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A Study in Scarlet: A Sherlock Holmes Novel
A Study in Scarlet: A Sherlock Holmes Novel
A Study in Scarlet: A Sherlock Holmes Novel
Audiobook5 hours

A Study in Scarlet: A Sherlock Holmes Novel

Written by Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by Simon Prebble

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

In the first of all the Sherlock Holmes stories, Dr. John Watson, discharged from military service after suffering severe wounds, is at a loose end until a chance encounter leads him to take rooms with a remarkable young man. The arrogant, irascible Sherlock Holmes is a master chemist, a talented musician, and an expert on all aspects of crime. And when Watson is drawn into the investigation of a bizarre murder in which Holmes is involved, he is unaware that it is the beginning of the most famous partnership in the history of criminal detection.

The mystery begins when a body turns up in an abandoned building. A baffled Scotland Yard calls in the world's first "consulting detective," Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Through observation, subterfuge, and tenacity, he is soon able to discover the identity of the assassin, but that is only the beginning of the bizarre mystery.

This audiobook includes the bonus Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band."
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 23, 2009
ISBN9781400185139
Author

Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He is the creator of the Sherlock Holmes character, writing his debut appearance in A Study in Scarlet. Doyle wrote notable books in the fantasy and science fiction genres, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels.

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Reviews for A Study in Scarlet

Rating: 3.824675324675325 out of 5 stars
4/5

154 ratings135 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I've never read any Sherlock Holmes before, so I thought I ought to start at the beginning. Most of the story is told by Watson, recording events after the fact in the form of a rather formal diary. A section is more of a traditional story, recounting events that took place in America which provide the motive for the crime. I didn't enjoy this writing style nearly so much as the first. I found the facts a little thin on the ground, and Holmes supposed deductions far too obscure to form a really engaging mystery. Overall a good book, but not great.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very well written, I love the style.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Enjoyed reading this in conjunction with the PBS series, "Sherlock"
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sherlock Holmes is a unique and distinctive character in classic fiction. He derives deductions from the tiniest circumstantial details no one else would ever notice.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Published in 1887, A Study in Scarlet is the first Sherlock Holmes novel, introducing the famous detective and his sidekick Dr. Watson. The novel derives its name from a statement by Holmes who calls his murder investigation a 'study in scarlet'. It is divided into two parts, the first one introducing the characters and setting the scene and the second one providing background on the motives of the murder of Enoch Drebber and Joseph Stangerson, two Mormons who fled from the United States to England in order to avoid their looming death. Sherlock Holmes is introduced as a consulting detective who helps out Scotland Yard inspectors Gregson and Lestrade in murder investigations.In the second part of A Study in Scarlet, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle provides a commentary on Mormonism. The reader is informed about how the Latter Day Saints deal with 'Gentiles', that is people with different beliefs from those of Mormonism. When a father does not want to marry his daughter to either Enoch Drebber or Joseph Stangerson, both father and daughter are intimidated by the people in their Mormon community until they finally try to escape their home, their community and even the state of Utah with the help of the daughter's lover, Jefferson Hope. Their flight, however, fails when the father is killed and the daughter taken back into the Mormon community. There she is married to Drebber and dies of a broken heart a month later. That is when Jefferson Hope swears to avenge the deaths of both father and daughter. It is important to mention that Doyle's criticism of Mormonism has to be regarded with respect to the time the novel was written in.There are several things I liked about A Study in Scarlet. First, there are the rightly famous characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson who make a great team of murder investigators and have a lot of witty dialogs. Second, there is Doyle's style of writing which I found amazingly refreshing for a late 19th-century novel. Third, there is the topic of deduction and logic which I think is quite intriguing. While Sherlock Holmes' deductions seem strange at first, Doyle manages to explain them through his narrator John Watson. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle finds a very successful way of passing on knowledge to the reader and thereby influencing and guiding the reading process. On the whole, A Study in Scarlet is a great read which makes me want to read more of the Sherlock Holmes stories. 4 stars.
  • 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
    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: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read A Study in Scarlet on the heels of Murders in the Rue Morgue. Poe paled when compared to Doyle's rich characters and superb storytelling. My only complaint was the abrupt return to North America which left me reeling as to what the heck had happened but I eventually tuned back in.

