Brina's Reviews > A Study in Scarlet

Mysteries are my go to palette cleanser in between denser reads. I have a few go to series, but as my current contemporary series may be winding down, I am always on the lookout for mysteries both old and new. Even though the phrase "elementary, my dear Watson," has become part of the vernacular, I have never read a single Sherlock Holmes story. Looking to alleviate that, I decided to encounter Holmes and Watson when they first met in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first novella, A Study in Scarlet, composed in 1887. Complete with color engravings by Gus Grimsly, I immersed myself in a period piece written at the dawn of the golden age of mysteries and settled in for a fun ride.

Dr. John Watson was returning to London from his service in the British army after being stationed in Afghanistan. Looking for someone to split rent with, a mutual friend suggested a scientist and amateur detective who he thought Watson might be compatible with. Meeting at a university science lab, Watson first encountered Sherlock Holmes as he investigated the properties of blood in water. Holmes deemed Watson someone who he could live comfortably with and the partnership at 221B Baker Street began. As the two men kept different hours while Holmes dabbled in both his detective work and science experiments, Watson and Holmes had little contact in the early days of their living arrangement. Watson had little idea that Holmes was even a sleuth, that is until the day a letter arrived asking for Holmes' assistance on a case, which Holmes insisted that Watson accompany him for. The most famous of detective duos had embarked on their first case.

As in many modern detective stories featuring private investigators, Sherlock Holmes solved the mystery before the police detectives even began to suspect whodunit. Also similar to the modern cases I have read, the police receive all of the credit for solving the mystery even though it is Holmes who comes through in record time. In this case, Holmes' record as a scientist is linked to two murdered bodies with the word Rache written in blood on the wall above their corpses. The police immediately believe that the suspect attempted to write Rachel only to run out of blood, throwing them off the trail. Holmes points out, much to Watson's bewilderment as well, that rache signifies revenge in German. What is the revenge that the murderer is seeking? Only Sherlock Holmes is capable of finding this out.

Doyle's novella takes readers to the old west as he tells a backstory in the second half of this novella. In historical fiction focusing on the formation of the Mormon community in what is now Salt Lake City, Utah, Doyle paints his picture of religion, love, and later revenge. This story is augmented by Grimsley's engravings and black-and-white illustrations, which show the period of both 1850s Utah and 1880s London. I was captivated by the graphics as I had never encountered Holmes or Watson before and was curious as to how they were depicted on paper. The mystery itself is compelling as Doyle's tale moves across thirty years and two continents in a case that finally reaches its apex in London. Holmes scientific background and deduction skills come into play, and it was refreshing to read a mystery that takes place at a time when detectives had to do all of the sleuthing themselves without the aid of gadgets. Leaving the police baffled, it is obvious throughout that Sherlock Holmes is meant to be one eccentric yet intelligent sleuth.

As this is the first of many Holmes and Watson stories, Doyle is first introducing his cast of characters and does not give readers the full spectrum of the Holmes and Watson partnership. Yet, this novella was compelling enough that I have a feeling that this will not be the last time that I visit 221B Baker Street. Hopefully, in the next story I read, I will even be fortunate to hear Holmes utter the famous words, "elementary, my dear Watson." Palette cleansed.

4 stars