Date of publication: 1887
This detective mystery novel is significant as the first story to feature the character of Sherlock Holmes, who would later go on to become one of the most famous and iconic literary detective characters, with long-lasting interest and appeal. The title derives from a speech given by Holmes to his companion Doctor Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes his murder investigation as a "study in scarlet": "There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it."
The story, and its main character, attracted little public interest when it first appeared. Only ten copies of Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887 are known to exist now and they have considerable value. Although Doyle wrote fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes, A Study in Scarlet is one of only four full-length novels in the original canon.
The novel was followed by The Sign of Four, published in 1890.
Plot Summary
The novel is split into two quite separate halves. The first is titled Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John Watson, M.D., Late of the Army Medical Department. This part is told in first person by Holmes' friend Doctor John H. Watson and describes his introduction in 1881 to Sherlock Holmes through a mutual friend and the first mystery in which he followed Holmes' investigations. The mystery revolves around a corpse found at a derelict house in Brixton, England with the word "RACHE" scrawled in blood on the wall beside the body.
(From Wikipedia, description text under GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL))
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