and a brilliant Poirot slowly going through the evidence to bring light to the mystery, this was abysmal.

The case is surreal (and slightly ridiculous) and the solution is unreachable for the reader since most of the proof at Holmes' disposal is displayed while he reveals the truth. In addition, the ending is pretty open and the criminals are never brought to justice.

I'm sorry to pronounce such blasphemy, but Doyle, I'm disappointed.

The only redeeming quality is the portrayal of a Sherlock capable of error and human emotion, that for once makes him appear like a man and not a detecting machine.

[Marisol · Rating 2 out of 5]

En este caso, Sherlock Holmes 🕵️ tiene como cliente a un joven que hereda una finca y con ella una suerte funesta, heredada de su tío.

Aunque el enigma está bien estructurado con mucha imaginación, puede que en la época de publicado el relato no existiera mucha información sobre el KKK, pero al ser ahora algo sobreexpuesto, la resolución nos parece evidente e imposible de soslayar tanta evidencia.

Solo por eso es que le doy unos puntos menos.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 Extra

After receiving a violent death threat, Colonel Elias Openshaw calls on the Baker Street detective. Stars Clive Merrison.

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was quite unusual, even if it started like any other case, Mr. Holmes couldn't save his client in this one, he found the culprits but no news were to come