A Study in Scarlet

First published in 1887, A Study in Scarlet is the novel that first introduced readers to the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend and narrator, Dr John Watson. The story begins in Victorian London, where Watson, a former army doctor who has just returned from the war in Afghanistan, is searching for a cheap place to live. Through a mutual friend, he meets the unusual and mysterious Sherlock Holmes, who is also looking for someone to share his flat at 221B Baker Street. Watson soon becomes curious about his new flatmate. Holmes spends his time doing strange chemical experiments and has an impressive knowledge of some very unusual subjects. Before long, Watson discovers that Holmes works as a “consulting detective”, helping the police solve difficult crimes by using careful observation and logical thinking. Their partnership is quickly tested when they are asked to investigate a strange case. A dead man has been found in an empty house in a London suburb. There are no signs of violence on the body, but the word “RACHE”, which means “revenge” in German, is written in blood on the wall. While the police are confused by the lack of clear evidence, Holmes begins to follow a series of small clues to find a killer who seems to have disappeared. The story then takes an unexpected turn and moves away from London to the deserts of Utah in North America twenty years earlier. This part of the novel tells the story of a group of travellers, a forbidden love, and the powerful influence of a secret society. It slowly explains the tragic events that led a man to travel across the world in search of justice. When the story finally returns to London, the reader understands that the murder was not just a simple crime, but the result of a long and painful story of revenge. In this novel, Arthur Conan Doyle combines a classic detective mystery with an exciting adventure, beginning the famous series of Sherlock Holmes stories that followed.