A Study in Scarlet

Arthur Conan Doyle’s first ‘Sherlock Homes’ novel introduces the talented detective Holmes to his loyal partner in investigation, Dr. John Watson. A Study in Scarlet is the first of four full length Sherlock Holmes novels written by Arthur Conan Doyle. The novel begins with a war-wounded Watson being introduced to Holmes by a common friend, when looking for a place to stay. Initially wary of Holmes’s eccentricities, Watson gradually starts appreciating Sherlock’s knowledge and exceptional abilities of logical deduction.

Watson accompanies his new flat mate to a crime scene when police agencies enlist Sherlock’s help in solving the murders of one Enoch Drebber and later his secretary Joseph Stangerson. Using his brilliant skills, Sherlock immediately deduces the physicality of the murderer.

The novel establishes many peculiarities and the working styles of Sherlock and Watson, repeated in nearly all future Sherlock novels and stories, like Sherlock’s dependable child informers, the now famous ‘Baker Street Irregulars’, who also help to solve this novel’s case. Arthur Conan Doyle went on to write over fifty Sherlock Holmes short stories, and three full length novels. The Sherlock Holmes stories have been adapted into many successful television series and feature films.