In The Five Orange Pips, a young Sussex gentleman named John Openshaw tells the strange story of his uncle Elias Openshaw, who came back to England after living in the United States as a planter in Florida and serving as a colonel in the Confederate Army. His uncle begins receiving threatening letters inscribed “KKK” and including five orange pips. He is killed shortly thereafter. The job of unraveling this sordid transatlantic mystery falls to Holmes and his trusty companion Dr. Watson. The fifth of the twelve stories in the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, this is also one of only two Sherlock Holmes short stories where Holmes’ client dies after seeking his help.
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"Another dark and tragic story, this time involving three murders and Ku Klux Klan. It ends rather abruptly, I would love to know what happened next with the family and relatives of the murdered." — Ragne (4 out of 5 stars)
"Another dark and tragic story, this time involving three murders and Ku Klux Klan. It ends rather abruptly, I would love to know what happened next with the family and relatives of the murdered."
" This was a good one. A chilling story about the kkk... would've liked to seen the bad guys get caught, but their supposed demise was rather karma-rific :) "
" One of the more interesting story stories of the Sherlock Holmes adventures "
" Had a lot of intrigue and certainly a different kinds of story but the ending was lackluster for me, having said that it was non traditional ending that made it more realistic in a way. I would have liked more answers though as to how the crimes were committed. "
" Did not like the end but loved the trail of details that led to it. "
" A little bit different from others "
" differs from the other installments of the Holmes series , in its ending being an exception from the unexpected endings that are a signature hallmark of Mr. Holmes' case files . "
" Even the best are sometimes beaten... "
" I thought this one ended pretty abruptly; I wish that it would have continued a bit longer, but what are you going to do? Still an interesting concept. "
" A wonderful set up, but an altogether disappointing end. "
" It was okay. The story seemed kind of thin to me but then again... "
" There really wasn't much mystery to this one "
" Another marvelous Holmes mystery, highlighting the case of a John Openshaw, who receives, as did his successors, an envelope marked with the letters KKK and containing five orange pips..... "
" just another sherlock holmes short story "
" I did like this story very much. It seemed a bit less creative than many of his stories, however I didn't expect Openshaw to be killed in the end. It was a frightening twist. Holmes never fails to write a great mystery. "
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was born of Irish parentage in Scotland. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but he also had a passion for storytelling. His first book introduced that prototype of the modern detective in fiction, Sherlock Holmes. Despite the immense popularity Holmes gained throughout the world, Doyle was not overly fond of the character and preferred to write other stories. Eventually popular demand won out and he continued to satisfy readers with the adventures of the legendary sleuth. He also wrote historical romances and made two essays into pseudoscientific fantasy: The Lost World and The Poison Belt.
Stephen Thorne trained at RADA and played several seasons with the Old Vic Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and London. He has worked extensively in radio, with over two thousand broadcasts for the BBC, including Uncle Mort in the Radio 4 comedy series and the part of Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings. His television work includes EastEnders, Boys from the Bush, Death of an Expert Witness, and David Copperfield.
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