A Study In Scarlet

Book #3 for 2009 is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet"
I got this from bookmooch.com and am now offering it up for grabs in bookmooch for anyone who wants to read it :)



This was the debut novel of Arthur Conan Doyle, and the tale is told in the point of view of John Watson, a doctor, who also is Sherlock Holmes' roommate. It revolves around a mysterious death of Enoch Drebber, an American, who was found in an empty house in London.

What follows was a tale of revenge that started from the wastelands of Utah, Mormonism, travels from Continental US and through Europe, and eventually ending in London.

That's all I could pretty much say about the plot without revealing too much information.



Thoughts?

What made me pick up this book in the first place? Well, as I was walking out of Baker Street Underground station whilst I was in London, I saw a statue of Sherlock Holmes and immediately wanted to read one of his books. I was very, very curious on what he exactly did and why the cult following around him? I eventually made myself promise that I would read at least a few of his works when I get home so that if and when I do get back to London, I would appreciate the museum dedicated to him as well and eventually I did. An opportunity arose when the book was offered in bookmooch and I jumped at it, and the rest, as they say is history.

On to the book.

Well, the book was presented in such a manner that was unconventional for me -- it was presented in two parts: part one was told in John Watson's point of view, wherein he meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time and eventually finds out what he does, and eventually they both get involved in the investigation of the murder. Part One also concludes in the arrest of the suspect for killing Drebber, whilst Part Two starts with a back story of how the motive for killing Drebber was formed, and eventually concludes in how Sherlock Holmes caught the killer.

The language is a bit hard for me to understand, it is old English, but you'll get to pick it up and eventually understand it as you go along in the book. The book overall is very fascinating except for the part when I was nearly screaming at the end of Part One when I was like, "How did Sherlock Holmes do it? Why did the killer do it? What was his purpose?" -- blame my impatient self for that. Whenever I read mystery books, I tend to be very, very impatient as I also conclude and try to deduce who was the culprit. Another downside was the font in the book that I was reading -- it is a bit small so it gets pretty hard to read whenever I'm commuting.

Overall, the book did amuse me and I learned quite a bit from it. I'd give it a 3/5 stars.