Sherlock Holmes, the world's “only unofficial consulting detective”, was first introduced to readers in A Study in Scarlet published 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 this book series, 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 Sandal 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. LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of Companies. The LEGO Group has not been involved in nor has it in any other way licensed or authorised the publication of this book. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB: One morning a young hydraulic engineer, Mr. Victor Hatherley, visits Dr. Watson’s surgery requiring medical attention as his thumb has been severed during a murderous attack. Watson dresses the wound and then takes his patient around to Baker Street to consult with Sherlock Holmes, who makes sense of the strange happeningsupon hearing the engineer’s story,butis unable to apprehend the criminals.

本作はホームズ譚の中でも異彩を放つ、産業社会の闇を暴くホラー的な傑作です。理知的な推理以上に、逃げ場のない圧搾機に象徴される閉塞感と、命からがら逃げ延びる技術者の絶望が、ドイルの卓抜した筆致で生々しく描かれています。犯人を逃すという結末が、かえって悪の底知れなさを際立たせる文学的深みを有しています。 レゴでパジェットの挿絵を再現した本書は、古典の様式美に新たな視覚的愉悦を与えます。実写映像版では油圧機が迫る物理的な迫力が強調されますが、原作はワトソンの冷静な記述が読者の想像力を刺激し、心理的な戦慄を深めます。テキストが持つ静謐な恐怖と映像の躍動感が補完し合うことで、物語に多層的な魅力が生まれるのです。