The Sign of the Four book summary
Mary Morstan comes to Baker Street with a strange puzzle: her father vanished ten years ago, and for six years an unknown sender has posted her a large, lustrous pearl once a year. When a letter summons her to a meeting outside the Lyceum Theatre, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go with her and learn of the Agra treasure, a fortune that Major Sholto brought back from India. That same night one of the Major’s sons is found dead in a room locked from the inside, and the treasure is gone. Following a trail of creosote and the clues left by a wooden-legged man and his small companion, Holmes leads a steam-launch chase down the Thames. Arthur Conan Doyle’s second Sherlock Holmes novel, published in 1890, joins detection and adventure in a tale of greed and betrayal rooted in the 1857 rebellion in India, while Watson falls in love with Miss Morstan.
The Sign of the Four at a glance
- Level
- C1
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 113
- Words
- about 43,134
- Unique words
- 5,564
- Estimated reading time
- 3–5 hours
- Formats
- EPUB and PDF
Reading time is an estimate at 150–250 words per minute.
Why this book is useful for C1 English learners
The Sign of the Four is useful for C1 English learners because it gives you complex sentences, subtle tone, abstract vocabulary, and longer passages that reward slow, careful reading. As a mystery text, it lets you meet vocabulary inside a real reading flow instead of memorizing isolated words.
Vocabulary difficulty
C1 vocabulary often includes literary wording, precise verbs, abstract nouns, and expressions that change meaning by tone. Across about 113 pages, Okuzeka helps you slow down only on the words or phrases that block understanding, so the difficulty becomes easier to manage without turning every paragraph into a translation exercise. This makes it a practical C1 vocabulary reading choice.
Recommended reading level
Best for advanced readers who want to grow range, precision, and comfort with authentic English prose. If you are looking for C1 English books, this page gives you the book format, page count, category, and reading tools before you add it to your library.
Most common words in The Sign of the Four
The Sign of the Four contains about 43,134 words, 5,564 of them unique. These content words appear most often in the text:
- man×139
- holmes×128
- see×103
- small×86
- time×70
- know×69
- treasure×68
- sholto×66
- think×65
- way×64
- great×63
- night×63
How to read The Sign of the Four with Okuzeka
Add The Sign of the Four to your Okuzeka library, open it in the reader, and tap difficult words while you read. Okuzeka shows meanings in the sentence you are reading, lets you save useful vocabulary as flashcards, and keeps the book available across web, iOS, and Android.
- Add the book to your library.
- Read normally and tap only the words that stop you.
- Save useful words as flashcards for later review.
Similar C1 books
More by Arthur Conan Doyle
Next step: C2 English books
The Sign of the Four FAQ
Is The Sign of the Four good for C1 English reading practice?
The Sign of the Four can be used for C1 English reading because you can read the book in Okuzeka, check difficult words in context, and save vocabulary while staying inside the text.
Can I read The Sign of the Four as an EPUB in Okuzeka?
Yes. The Sign of the Four is available as an EPUB book in Okuzeka.
Which words appear most often in The Sign of the Four?
The most frequent content words in the text of The Sign of the Four are: man, holmes, see, small, time, know, treasure, sholto, think, way. The book contains about 43,134 words in total, 5,564 of them unique. While reading in Okuzeka you can tap any of these words to see the meaning they have in that sentence.
How long does it take to read The Sign of the Four?
The Sign of the Four has about 43,134 words. At a reading speed of 150 to 250 words per minute, that is roughly 3–5 hours of reading. This is an estimate: your own pace, and stopping to look up words, will change it.
Which formats is The Sign of the Four available in?
The Sign of the Four is available as EPUB and PDF. Both files can be downloaded from this page without an account. Reading it in the Okuzeka web reader, with tap-to-translate and flashcards, needs a free account.
How should I read The Sign of the Four with Okuzeka?
Read normally first, tap only the words or phrases that stop you, and save the useful ones as flashcards. This keeps EPUB and PDF reading close to real book reading instead of constant dictionary switching.
