A review by bellisk
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
3.0
An enjoyable introduction to the characters of Watson and Holmes, with the expected displays of Holmes's deductive powers and an excursion to the then-newly-settled Mormon territories in Utah. I found it rather tough to be simply shown the identity of the murderer, without any possibility of guessing this myself beforehand, although as another reviewer has pointed out,
I found the Mormon part of the book very interesting for a historical glimpse of how the religion was seen at the time of writing, in a similar way to the description of the KKK in the short story 'The Five Orange Pips', which I didn't otherwise find satisfying.
The interaction between Holmes and Watson, and Holmes's initial, very cold persona, are both very enjoyable to read about here and I was happy to see the appearance of the Baker Street Irregulars, one of my favourite parts of the Holmes universe. This is not a modern thriller but a very pleasant period piece.
By later standards of detective fiction, 'A Study in Scarlet' violates a cardinal rule: there is no way for intelligent readers to work out the solution for the mystery by themselves. ... However, at the time when it was written, this rule did not yet exist, and detective fiction in general was taking its very first steps (to which this book greatly contributed).
I found the Mormon part of the book very interesting for a historical glimpse of how the religion was seen at the time of writing, in a similar way to the description of the KKK in the short story 'The Five Orange Pips', which I didn't otherwise find satisfying.
The interaction between Holmes and Watson, and Holmes's initial, very cold persona, are both very enjoyable to read about here and I was happy to see the appearance of the Baker Street Irregulars, one of my favourite parts of the Holmes universe. This is not a modern thriller but a very pleasant period piece.