Customer Reviews

A Study in Scarlet (The Oxford Sherlock Holmes)

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It is 1878 and Doctor John Watson, his health damaged by his experiences with the British Army in Afghanistan during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, is looking for lodgings in the great city of London. It seems fortuitous, when a mutual friend introduces him to another who needs someone to share costs on a suite on Baker Street, but this other man is quite an eccentric. Sherlock Holmes has bent his life and education towards turning himself into the premier detective.

Watson can hardly credit Holmes's claims of what a first-class detective can do. But, when a note arrives from a Scotland Yard detective, inviting Holmes to consult on a particularly mysterious murder, Watson soon finds himself carried along by Holmes, watching his new friend's powers unravel a seemingly inscrutable knot. The game is afoot, and Holmes needs to solve a murder, and bring a murderer to justice.

This fascinating book was first published in 1887, and was the very first Sherlock Holmes story. In it we get to see the first meeting of Holmes and Watson, and hear Holmes explain his methods in detail. If you are a fan of murder mysteries, then this is definitely a book that you should not miss.

The center part of this story revolves around the actions of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Author Arthur Conan Doyle had a tendency to "wing" the details of his story, and his treatment of the Mormons shows a certain carelessness in how he presented them. Therefore, if you are a Mormon, you will most likely find this book offensive.

But, that said, this is a wonderfully entertaining story that is sure to please most every mystery fan. And, if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, then you must read this book! It's great.

This is where it all began, the very first Sherlock Holmes story. If you want to read all 60 Holmes adventures in chronological order (as you should) then by all means make this the first Holmes book that you ever read. They are all literary masterpieces, and this was the first one! Out of the 4 Holmes novels, I would rank this third, behind the Valley of Fear and the Hound of the Baskervilles. I will spare you the plot details, you can do that elsewhere. Just get and read this book and it will start you on a fascinating and extremely entertaining journey through Conan Doyle's world of Sherlock Holmes, one of the most widely recognized, and best, figures in all of literature.

Huge scam: if you buy the electronic edition, you get an all-text book - by a different publisher - and not a Kindle version of this edition. I want my dollar back!

Meet Sherlock Holmes. Hopelessly eccentric, devastatingly brilliant, and seemingly born of a supernatural ability to accomplish what he sets his mind to, the world's greatest detective has devoted himself to the pursuit of criminals. By matching wits with both the criminals he hunts and the official police inspectors, Holmes has found a pasttime that has a neverending series of puzzles on which he can train his amazing powers of observation and deduction.

We're all familiar with this character, and that's because, a hundred years after Holmes was first unveiled to the public, he continues to gather new readers. An icon who has spawned dozens of stereotypes, Holmes has a universal appeal that still fascinates us, even though the world of crimefighting has transformed itself entirely.

For the modern reader, the writing is stiff and takes some getting used to. Watson's buffoonish amazement at every word Holmes utters is comical, and the pronouncements of the great detective seem arrogant and, at times, obvious or self-serving. But make no mistake. There's some magic in these writings.

This particular edition (I have the 1975 printing) is a very nice introduction to Holmes, beginning as it does with the first two stories which made the character famous. Young readers in particular should enjoy the immersion in Victorian England, and the exposure to this great character's methods. Highly recommended.

I seriously raced thru this book as it was highly addictive. Holmes is brilliantly introduced to us and to Watson. Once Holmes lets a room out in his house to Watson the intrique starts. Doc is suspicous of what Holmes does and is keen to join him on his cases. When a man is found dead in a seedy house in suburban London the mystery kicks in.

Holmes uses his awesome methods of deduction to bring the killer straight into his hands. But then the story takes an unexpected and mostly inappropriate turn. We go back a few decades to the Salt Flats of Utah and follow the story of 2 lost travellers and how they are saved by fachist Mormons. It's all to unfamiliar and un-Holmes and I was glad to get it over with and back to Holmes mysteries and case-solving.

I guess that Conan-Doyle never knew where the character of Holmes would go after this. The short stories and novels that followed were much better and developed some of the minors characters. But every "franchise" has to start somewhere. I assume Conan-Doyle never imagined that Holmes would have lasted so long and parodied and imitated to much, even to this day. But this is where it all started. And it got better and better from here on.

This book is the first of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The book starts with the arrival of Dr. Watson to London following his discharge from military service. He's looking for a place to stay, and an acquaintance suggests he find a room together with Sherlock Holmes, a man who has been hanging around in the medical school laboratories. Watson finds Holmes amiable enough to live with, but an enigma- -just how does he earn his living? Before he knows it, he's helping Holmes with the investigation of a murder.

If you want to read Sherlock Holmes, you need to start here. Considering that the genre was in its infancy when Doyle wrote this volume, the story is remarkably well told. The plot hangs together, there are clues for the inquisitive reader, and plenty of plot twists. This particular recording has its ups and downs. Some of the voices are well done, but others are rather shaky. Clive Merrison as Holmes has a rather irritating laugh, but perhaps that was intentional given Holmes' personality.

A Study in Scarlet is a good detective story, but certainly not Doyles greatest. But it bears the distinction of being the novel which introduced the world to the legendary Sherlock Holmes. First appearing in 1887, it was not to be the greatest story about Sherlock Holmes, but it was the first. Doyle first introduces us to John H. Watson, a medical doctor recovering from duty in Afghanistan. Watson needs a room-mate, and a mutual acquaintance introduces both him and us to Holmes. So we come to know both Holmes, Watson, and the memorable 221B Baker Street.

