Sherlock Holmes: A Study In Scarlet (AD Classic Illustrated)

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sidney Paget

A Study in Scarlet is the first story to feature Sherlock Holmes, and the first work of fiction to incorporate the magnifying glass as a detective tool. The story opens with Holmes and Watson meeting each other for the first time, and their decision to become flat-mates at 221B Baker Street. Soon they are involved in a murder-mystery involving kidnapping, enslavement and revenge that will test the limits of Holmes' skills and establish a life-long relationship with Watson. Sherlock Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skilful use of deductive reasoning, astute observation, and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. Deductive reasoning allows Holmes to impressively reveal a stranger's occupation. Similarly, by studying inanimate objects, he is able to make astonishingly detailed deductions about their owners. This mindset was a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, inspiring authors like Robert J. Sawyer, Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Engage Books
• Release date: Jun 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781927970683

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger.

Reviews for Sherlock Holmes

[asxz-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My first ever Holmes. Wonderfully there is much of the modern understanding of Sherlock Holmes clearly laid out on the page. He is perhaps even more self aware than TV and movie adaptations allow describing his mood swings and eccentricities to Dr. Watson even before they move in together.

There is a remarkable section in the middle where the narrative goes all Fenimore Cooper and we are transported from London to the snowy peaks of Utah. Quite unexpected. This was more fun even than I had expected. Fortunately I have already purchased further volumes.

[haloedrain · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I would have liked it better if most of part 2 didn't feel so completely separate from the rest (and maybe were more accurate and less bigoted), but the detectiving part was alright. Holmes is a bit insufferable, but interesting too.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Study in Scarlet was the first Sherlock Holmes story published. Given its age (1886) it reads surprisingly well with crisp non-florid prose, almost like a novel written in 2017 by someone pretending to be from the 1800s. This is the first Sherlock Holmes I've read. It gives a sense that, while you may be confused, someone else understands the world and answers can be had. That is comforting, like a parent reassuring an anxious child. This is echoed in the name "Sure" as in assurance or confidence; "Lock" as in holding the key to the mystery; and "Holmes" which sounds like "Home", a reassuring feeling. The clues to the mystery are somewhat beside the point, contrived and making sense only after the explanation. Regardless, I really enjoyed it and look forward to dipping into more in a sequential fashion as they were published. Giving 5 stars as the origin story of Sherlock Holmes.For modern readers the Mormon sub-plot is weird and maybe a little offensive. However in the 1880s, they were indeed a novel, strange and exotic people who engaged in massacres and "harems". In the story they come to London, to the homes of the readers. It's a classic "invasion novel" popular at the time, similar to Dracula which saw Eastern Europeans as the invaders. The invasion of London by secretive sub-cultures is a common theme Holmes stories.

[andrew1theqm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an enjoyable introduction to both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and it will be interesting to see how their characters develop across the series. I particularly enjoyed the large section that took place on the American Plains (not something you expect in a Sherlock Holmes book!) and how the story unravelled that led up to events being investigated in London. This was particularly well done. I look forward to continuing with the series.

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Study in Scarlet is in two parts. Part one: "Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., Late of the Army Medical Department." It's here that Dr. Watson and Mr. Sherlock Holmes meet for the first time. Watson, arriving in London and needing a place to stay, learns of Holmes looking to share his apartment. From the very beginning they are thrown together in a murder mystery. Watson is astounded by Holmes's ability to deduce facts from the smallest pieces of evidence.Part two: "Country of the Saints" steps back in time and tells the story of the Brigham Young and the Mormons settling in the plains of Utah. John Ferrier meets up with the four elders, Stangerson, Kemball, Jonston & Drebber and they take him and his young companion in. This story sets the backdrop for the murder mystery Holmes is trying to solve.

[carsonkicklighter · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was not expecting the Church of Latter-Day Saints but maybe Sherlock was.

[kenzen-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sherlock Holmes, Mormons, murder. Great read!

