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A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
Audiobook4 hours

A Study in Scarlet

Written by Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by Derek Partridge

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Convalescing in London after a disastrous experience of war in Afghanistan, Dr. John Watson finds himself sharing rooms with his enigmatic new acquaintance Sherlock Holmes. But their quiet bachelor life at 221B Baker Street is soon interrupted by the grisly discovery of a dead man in a grimy "ill-omened" house in southeast London, his face contorted by an expression of horror and hatred such as Watson has never seen before. On the wall, the word rache-German for "revenge"-is written in blood, yet there are no wounds on the victim or signs of a struggle. Watson's head is in a whirl, but the formidable Holmes relishes this challenge to his deductive powers. And so begins their famous investigative partnership.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 6, 2009
ISBN9781400179411
Author

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, most famous for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes and long-suffering sidekick Dr Watson. Conan Doyle was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.

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Reviews for A Study in Scarlet

Rating: 3.835526315789474 out of 5 stars
4/5

152 ratings134 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is a page turner. The investigation is interesting from start to finish, though the flashback in the middle comes on a bit too suddenly. I thought for a second that the Holmes story was over and Doyle had thrown in a random Western short story to fill up the book. On second thought, maybe that's exactly why he wrote the flashback. It's a good Western though, so can't really complain.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This story is the first work about Homes.For the widespread oh this story, his name has been famous.And this story shows the first contact of Homes and watson.You can know the root oh their relationship, if you read this.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story introduces the crime obsessed detectiveand the doctor who becomes his roommate and fellow conspirator in mystery solving.The sudden switch to the U.S., Utah, and Mormons was unexpected and still strange.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The first book I read in 2012 was The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. I remarked back then that I was a bit disappointed in my first-ever reading of a story featuring the detective we all know so well. I also wondered if going back and starting at the beginning might make a difference, and indeed it did.A Study in Scarlet is the first Holmes novel, and it beautifully sets the stage for everything that (we know now) is to come. Here we witness the first meeting between Holmes and his faithful assistant, Doctor Watson. We witness Holmes' scientific experiments, his amazing breadth of knowledge in some areas and equally amazing ignorance in others that he does not perceive useful. In this first novel, Sherlock is called upon to help the police solve a seemingly impossible crime: a man's body has been found in an abandoned house, with no apparent cause of death and no clues. Wait, did I say no clues? Ha! Not with Sherlock on the case. He quickly figures out virtually the whole scenario that first night, but establishing standard protocol Conan Doyle withholds the key information from Dr. Watson who withholds it from us.I was startled by an interlude in the mystery, which switches to third person (most of the Sherlock stories are told in the first person as a memoir by Watson) to provide some key background information about the murdered man and his killer. It was completely unexpected to me, which I guess proves that there are still surprises to be found even in an overly familiar canon.There was one other factor that made A Study in Scarlet more enjoyable to me. The novel-length story really gave room for Sherlock's wizardry and subsequent reveal to seem more natural. In the short stories of The Memoirs, I felt the solution to the puzzle was almost tacked on as an afterthought. There was too much telling and not enough showing, I think. Thankfully, Scarlet does not suffer that fate, and it's an excellent beginning to my planned chronological read of all the Holmes stories.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Deduction porn, really. Rather large digression in the middle though.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    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.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Holmes is just too full of himself.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This first of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books introduces the character quite well with several references to his peculiararities. It's funny at times, graceful with explanations of character history and short enough to enjoy in a reading or two.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I read this for the first time 26 years ago. Funny how much and little I remembered. Very interesting how animated and emotive this - original - Holmes is, especially compared to later fan writers (pro and otherwise) portraying him as, essentially, Spock.

