A Study in Scarlet (Classic Crime)

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.

I read 'Study in Scarlet' with mixed thoughts. The first half of the book was one of excitement reading about one of my favorite fictional characters and his faithful Watson as they start their detective adventures together..the second half left me amused and sad with the treatment of Mormon's and Utah. Knowing about LDS history I realized very quickly where Sir Arthur got his information about Mormonism. One of the fertile grounds for missionary work in the early days of the LDS Church was in the British Isles. Many converts were found there and most of these, when converted, would pack up and head to 'Zion'..America..mostly Kirtland Ohio, Nauvoo Illinois or Salt Lake City Utah. This and the different teachings created several anti-Mormon attacks in the newspaper and other works. Some of these came from former Mormons or apostates. Doyle would have read or heard some of these and quite probably based his interpretation of Mormonism from them...(I'm not sure he ever met or talked with any Mormons in England in 1887).

What was of interest to me was reading about when Sir Arthur came to Utah to speak on spiritualism. In May of 1923 he was making his second American lecture tour and came out West. One of the stops he made was in Salt Lake City and spoke to a full house in the LDS Tabernacle. His daughter, Dame Jean Conan Doyle, was 10 at the time of their visit and was interviewed in 1991 to discuss this. Her reply was "You know father would be the first to admit that his first Sherlock Holmes novel was full of errors about the Mormons". "We were all very apprehensive when we got near Utah. We thought we would be kidnapped or something". "We were all relieved to find out how friendly the people really turned out to be". It turned out that a governess had told the children horrible stories about the Mormons and that the city wasn't safe.
"When our parents found out, they were absolutely furious with the governess. Even if the stories were true, which they weren't , it was not right to frighten the children". Sir Arthur fired the governess.

In later years, Levi Edgar Young University of Utah professor of Western history and a LDS general authority stated to a Salt Lake Tribune reporter when asked about Doyle's reception in Utah in light of this book.."He apologized for that, you know, he said that he had been misled by writing of the time about the Church."

Sir Arthur praised the pioneers and their spirit but never made a public apology. As he was at the time trying to distance himself from his creation Sherlock Holmes, he insisted, "all I said about the Danite Band and the murders is historical so I cannot withdraw that tho it is likely that in a work of fiction it is stated more luridly than in a work of history. It's best to let the matter rest." He did state that in the future he would write of the LDS as he found them on his visit. True to his word whenever the subject of Mormons came up he treated them with new-found respect.

Never one to back down to dodge an issue, I don't believe Sir Arthur was just saying things that people in Utah wanted to hear. He didn't appear to be jaded in his remarks or biased. He just stated them as he felt. Not all the people in Utah were happy to see him. He was criticized by the Presiding Bishop Charles W. Nibley in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle blasting Doyle for the things written in the book and then for accepting Mormon money for speaking. Doyle responded that he never took one cent for any work done on the platform of spiritualism and that he hoped Bishop Nibley would apologize for his utterances as he was ill-informed and uncharitable "not as representing the friends whom I left behind me in Salt Lake City". This shows me that Doyle was a man of courage and principle..one that would never back down from a challenge and was willing to admit when he was wrong.

So as a member of the LDS Church did this book offend me?..well..considering the time and place the offense is not very great. It would be sad, in this informational age, if anyone was still using this book as a basis for interpreting Mormonism. It is sad, though, that this popular book placed such negative stereotypical images of Mormonism into the world's imagination.

With all this said the second half of the book is far below the standards of the first. It is too bad that Doyle didn't have better information of the West and Mormons to really make this a much better book. The idea that polygamy was white slavery is simply untrue. Women of that time were never forced into marriage mentally or physically. note: (Please do not associate the LDS Church with the Fundamentalist groups around that still practice polygamy. They are not associated with the LDS church nor believe/practice any of its' doctrine).
The idea of the Avenging Angels of Mormondom, Danites, is wrong regardless of any historical writings of the time. There may have been some Mormons who took the law into their own hands but this was few and far between. More was poured on the early Saints than was ever given back and the idea that Joseph Smith or Brigham Young created a group of vigilantes to assassinate apostates is fiction at best and simply historically inaccurate...(the fact that there are many apostates still running around writing all sorts of anti-mormon things unmolested proves this point).

This is a book, inaccuracies and all, that is still worth reading because it introduces us to the greatest detective of them all. A man that has been copied for years but never duplicated as he and Watson begin their long study in scarlet.

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. n Mary Whipple

This book is a satisfying introduction to Holmes and Watson. The first half of the book is a fast-paced murder mystery, in which Holmes demonstrates his wonderful deductive reasoning.

The second half of the book, however, goes back to explain the incentive behind the crime. This leads us to the Salt Lake Valley and the Mormon pioneers.

