Redheaded Reviews: A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A\ bizarre case has come up and both of Scotland Yard's finest detectives have been assigned to the case: Lieutenant Lestrand and Lieutenant Gregson. Gregson invites Sherlock Holmes, the consulting detective to join them on the case. The two detectives have left the scene untouched for Sherlock. When he arrives he notices that a taxi had been there the night before judging by the carriage wheels. He also noticed that there were two men involved--one tall and one with expensive shoes. The one with expensive shoes was found dead inside. The dead man had a look of horror on his face and the smell of poison on his breath. There was blood splattered and the word RACHE written on the wall. A woman's wedding ring is near the body.

When they go to check on the dead man's secretary they find him dead of a stab wound to the side entering the heart and the word RACHE, which is German for revenge, written in blood above his head and the window open. Sherlock has figured out the mystery but he needs to gather some evidence first for the detectives while the detectives have their own erroneous ideas and are mainly depending on Sherlock to solve it for them for their job security and fame. Sherlock is getting sick of not getting credit for his work. John Watson has an idea of what to do about this.

There's a section on Mormonism that's a small part of it and drags a bit, but it picks up soon after. For those who watched the Cumberbatch and Freeman series, you will notice that the two are different, yet similar. I prefer the book's version as on the show the killer didn't seem to have much of a motive. This was a really good book and I give it four and a half out of five stars.

*For those who watch Elementary they will notice that the character on that show Captain Gregson bears no resemblance to Lieutenant Gregson his counterpart in Scotland Yard.

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