[andreablythe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Study in Scarlet is both Doctor Watson's and the world's first introduction to the frustrating, arrogant, and brilliant Sherlock Holmes. Watson in seeking a new flat to in which to live ends up paired with the consulting detective at 22B Baker Street. While at first Sherlock's profession and strange behavior is a mystery to the Doctor, he soon finds himself following Sherlock along in seeking out the truth behind the mysterious death of an American traveler. While I didn't like it as much as I enjoyed the tales in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the novel is short and a quick read with a compelling mystery.

[wassilissa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Der erste Band der Krimis um Sherlock Homes kann zweifellos als Klassiker des Genres gelten. Mit Sicherheit ist es einer der ersten Krimis, der das deduktive Schließen zur Lösung des Falls benutzt. Außerdem wurde in diesem Krimi das Detektivpaar etabliert, in dem es zum genialen Detektiv den vernünftigen SideKick gibt. In diesem Buch lernen sich Sherlock Homes und Doktor Watson kennen. Sie ziehen gemeinsam in die Wohnung in der Baker Street. Durch Zufall wird Watson von Holmes mit in die Lösung eines Falles hineingezogen, in der ein Mann tot in einer leeren Wohnung aufgefunden wurde. Der mittlere Teil des Buches beschreibt die Vorgeschichte dieses Mordes und ist enorm spannend und fesselnd. Der Fall selber wird von Sherlock Homes auf seine übliche geniale Weise gelöst.

[gunnargrey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not even gonna try to calculate how long it's been since I've read these original Holmes stories. They're still just as good as I remember from way back when. I admit I skip the little detour in the middle about how the original crimes happened. It's not necessary to enjoy the real story, which is how Holmes and Watson got together and started solving crimes. Very good story.

[floratina · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

READ IN ENGLISH

I'm a fan of the BBC-series called 'Sherlock' and that made me want to read the original books. I really loved to see that the series were based so much on the book. It became a search to find all the resemblances between the two. When the second part started (about the Mormons) I at first thought there was some sort of mess up whit my version of A Study in Scarlet (and that it was a completely different story). I read it anyway and it happened to be just a part of this book. That was a thing I thought was a bit strange, but I liked the over all story. The next books are on my To-Be-Read-List...

[adilinaria · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

** spoiler alert ** I was a little worried going into this, just unsure of how a longer Holmes story would read. I really enjoyed The Hound of Baskerville when I read it but I loved the short stories I read between these two. I shouldn't have been too worried however, this was excellent. I really enjoyed the second portion of the story, deviating from Sherlock and Watson to give us the back story of our murderer. It was different from the previous books in it's delivery and made the victims seem more the villains and our murderer more the almost hero. A great way to turn it around. Overall, a great one. I really enjoyed it and will definitely recommend it for any new fans of the series.Side note - this was the story that the first Sherlock episode is based on. That tickles me.

[krizia_lazaro_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is were it all started. It was okay. A bit on the boring side. There are better Sherlock Holmes story than this one.

[amydross · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I vaguely knew , but had kind of forgotten just how much of this book takes place in America (among Mormons, no less!). It's so weird.It's like, you carry around this sense in your soul of who Arthur Conan Doyle is, and what Sherlock Holmes mysteries are like, and there's lots of violin playing and pipe smoking and breakfasts at 221b and it's all quite civilized, and you forget all about these pioneer people herdin' cattle and goin' a courtin' in Salt Lake City. It was surprisingly okay, though.I was more puzzled by the ending, elements of which seem like a weird departure from the rest of the mystery.

[sueincyprus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book about Sherlock Holmes, and begins with his initial meeting and growing friendship with Dr Watson, who narrates the story. It's set in the latter part of the 19th century, and is in two parts. The first shows Holmes' analytical mind and attention to detail as he explains to Watson how he solves a rather unpleasant crime. Part One ends with the perpetrator being arrested.Part Two goes back in time, introducing a man and a young girl travelling rough in the United States after the rest of their group perished. They've given up on finding water, when they're discovered by a band heading to Utah. I don't know how accurate the portrayal of Mormon life and culture in the 19th century is, but it makes an excellent story, albeit quite spine-chilling at times. Ethics and morals are not pointed out, but it gradually becomes clear that there are often two sides to any story, and that the initial clear-cut crime could have quite clear motivations. Recommended to teens or adults who like historical crime fiction. I read it on my Kindle but it's widely available in other forms, mostly inexpensively or (from Project Gutenberg) free.