    This story is a great introduction (just as it was for the characters) to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I liked "The Lost World" so much that I wanted to find another Doyle audio book. There were lots of collections of short stories on Sherlock Holmes, but this seemed like the only long complete tail.It was long. I would have been happy if ended at about the end of the first half and they just told us how he determined the killer. Instead they started this whole other story about Mormons in the U.S. It was so different that I honestly didn't realize it was the same book. I thought it was some kind of "bonus feature" or something on the MP3 CD Disk. At the end of the second half they tied it all together, I won't spoil the ending, but part of me wishes someone had.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This one was really good! I read it right after I was through watching the two season of Sherlock that were released to that date and then I didn't know what else to do with my time afterwards so I thought I should finally read the books! I thought it would be a little boring because I already knew how the story would conclude but when I read it I had to find out that I knew nearly NOTHING about the story. The show and the book are so different! But the characters! I was surprised how modern they already were! The way they behaved surprised me because that I thought was special abut the show when in a way it was the only thing that was actually alike. I loved how you could see that in a way there were quotes from the book in the series but they were just more modern like Sherlock's not talking about his brain as a room with furniture in it that you have to move or throw out to get space for new and more important stuff but as like a computer that needs to be filled with important information only!And I thought it was really interesting that in one version it's supposed to be Rachel but just Rache in the other one! The second half of the book was a bit weird though but an interesting take and I enjoyed it a lot but it took me a while to understand why this part even existed since the case was already solved.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first novel featuring Sherlock Holmes. As an introduction, it's perfect. Almost. The book comes in two parts. The first part is Holmes meeting Watson and working their first case together. The second part follows the story of the murderer, detailing his background and motive. At the end of that section the two stories join and he relates his tale to Holmes, Watson, and the police.The first part is obviously the best, since it features Holmes. After all, he is the reason I read the book, so it was a little disappointing to have him absent from nearly half of it. On the other hand, this is the first Holmes book, so Conan Doyle had very little way of anticipating the draw his detective would have on the audience.I already know the character so well, most recently from BBC's Sherlock (which, by the way, does a tremendous job at following this story in the episode titled "A Study In Pink.") and I couldn't help but smile at everything that I recognized and all the little details that I knew would figure in later, like testing poison on Watson's dog. I highly recommend this to any Holmes fan. the book is fast and fresh. It may be over 100 years old, but it doesn't feel like it. Go for it!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first of the Sherlock Holmes stories and an excellent opener. Fully intend to (finally) read all the others... a glaring gap in my literary history.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    5-stars for fun; 2-stars for writing. which was interesting but clunky. i loved sherlock in my teens so i was hoping this would have held up better for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sherlock Holmes is an iconic character, and his first book is (I think) his best. A Study in Scarlet introduces Mr Holmes and showcases his analytical genius as he navigates through the first of many cases the detective solves. A classic.
  • 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
    I just loved everything about this book!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Leave it to Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery of two Americans who are travelling together through Europe, and are found dead in separate, but related incidents. There are indications that the deaths are politically motivated murders.The book is divided into three parts. The first part introduces Holems, his extaordinary intellect and powers of deductive reasoning, and the case of the two dead Americans.The second part shifts to the back story of the dead men, set in the American West amid the founding of Salt Lake City by the mormons, and is actually quite gothic in tone.The third and briefest part unites the first two parts in neatly packaged conclusion.I enjoyed this very much, but I was glad that it was a short, quick read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • 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: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Before this book, I’d only read The Hound of the Baskervilles, so I’d never actually gotten to see the beginning of Holmes' and Watson’s adventures. Having read A Study in Scarlet, I now realize that I should have started with this story instead. It introduces the characters to the reader - and to each other - providing the perfect foundation for the rest of the mysteries.Watching Sherlock Holmes go about solving the case is highly entertaining. When