A Study in Scarlet Book Review

Genre: Mystery

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Plot:

     Ah, strange times. You return to London and, due to lack of funds, move in with a stranger at 221B Baker Street. Things are generally fine, but your flatmate isn't all that, well, normal. He's Sherlock Holmes you see, and soon you find yourself dragged along as the good Dr. Watson to unravel a "scarlet thread of murder." Two men are found dead with terror in their eyes. Who did it? More interestingly, did they deserve it?

     A Study in Scarlet is divided into two parts: first, the tracking down of the killer, and second, a flashback  told by the killer to explain why. This motif of mystery-solving followed by flashback is a famous Doyle literary strategy frequently employed in his other Sherlock Holmes stories.

Brian's Opinion:

     I was familiar with Sherlock Holmes before reading A Study in Scarlet - or I thought I was. I had seen the recent Downey Jr./Jude Law films and BBC's excellent modernized version for television with Cumberbatch/Freeman. One day I was casting my mind about for something to read when I realized, hey, I bet those Doyle books are pretty good. They were. I am nearly finished with the canon (further reviews to come) and honestly, all of the modern films/TV shows based on Sherlock are so much better after having read the originals.

Read it:

Public Library Finder

Project Gutenberg Free E-Book (including Kindle version; Doyle's works are largely off-copyright)

Amazon Paperback
A Study in Pink (the excellent BBC modern adaptation of A Study in Scarlet; try reading the book first)