this was very nice. i do prefer conan doyle's short stories over his novels. of course a lot of blatant sexism (at least three times the most beautiful woman watson has ever seen is vers proud and beautiful and/or does something very dumb and is of course saved by some old paternal figure of a chauvinist victorian not-so-gentle-man). some of them do have some agency of their own, however not the only woman of colour, she is just crazy and murders her husband because that's what "exotic and thus hot-blooded" women apparently do. urgh.
the mysteries are nice and maybe less far fetched though than in other installments (or maybe just as far fetched, but less overexplained and thus more enjoyable)