[stephlaymon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was very much enjoying this book when all of a sudden I realized I was entirely lost.The writing style, characters, narration and the facts leading up to the mystery were all remarkably good, but in the end I was left completely confused and I found myself questioning if I somehow missed something. After that ridiculous backstory of the murderer, I still have to ask... Who the hell is it? What just happened?I will certainly read more of Holmes as there is much to come back for. I may have to re-read this one to see where I fell off from the story.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thought I'd give this author a try, and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the story. The second part was even more intriguing, and fitted well. Will be reading more from ACD.

[nosajeel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant from beginning to end, even the notorious extended flashback to the adventure story set in the American West. The first Sherlock Holmes book introduces Watson, depicts his first meeting with Holmes, and sets them off on a classic puzzle mystery.

[nataliec7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just loved everything about this book!

[catquilt-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book! Most (all?) of the other Sherlock Holmes books take place totally in Great Britain. This one makes a *very* interesting side trip to the United States.

[kuroonehalf · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My first Sherlock Holmes book, so I figured I'd start from the beginning.

Starts off with a bang - Holmes and Wattson are swiftly established and the mystery put in motion, and all of it runs nicely and without contrivances. The problem comes in halfway into the book where there is a huge shift in narration, that I can't go into due to its spoilerific nature, but that completely breaks apart the flow of the book for the proceeding 30% of it. At the end it ties back up with some good stuff, but it's unfortunate that the middle was such a drag.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mostly good or above and on task Bradley, Stabenow, Child, Tod and Winspear a cut above.

[theokester · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As the first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet does a good job of introducing new readers to the characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. In the 21st century, it’s hard to escape some general knowledge of Holmes so a lot of what is described won’t come as much of a surprise or a revelation to new Holmes readers.What may come as a bit of a shock is the slow pace of the story and the immense amount of exposition and in-depth description of situations and actions. Many of the descriptive segments are elegant and vibrant and just a lot of fun to take in. Other sections felt rather wordy and a drudgery to work through. In particular I found the distanced narrative of life in 1840s Western United States to be very dry and boring in spite of some interesting events presented during the narrative.I enjoy having Watson as the narrator and like the way he presents the case after the fact but in such a way that it keeps the mystery hidden until the point at which it was revealed to him. That said I felt like this particular mystery (as is potentially likely in many Holmes stories) suffers from not providing the readers with enough palpable clues to actually solve the mystery on par with the hero. When Holmes presents his revelations and conclusions he is kind enough to reveal from whence he made his deduction. However it is impossible for the reader to make the same conclusions because frankly we don’t have the same information at our fingertips. This is partly because Watson is our narrator and he doesn’t have the same eye for observation as does Holmes (“he observes but doesn’t truly see”). Honestly though the main reason for the reader being kept in the dark is that it would be even more tedious to write a descriptive mystery where the reader has all of the same information made evident to Holmes through his observation. It’s one thing to have Holmes explain how he saw a dozen clues on the scene and used them to analyze a solution. It’s another thing to have the author describe those dozen clues in such a way that they aren’t immediately obvious clues but they are still clues that the reader could use to arrive at the conclusion. In order to adequately do so, the author would have to also provide dozens of “red herring” elements in describing the scene. Beyond presenting very detailed analysis of the depth of the scrapes in the wall to make the word “Rache” or detailed description of pocket contents, he would also have to present elements about the insignificant elements observed. So if I had to choose between being kept in the dark and having all clues presented to me, I would certainly opt for the method implemented. My only hope is that subsequent novels keep even further away from the extremely dry narrative descriptions that bear no relevance on the story at hand.Overall I found the story engaging and I was definitely impressed by Holmes’ methods. His personality is abrasive and flippantly derisive and so Watson provides a good foil for the adventure and also acts to temper Holmes a bit in the presentation of the narrative. Not a bad start to the Holmes collection.***3 out of 5 stars

[klmesoftly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'd heard great things about this book, and had high expectations after so enjoying the BBC Sherlock take - I wasn't disappointed. It's easy to appreciate why Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are such iconic, well-loved characters.

