We review A Study In Scarlet – the first ever Sherlock Holmes mystery.
A Study In Scarlet – the blurb
Convalescing in London after a disastrous experience of war in Afghanistan, Dr John Watson finds himself sharing rooms with his enigmatic new acquaintance, Sherlock Holmes. But their quiet bachelor life at 221B Baker Street is soon interrupted by the grisly discovery of a dead man in a grimy ‘ill-omened’ house in south-east London, his face contorted by an expression of horror and hatred such as Watson has never seen before. On the wall, the word rache – German for ‘revenge’ – is written in blood, yet there are no wounds on the victim or signs of a struggle. Watson’s head is in a whirl, but the formidable Holmes relishes this challenge to his deductive powers, and so begins their famous investigative partnership
The man who needs no introduction
I was interested to meet the man who needs no introduction and wasn’t disappointed to find him flogging a dead corpse when introductions were first made. Holmes is such a well known character and I really wasn’t sure what I would make of him set down in writing. It feels like so many of us know him but who has actually read one of Doyle’s books? Has Hollywood or the distinctive Gatiss/Moffat duo too firmly entrenched their version into the public’s mind?
Well perhaps it is the other way round. All the hallmarks are already present in A Study In Scarlet. Holmes has a superior mind yet no common sense. He resides in Baker Street and even plays the violin. He is without doubt a unique character, one not necessarily likeable but the inclusion of Watson is a stroke of genius adding temperance to Holmes and his quirks. Overall it doesn’t feel as though the public persona is too different from Doyle’s creation and I liked that.
A detour to Utah
The book took quite a strange turn when we headed to America. I certainly didn’t expect to be reading about Mormons in Utah when I first started. Yet Doyle found the time to squeeze in an excellent little detour in amongst the modest word count. The actual mystery Holmes solved was probably the weakest part of the book to be honest. The Utah section was enjoyable, the meeting of the man himself also. Yet the reader was never going to work out the case and so was just there for the ride. I didn’t mind this and found Holmes to be surprisingly less ‘I know and I’m not letting on’ than some detectives I’ve read.
The book was enjoyable, it didn’t take long to read and I feel a sense of rightness that I’ve actually now read a Sherlock novel. I won’t be reading every one but I may well look out for the more famous titles amongst Doyle’s back catalog – Baskerville, Reichenbach Falls etc.
If you like your classic crime try The Magpie Murders. Only recently published it’s a glorious nod to days of detectives gone by.