    Now, I dig Spock, don't get me wrong, but he's about a tenth as emotive as Watson's beloved detective here. *g*
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I read The Hound of the Baskervilles when I was in high school, but not anything else till I read this--the first Holmes novel, published in 1887. The first hald of the book where we are introduced to Dr. Watson and to Holmes' methods, is of some interest. But the second hald,which tells of events before the muders in the first hald, is creaky and anot much. The Mormons in Utah are the villians, as they are in Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage. I don't think I need read any more Holmes books
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Was this the one with all the red heads?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Classic mystery story that is thourougly enjoyable. This is also the book in which Watson meets Sherlock and discovers how eccentric he is. In this book, Sherlock explains many of his techniques for solving crimes.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This, the very first Sherlock Holmes story, is a re-read, I have read the whole canon several times before. It is particularly striking as being a story of two halves. After the initial meeting between Holmes and Watson - surely one of the most significant and memorable literary acquaintanceships - the story of murder unfolds against the London backdrop that is considered so typically Sherlockian. The mystery is solved half way through. The second half is then a sympathetic backstory of why the murderer committed his crimes, which takes us to Utah and the Mormons (whose cultish nature depicted here is the source of the evil). This is very atypical Conan Doyle material, but brilliantly and dramatically described, his evocation of the bleak and barren landscape every bit as convincing as that of the more familiar foggy London streets. No doubt this contrastingly wide spaced environment is part of the reason why this story has been much less adapted for the screen than Hound of the Baskervilles (Dartmoor is more accessible and realisable than the Utah desert!) or The Sign of Four (set in London). But this is a real classic that deserves to be better known as the beginning of a literary legend. 5/5
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This novel represented Sherlock Holmes's first outing. I enjoyed the first half in which the body is discovered and Holmes identifies the miscreant.. However, I found the second section, which takes the form of a potted history of the Mormom community in America, rather tedious.Still, overall I enjoyed coming back to this some thirty years after I first read it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    After they caught a suspect the story suddenly changes to the American west. I thought it was a problem with my download, but that is the way the book is. After going through a story that seems to be totally unrelated to the mystery the explanation of the connection comes. The change was very jarring.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great character development that I felt was missing from the later short stories. I'm glad I read this one - it makes me want to read the rest in order.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read this a few months ago and just can't believe I never read any of them before. It was a great fannish read! And I can only imagine the crazy fanfiction.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mostly good or above and on task Bradley, Stabenow, Child, Tod and Winspear a cut above.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My first Sherlock Holmes book was without disappointment. A very nice read and would be recommended to anyone asking for something to read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I finished this book in pretty much one sitting, both to try to take advantage of my spring break to catch up on the 50 book challenge and to finish reading one of the many books lent to me by my sister in order to fill a box that I will be sending to her shortly. Though I didn't expect to finish it quite so quickly. I was instantly transported back to the days of watching Sherlock Holmes on PBS with my father and said sister. When is that series going to come out on DVD? ::sigh:: Anyway, the book was completely absorbing, though I have to wonder if early Mormon history was as bloodthirsty as dear Sir Arthur makes it out to me. But I won't say anything else so as not to spoil the ending.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    See my review of this book, and many more, at Tales from the Great East Road.

    After serving his country in the Afghanistan war, Dr John Watson returns to his beloved London looking for a home. Permanently injured during his service and with little money, John soon realises he’ll need a roommate. By chance, a friend introduces him to the world’s only Consulting Detective, Sherlock Holmes – a man of great intellect and almost terrifyingly accurate observations. Thus begins their many adventures together, starting with the body of a man found in Lauriston Gardens, and the word Rache spelt in blood across the wall. With the police stumped, only Sherlock can solve the puzzle.

    Sherlock Holmes is undoubtably the most well known fictional detective in the world, famed for his amazing ability to decipher clues that no-one else can. We are repeatedly told of his genius, through the adoring eyes of Dr John Watson, and the joy of this entire series is the many mysteries and trying to figure out just how Holmes was able to solve them. It is stated by Holmes several times that he is not in fact a genius, but merely able to observe tiny details that other people nearly always miss. The big reveal in A Study in Scarlet shows that it was actually a fairly simple case had the police seen all the details – as Holmes himself says “I’m not going to tell you much more of the case, Doctor. You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick, and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all”. Since the novel is written from Watson’s point of view, we are unable to notice what Holmes sees, as Watson is not an observant man – or at least, not as observant as Sherlock Holmes. The reader of this series comes to idealise Holmes as capable of solving anything because we see him through Watson’s eyes as an impressive genius beyond all doubt.