I found that this second half lessened my enjoyment of the book. Doyle presents some terrible inaccuracies about Mormon culture and their way of life; inaccuracies that grate painfully to an LDS reader such as myself. Doyle seems to have known just enough about the Mormon trek west to feel comfortable writing about it. He doesn't even spell some of the names (the ones he borrowed from real people) correctly.

When reading this book I had to suspend my disbelief and treat this second half for exactly what it is: an entirely fictional account of Mormon life. I found that when I stopped equating Doyle's work to history, that this part of the book was rather interesting.

This aside, the book is a delight to read. The account of how Holmes and Watson met is wonderful.

How can this story, the first full-length Holmes story by Sir Doyle, be given anything short of a maximum rating? It's a true classic, and a must-read for anyone who is interested in Holmes or, for that matter, the general subject of criminal investigation. The description of Holmes and his methods is not to be missed.
A Study in Scarlet is historic on many fronts. First, it contains an interesting British perspective on some American history. Second, it describes London of the last century from the perspective of an author who was there. And third, it is history itself, a landmark work in detective fiction, and in the application of scientific method to forensics.
But on top of all this, how can one resist the chance to read a work which goes to four levels of quotation? Watson quoting Gregson quoting Charpentier quoting Drebber, direct throughout, is alone worth the price of admission.

"A Study in Scarlet" is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's premier novel about his creation and the most famous detective of all time; Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

"Scarlet", as all of Conan's books, is told from the view of Dr. John Watson, Sherlock's faithful sidekick. Dr. Watson has been injured in Afghanistan, and a friend has decided to introduce him to a peculiar dectective. Watson gets caught up in an adventure involving blood-lettering, an apartment on Baker Street, and a detective that has no idea that the Earth goes round the Sun.

I cannot say whether or not to read this book first out of the Sherlock Holmes series; the choice is yours. But, since it was written in Conan's career's infancy, I might suggest you read the "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" first. Then, start at the beginning of the series and continue from there all the way home to 221B Baker Street.

Study in scarlet begins as a war story with Watson reflecting on everything that has happened since he went to Middle East serving his country (as a doctor). He tells the story of how he was a man trying to find a home, to a man who decides to be roomates with the great Sherlock Holmes.

The dialogue between Holmes and Watson is one of the most interesting piece of literature I ever read, it offers philosophical ideas, even with the 100 year gap of grammar and slang (with the unabridged novel). Seeing how they get to know eachother and how Watson becomes interested in Sherlock Holmes work.

The case is about a simple citizen being murdered in a household, and Holmes is hired to investigate, while bringing along Watson. But in the end there is a big twist of events and we learn the "WHOLE" truth of what happened. A must read, with a mixture of love and desperation.

I had never read a Sherlock Holmes book until this week. I decided to begin with the first. It was amuzing, well written, intruiging, and then suddenly I'm thrown for a loop when it makes the Mormons out to be murdering kidnappers. I was so disturbed by this at first, that it almost ruined the book for me, but then I realize that you have to forgive Doyle because in 1887 information on Mormons was scarce and shady. It was a fairly new organization at that time and the biblical practice of polygamy that was practiced by a few of the members was very hated, as would be expected. But we must remember that Doyle was writing a work of fiction, and historical accuracy is unnecessary for a good story, and this is definitely a good mystery that is well written. I look forward to reading more of the adventures of Watson and Holmes (hopefully without any more slandering of Christians).

Dr. John Watson, invalided out of the army because of wounds sustained in Afghanistan, is looking for a roommate. He finds one in the person of Sherlock Holmes, a rather odd individual who displays astounding depth of knowledge in some areas and abysmal ignorance in others. Despite (or perhaps because of) his uneven education, Holmes displays acute powers of observation and deduction. Watson also finds Holmes to be a talented boxer, fencer, and violinist who conducts noxious chemistry experiments and entertains strange guests. Watson is mystified, but being too polite to ask blunt questions, he unsuccessfully tries to deduce what the devil his new friend is up to.
All becomes clear when Watson is called on to assist Holmes as he solves a murder mystery which completely baffles Scotland Yard. The story moves quickly to the inevitable capture of the "bad guy," and then through a lengthy flashback sequence we discover the "bad guy's" motive. Next we return to the "present," where the story draws to its satisfying conclusion.
Thus begins a crimefighting partnership that Conan Doyle took through four novels and fifty six short stories. And long after Conan Doyle put down his pen forever, the parternship continues to thrive in countless theatrical performances, radio plays, movies, and literary pastiches.

Fianlly! I got hold of the first book of my favourite crime mystery man! Shelock Holmes is the ultimate crime buster of the entire millenium! The first book was amazing from the meeting of poor Dr. Watson, to the solving of their first crime, brillian, brillian, brill-ia-nt!!
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