Paperback, 162 pages
English language
Published Nov. 5, 2007 by Penguin Books.
When Dr John Watson takes rooms in Baker Street with amateur detective Sherlock Holmes, he has no idea that he is about to enter a shadowy world of criminality and violence.
Accompanying Holmes to an ill-omened house in south London, Watson is startled to find a dead man whose face is contorted in a rictus of horror. There is no mark of violence on the body yet a single word is written on the wall in blood.
Dr Watson is as baffled as the police, but Holmes’s brilliant analytical skills soon uncover a trail of murder, revenge and lost love...
A classic and an enjoyable light read. 4/5 mormons everywhere...
mormons
If I had never heard of Sherlock Holmes before reading this, I wouldn't have dreamed he would become the iconic detective of the last 100 years or more. It's colorful, it goes down fast, but it strains credulity at every turn. On to the next one!
I forget sometimes what a jerk Sherlock Holmes can be :-D
класичний твір у своєму жанрі, який треба встигнути прочитати вчасно… років так до п’ятнадцяти =)
After seeing the excellent new Sherlock series on the BBC, I decided it was time to read this novel - the loose base for the first episode of the series.
And I have to say: the series is better than the book. The first part, a real detective story, does not disappoint: a well-written page turner that really shows of Sherlock Holmes' intelligence, but also his negative points. The relationship with other characters, for example Watson and Lestrade, is also well described.
However, the second part, some "historical" fiction about the Mormons that explains the motivation of the killer, is utterly boring and completely unnecessary.
Doyle also wrote short stories about Sherlock Holmes, and this novel would have been better if it had been one of those.
The book that started the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson was A Study in Scarlet. The book is split into two separate but linked stories; Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John Watson, M.D., Late of the Army Medical Department & The Country of the Saints. The first part tells the story of Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes meeting and their first case. The Second is the background to the case and the reasons why it lead to murder. A Study in Scarlet was a very easy and enjoyable book to read and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has a beautiful way of writing.