[smiler69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the work which introduced the reading public to the phenomenon that is Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick Dr Watson, who narrates the story as he describes his first encounter with the great Holmes, when both were still young men and looking to share living quarters to accommodate restricted budgets. Watson, who has plenty of time on his hands, gladly assists Holmes in this first adventure. Holmes is pompous and very full of himself, but as it turns out, he is also never wrong, even though he comes to immediate conclusions and makes seemingly preposterous statements about details of the crimes and criminals while seemingly going on very little evidence. I had no idea what to expect with this story, and so was nicely surprised that it is made up of two parts. In the first part, there is a mysterious murder of an American man thought to have been poisoned in London. Then the narrative switches to the USA and relates the tale of a man and a little girl dying of thirst and hunger who are the last survivors of a large party of travellers heading out west across the desert in Salt Lake Valley, who are rescued by a party of Mormons, on their way to found Salt Lake City. They rescue John Ferrier and little Lucy on the condition that the pair adopt the Mormon religion, which, according to Doyle's wild imagination took draconian measures to punish those who didn't toe the line. And from there evolves the drama which unfolds years later in London. A really great story, though Holmes himself doesn't really interest me much so far.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Doyle's work is surprisingly accessible for being so old. I'm glad that a bookcrossing.com member gave me a stack of Holmes. This novelette (?) was actually one of my least favorite, though, as it got complex and boring. Start with a short story collection. (Hound of the Baskervilles was also one that dragged for me.)

[scorched_earth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I have read by the famed creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A Study in Scarlet is Doyle's first book featuring the infamous Sherlock Holmes. Holmes' character has been portrayed in the movies so much that I feel like I already knew the character. Reading the original text by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is, not surprisingly, better than any other theatrical take I have seen. A Study in Scarlet is an easy read that could easily be completed in one day. The edition that I own contains illustrations by the famous caricaturist, Gris Grimly. I am not a fan of graphic novels or even illustrations in books because it distract my own imagination of how things should appear. On the other hand, the illustrations are very impressive so if you are into that kind of thing, I would recommend this edition. Holmes' first adventure in detection in A Study in Scarlet reveals to the world the detectives impeccable deductive powers. Holmes meets his sidekick Dr. Watson in Doyle's freshman detective novel, where the two rent an apartment on Baker Street. It is a widely known fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle single handedly revolutionized the science of Forensics and crime scene investigation. There is an in-depth documentary about how Sherlock Holmes' methods were used in Doyle's fiction novels before they were ever used in real life. Knowing this fact makes reading these books much more interesting and entertaining to read. I plan on chronologically reading all the books written by Doyle that feature Sherlock Holmes.

[ssimon2000-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, A Study in Scarlet starts with the arrival of Dr. Watson in London after being discharged from military service in the second Afghanistan war. Looking for a place to stay, he boards a flat with Holmes, an intriguing gentleman to say the least. Before he knows it, he’s assisting Holmes with a murder investigation.

Overall, this is the place to start if you want to read Holmes. The story is well-told, the plot hangs together pretty well, and there are plenty of twists for the inquisitive reader to navigate through.

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 starsThis is the first Sherlock Holmes novel when Dr. Watson first meets Holmes. They become roommates and soon after, there is a murder. The mystery is actually solved in part one of the story, then part two gives more background information on how/why it all happened. It was off and on for me for holding my interest. I was just getting interested in Watson and Holmes getting to know each other, then the murder came about. I lost focus for a bit, then was getting interested again when part one ended, and there was a shift to different characters and a different setting, which caused me to lose interest a bit, once again. Once that got going, I got interested again. I do think I liked this better than the Holmes short stories I've read (although the way it was structured it almost felt like a couple of short stories until it came together in the end!). Overall, I liked it enough to rate it good.

[superant_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This first story in the Sherlock Holmes original storyline is great. It blew me away. I had no idea it was going to end relating to the Mormon practices of the time!