Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet

by Arthur Conan Doyle

This is a fairly short mystery, about 140 pages or so - split into two parts. The first part details how Sherlock and John first meet and how Sherlock investigates the crime and comes to the conclusion of the guilty party. The second part, follows the criminal and victims before wrapping up with the murderer's confession. Although the main bulk of the novel follows Holmes and Watson, we do meet Gregson and Lestrade - but more or less they operate as secondary minor characters.

For a character that has been as fleshed out and adapted as many times as Sherlock Holmes has - he's surprisingly flat. There isn't a whole lot of character development but then it is pretty short. The book mainly focuses on the mystery itself and the conclusions Sherlock draws. There is an easy camaraderie between Watson and Holmes. And Holmes isn't (or at least isn't in this novel) as high strung as he is later portrayed. He's also not as conceited, high handed or unaffected by people. He is surprisingly bitter about the lack of attention and acclaim he is given as a consulting detective. If anything Watson is more malicious than he ever appears in any other version I've seen (he really wants to get one over Sherlock at one point) and more curious about Holmes and his methods. And there was an appearance by the Baker Street Irregulars which I found enjoyable - I've just finished rereading the Baker Street Boys series by Anthony Read. Although they didn't seem to be called that and I'm not sure if that name even comes from the original material.

It was interesting reading the original material. I found the mystery to be fast paced and fascinating. I liked how Sherlock worked to solve it. Overall an enjoyable read.