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Most of us know Sherlock Holmes long before we read a word of Arthur Conan Doyle. We know the silhouette, the violin, the Baker Street address, and a dozen modern versions on screen. What fewer readers have done is go back to the very first page on which Holmes appears. That page is in "A Study in Scarlet," and it is well worth the trip. The character arrives almost fully formed, and the friendship that carries the whole series is born right there in front of you.
This is a spoiler-free introduction. I will set up the case and the people involved, and stop well before any answers.
The author and the moment
Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh and died on 7 July 1930 in Crowborough, Sussex. He trained as a doctor, studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh from 1876 to 1881, and he later credited one of his teachers there, Joseph Bell, as the person he owed Sherlock Holmes to. Bell's habit of observation and inference became the engine of the detective's method.
Doyle wrote "A Study in Scarlet" at the age of 27, reportedly in less than three weeks. It did not debut as a book. It first appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887, published by Ward Lock & Co., and the same firm brought it out in book form in July 1888. It is a little humbling to think that the most famous detective in fiction entered the world as one piece in a seasonal magazine.
The setup
The story is told by Dr. John H. Watson. In 1881 he is back in London after serving in the war in Afghanistan, where a bullet struck him in the shoulder. He is short of money and in need of cheaper lodgings. An old acquaintance named Stamford mentions a man who has found some nice rooms and wants someone to share the rent. That man turns out to be working alone in a hospital chemical laboratory. Stamford's warnings about him are not exactly reassuring: this is someone who has been seen beating bodies in the dissecting room with a stick, to find out how far bruises can be produced after death.
The two men take rooms together at 221B Baker Street, and for a while Watson has no idea what his new flatmate actually does for a living. The answer arrives in the form of a letter from Tobias Gregson of Scotland Yard, London's police headquarters. A man has been found dead in an empty house at 3, Lauriston Gardens, off the Brixton Road. When Holmes and Watson reach the scene, Gregson and his colleague Lestrade are already there. On the wall of the room, in blood-red letters, someone has written a single word.
That is where I will leave you.
Why it is worth reading
The best moment in the book may come before any crime at all. When Stamford introduces Watson in the laboratory, Holmes grips his hand and says:
"You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."
Watson is astonished, and so is the reader. That small scene teaches you how to read every Holmes story that follows. Holmes sees what everyone sees, but he treats each detail as evidence, and the pleasure lies in trying to follow his chain of reasoning before he explains it.
Just as enjoyable is Watson's view of his flatmate. Puzzled by Holmes's odd mix of deep expertise and complete ignorance, Watson actually sits down with a pencil and writes out a list headed "Sherlock Holmes—his limits." It is a funny, human touch. Holmes is brilliant, but he is also a slightly exasperating person to live with, and that is exactly why the partnership feels real. The book's title, by the way, comes from Holmes himself, who borrows a phrase from the language of painting to describe the case. Watch for it.
A tip for first-time readers: the Victorian prose is clear and quick, and the chapters are short. If you are used to modern crime fiction, you may be surprised by how much of the fun is conversation rather than action. Let the dialogue do its work.
Who should read it
"A Study in Scarlet" suits readers who have enjoyed Holmes on screen and want to meet the original, and anyone curious about where the modern detective story took shape. It is also a good choice if you want a classic that is short enough to finish in a few sittings. Because it is in the public domain, you can find the full text for free on Project Gutenberg, and many print editions are easy to come by.
Start with that handshake in the laboratory. By the time Watson asks how Holmes knew about Afghanistan, you will already be hooked.
Sources
- Project Gutenberg, "A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle" (eBook #244, full text and quoted line) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/244
- Wikipedia, "Arthur Conan Doyle" (birth and death dates and places, medical studies, Joseph Bell) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle
- Wikipedia, "A Study in Scarlet" (first appearance in Beeton's Christmas Annual, first book edition, composition) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Study_in_Scarlet