The Sign of Four
Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four (1889) is a Victorian mystery and adventure fiction novel. It takes readers to England and Inglaterra in 1888. Characters include Sherlock Holmes, John H. Watson and Mary Morstan. Readers will find themes of Andamanese, arrow poisons, bloguns and convicts.
Open Library readers give it an average of 4.2 out of 5 from 91 ratings, and 357 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 962 editions across 14 languages. On Project Gutenberg it was downloaded 21,668 times in the last 30 days.
At about 156 pages, most readers finish it in 2–3 hours. It is in the public domain, so you can read it free on Project Gutenberg or listen to the 4 h 27 min LibriVox audiobook.
About The Sign of Four
The Sign of the Four (1890), also called The Sign of Four, is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Free audiobook
The Sign of Four — LibriVox recording, 4 h 27 min in 12 sections.
Public-domain recording by volunteer readers. Listen online, download MP3s or stream from the Internet Archive.
Opening line
“Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantelpiece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case.”
Quick answers
Who wrote The Sign of Four?
The Sign of Four was written by Arthur Conan Doyle and first published in 1889.
What genre is The Sign of Four?
It is usually shelved as Victorian Mysteries and Adventure.
How long is The Sign of Four?
The median edition has 156 pages, about 2–3 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.
Is The Sign of Four free to read?
Yes. It is in the public domain in the United States and can be read free on Project Gutenberg in EPUB, Kindle and HTML formats.
Is there a free audiobook of The Sign of Four?
Yes — LibriVox volunteers recorded it; the recording runs 4 h 27 min.
What books are similar to The Sign of Four?
Readers who like it often enjoy The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, The Italian secretary and The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures.
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