    In terms of characters, both Watson and Holmes felt a little flat, especially Watson, which is odd considering he is the narrator of this novel. Watson spends most of his time marvelling at Holmes’ amazing abilities, and Holmes showing off said abilities. It seems that Conan Doyle wanted the reader to feel the same love for Holmes as Watson does, and what better way than to have the whole story narrated by a admiring (though not mindless) fan? This appears to be one of those issues with knowing the characters more through adaptations that through the source material itself. The relationship, which plays a huge part in practically all the films/TV shows, felt under developed as we were told, rather than shown, that they had become friends. This relationship is almost certainly expanded during the course of the entire series, but in terms of A Study in Scarlet, it seems to be sacrificed in favour of the mystery.

    There were a few other surprises, namely that the story changes in both scenery and characters in the second half, to explain the mystery, and that the author’s political views aren’t exactly subtle1. On the whole, A Study in Scarlet is an enjoyable book, but I can’t help but feel that people’s love of Sherlock Holmes comes both from the entire series and the many different interpretations we have available.

    3.5 stars.

    1 Conan Doyle seemed to really hates Mormons. I wonder why?
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This Arthur Conan Doyle novel didn't do it for me. It had a lot going for it but, around the halfway mark, veered off course considerably and (I felt) never regained the same momentum that it started with. The story itself is interesting until this point, but then it falls into platitudes and asides that, I found, were not as interesting in the details rather than in the entire picture. Nonetheless, we are introduced to Watson and Holmes and their investigation of the case and Holmes comes off strong in the first part. 2 stars.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Funny... I guess I read this 30 years ago when I was a kid, and compared to the short stories, I didn't remember it too well... halfway through the book and all of a sudden there are four or five chapters in Utah with Bringham Young and the Mormons? Huh? What happened to the pocket watches and the gaslights and the coach-and-fours? Still great, of course.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first story concerning that most famous detective Sherlock Holmes and the doctor Watson. It concerns the first meeting of Holmes and Watson, the the case which cements Watson's desire to record Holmes' doings.I really enjoyed this rather pulpy detective story. It is fast-paced with very little deviation from the telling of the crime and the resolution.The main delight comes from the characters. Everyone knows of Sherlock Holmes, such as his deerstalker hat and pipe, and his ability to solve crimes. Now that I have read this story, I can appreciate his dry wit, towering arrogance and slight wistfulness that he never seems to garner the credit for solving mysteries.Watson is often represented as being rather stupid, but I infer from this story that he is merely naive about what human beings are capable of and doesn't have Holmes' expert knowledge of criminology. I loved the way that Holmes was patient and exasperated by turns when explaining his deductions to Watson. You also get a sense of the fact that Holmes is just dying to show off his abilities, and Watson's faithful recording of the case fits this neatly.The story loses half a star for two reasons, both of which are probably attributable to the time and manner of when it was released.The first is the abrupt switch from the location in London to the detailed story of Jefferson Hope, who hails from America. At first I was not at all clear why this had been introduced. I believe it may have been done because of the serialised nature of many Sherlock Holmes stories, enabling both new and existing readers to enjoy the tale, but it did jar somewhat.The second is the way that Mormons and Native Americans are dealt with, although I freely admit that this is due to modern sensibilities and an environment that now decries anything deemed not politically correct. I was a little shocked to see it, but accept that this is the peril of reading anything set in this era.Altogether, a pacy read with lovely dialogue and an instantly unforgettable character in the form of Sherlock Holmes.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    audio-ed; skipped mormon part... full review after work