A review by eds_writing_journey
A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A Study in Scarlet almost feels like two different stories. It is split into two parts, the first part following the first mystery of the Sherlock Holmes canon and the second explaining the murders motive, set in Salt Lake City, Utah. What I didn’t expect going into the Sherlock Holmes series was that it’d be told from the perspective of Watson as oppose to Sherlock or an omniscient narrator. The mystery itself was well done, however Sherlock is presented as almost a superhuman detective, to the point where his logic in solving the mystery and ease in doing so seems to be tailored by Conan Doyle to be conveniently easy for him and this damaging the legitimacy of the murder and police work to be believable. Overall, I much preferred the first parts detective work to the second part of story, but I was pleasantly surprised by my introduction to Conan-Doyle’s work.