the story suddenly shifts gears to delve into the killer’s motivations, I was a little annoyed at first. But it wasn’t long before I found myself gripped by this mini story-within-a-story. The descriptions of the American West and the Mormons are hilariously inaccurate at times (espcially with the distinctly British dialogue), but it serves to show what the attitudes and beliefs were in England at the time. I found myself just as captivated watching this drama play out as I was by the mystery itself.In short, if you’re looking for a good place to start with Sherlock Holmes, look no further than A Study in Scarlet. As much as I love the various TV and movie iterations, there’s no character quite like Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. How Watson met Holmes, and the intriguing case make this a great read for anyone who likes mysteries or English lit.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I quite enjoyed this book (my first foray into the Sherlock Holmes universe as created by Mr. Doyle.) My only real objection was the completely inaccurate portrayal of the mormons in pioneer Utah. They made excellent villains in this novel but it's a bit much. I enjoyed seeing Holmes and Watson meet.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed this Holmes tale much more than "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." The depth of the mystery was much greater than in the shorter vignettes and took me completely by surprise. At one point I had to actually look up information on the book to make sure it was one story and not two shorter ones because the second part was not obviously a flashback. Well done mystery and an enjoyable read.
  • 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
    Intereſtiŋ. Makes me wonder how much of the picture it paints of Mormoniſm is true.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first Sherlock Holmes book I've read. I'm not particularly well read in the mystery/detection genre - its not my usual cup of tea - but I really enjoyed this work, burning through the short, light read in no time. I enjoyed the characterisation of Holmes and the dynamics of his interactions with Watson, from whose point of view most of the story is told. I did find the sudden transition to the wilds of Utah in the middle of the book somewhat odd - I even checked to make sure my copy of the novel hadnt been misbound, mixing in the pages of some pulp western with the Holmes story! But it all made sense in the end - just Arthur Conan Doyle developing the background to the mystery while also dipping into the moral panic occasioned by Mormon religious practices such as polygamy. Setting that and other niggling fin-de-seicle British bourgeoisisms (the murderer had learnt vindictiveness from the Indians, the dirty street children are nicknamed arabs, etc.) this is a greatly enjoyable read and certainly good enough to instill a desire to read more of the adventures of Holmes and Watson.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The quirky character of famous detective Sherlock Holmes is introduced with rapid language and ensuing hilarity in A Study in Scarlet, the first of the Holmes novels. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle engages readers in a story filled with twists, turns, and trails with dead ends. Told initially from the reminiscences of Doctor Watson, A Study in Scarlet follows the team through their first case together, a seemingly unsolvable murder. The oblivious Scotland Yard cannot find a single clue as to a potential suspect or the method of murder when Sherlock Holmes is called to assist. Witty banter allows readers to become acquainted with Holmes, and nonstop action (he seems incapable of sitting still or even sleeping) keeps the plot flowing with ease. Readers remain hooked as Conan Doyle presents new characters with perplexing additions to the case, another murder and a disguise that deceives even Holmes. Natural dialogue and picturesque descriptions bring the reader right to the streets of London, always one erratic step behind Sherlock.After Holmes abruptly and unexpectedly apprehends a suspect in the murders of Americans E.J. Drebber and Joseph Stangerson, readers are taken back many years before the crimes were ever committed and given a look into their past. Conan Doyle’s narrative here is slow and struggles without the character of Holmes to push the story along, but readers will press forward, searching for answers that seem nonexistent in this baffling mystery. Bookworms will be left searching for the next Holmes novel, eager for more stories of the witty and relentless detective.Paige
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    What better place to start reading Holmes than at the beginning? Although not usually a fan of mysteries, I enjoyed reading about Holmes and his unapologetically superior powers of observation and deduction. It was nice to begin at the beginning and read about how Holmes and Watson first met, but I am looking forward to moving past the introduction stage and discovering more of the depth in their characters and their friendship.As for the story itself, the spiral of story upon story upon story kept me engaged and entertained. The abrupt switch in the middle of the book from a 1900s London crime scene to an unexplored, pre-Mormon Utah was more than a little confusing, but once I figured out it was part of the story the switch was easy enough to follow. I don't know if I liked it enough to read the entire Holmes saga, but for now I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Daring style, funny, original.