Watsons first impressions of Holmes are merely that he is a man enshrouded in mystery and eccentricity, and Watson politely restrains his curiosity by avoiding asking too many intrusive questions, despite the parade of strange individuals that come to their apartment to consult Holmes, and despite his bemusement at Holmes passion for playing the violin and his egotism. Watsons perplexation at Holmes character and profession is slowly unravelled in the second chapter which Doyle appropriately titles The Science of Deduction. Watson observes that his zeal for certain studies was remarkable, and within eccentric limits his knowledge was so extraordinarily ample and minute that his observations have fairly astounded me His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing  That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.(p11). Holmes apparently is brilliant at identifying a stain on your trousers, but completely ignorant about the most elementary contemporary political events.

Ironically, Watsons inability to deduce Holmes profession proves that he lacks the very ability that he is seeking to uncover in Holmes: deduction. For Holmes doesnt just excel in specialized knowledge, but especially in the science of deduction and logic. By utilizing the skills of observation and analysis Holmes asserts that logic could solve all virtually all problems. In his words: From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it. Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired by long and patient study, nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to attain the highest possible perfection in it. Before turning to those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties, let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems. Let him, on meeting a fellow-mortal, learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the trade or profession to which he belongs. Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it sharpens the faculties of observation, and teaches on where to look and what to look for. By a mans finger-nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser-knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirtcuffs  by each of these things a mans calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent inquirer in any case is almost inconceivable. (p14-15). Watson calls this science of deduction ineffable twaddle, but as we know, this is the vintage Holmes we love and the very core of his being. Not only does he prove it to Watson by remarkably deducing that Watson had served duty in Afghanistan, but by collaring the criminal in a murder case.

The story itself consists in two parts: the first part introduces us to Holmes and Watson, and describes the murder of Enoch Drebber and his secretary Joseph Stangerson, and several failed attempts of Scotland Yard detectives to solve it, concluding with Holmes unmasking the real perpetrator, to the complete astonishment of all present. The second part is a flashback, explaining the background and motives for the murder, as finally Holmes relates the observations and deductions that led him to solving it. In short, the crime was the result of an old-standing and romantic feud, in which love and Mormonism bore a part. (p103)

But what is fascinating about A Study in Scarlet is not so much the mystery, but the man: Holmes himself. Doyle would later learn to eliminate some of the excess baggage present in this story (such as the extended flashback) and focus on Holmes and his deductions. The characterization of Holmes as an eccentric man driven by logic is wonderfully created for the first time in this novel. Already here is the foundation of the Sherlock Holmes that would become so successful in all of Doyles later stories. A few quotes illustrate how the tone of the deductive Holmes is set: In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backward. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much. (p99-100) There is no branch of detective science which is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps. (p100) You see, the whole thing is a chain of logical sequences without a break or flaw. (p102)

Here the successful formula is already established: Scotland Yard is baffled, so is his foil the bumbling doctor Watson, and so are we the readers. Holmes has long solved the mystery before we have even begun identifying red herrings, and it is when he sits by the fire and explains to Watson the process of deduction that we curl up in delight. The partnership between the super-sleuth Holmes and his beloved side-kick Watson all starts here, and if you love Sherlock Holmes, you wont want to miss it!

Published in 1878, this first Sherlock Holmes story is a delightful curiosity, rather than a finely developed novel. Here Dr. Watson, just released from the British army and recovering from serious wounds from the second Afghan war, meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time. Both have been looking for someone to share the rent--at 221B Baker Street. Holmes, without a "real" career, spends considerable time experimenting in a hospital chemistry lab and interviewing people who come to the apartment. Watson soon discovers that Holmes is a detective consultant, working with police detectives and private detectives alike.

Written before Doyle had fully developed his skills as a mystery novelist, this novel divides in half. In the first part, which begins around 1880, Holmes helps investigate the murder of Enoch J. Drebber of Cleveland, Ohio, apparently poisoned in an abandoned house. A tall stranger has been seen in the neighborhood, and some clues have been planted at the crime scene. Later, Drebber's traveling companion is killed. Holmes, however, manages to solve both cases by the halfway point in the book.

The second half of the novel flashes back to 1847. John Ferrier, one of twenty-one people in a caravan, is traveling through "an arid and repulsive desert" in the American west when the caravan runs out of food and water. Ferrier and a small girl, the only survivors, search for water until they collapse. Rescued by Brigham Young and a wagon train of Mormons on their way to found their city, Ferrier, in exchange for food and water, agrees to convert and become a good Mormon. Years later, when Ferrier is a successful rancher and Lucy has fallen in love with a Gentile, the elders of the church demand that Ferrier agree to wed Lucy to a member of the church, a decision he resists.

These seemingly unrelated stories eventually overlap, but Doyle's incomplete and inaccurate knowledge of Mormon beliefs show his deliberate attempt to capitalize on the mysteries of the "wild west" and of Mormonism for the sake of his story, now quite dated. The ending consists of Holmes simply ticking off the clues which have led him to solve the murders and capture the murderer, not a dramatic or exciting climax. Watson is seen as a soldier-hero and doctor, and not as a bumbling side-kick to Holmes, who is shown here as a decidedly odd and pompous man, less "clever" than he becomes in time. Fun to read and interesting primarily because it is the first Holmes mystery. Mary Whipple

Great classic, I consider this a must read if you like detective stories. Haven't noticed any fromatting problems with the kindle version.

This is the first Sherlock Holmes story, and in many ways it is the best! Sherlock succeeds in unraveling the mystery of a murder there in London, whose root causes go all the way back to Salt Lake City in the US. No Holmes fan should be without this book!