A Study in Scarlet
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
3/5
It was okay; it could have been better.
Prior to this, I dived into Nancy Drew, a mystery series I liked a lot when I was a kid, but the book I picked from the series didn't do it for me. It felt childish and boring, so I decided to pick up a Sherlock Holmes book. I was filled with anticipation as I started because Sherlock Holmes is a name I often heard, but was never really interested in, until now. I had high hopes for it, but... it didn't turn out as well as I had expected.
First, I've got to say that Sherlock Holmes is indeed an extremely interesting character. Reading this, how Watson and Holmes met... the very beginning of this duo... it made me excited. What I hadn't expected was to read it through Watson's point of view, which is to say, this book was written in the third person. It's a format I rarely encounter. Truly, this is only the second book I've encountered. The first? I didn't even get past the halfway mark before I decided to put it down. Reading this now, I know now why 'A Study in Scarlet Women', the book I picked up quite a long time ago at my feeble attempt to try a mystery novel that took place in historical London, was written in third person - just because it was inspired by the Sherlock Holmes series. I was fairly disappointed, because I'd wanted to know how the mind of Sherlock Holmes worked directly, not through his mouth.
Honestly, I have no idea how this book could have been better, because it was my first historical mystery novel. Although it did keep me in suspense as to who the murderer was, it still felt underwhelming. I'll probably try to find other historical mystery novels to read - hopefully, not all of them are written in the third person. Furthermore, this author had included one whole chunk of the murderer's past, which I felt was rather unnecessary - so I actually skipped those parts too.
It was okay; it could have been better.
Prior to this, I dived into Nancy Drew, a mystery series I liked a lot when I was a kid, but the book I picked from the series didn't do it for me. It felt childish and boring, so I decided to pick up a Sherlock Holmes book. I was filled with anticipation as I started because Sherlock Holmes is a name I often heard, but was never really interested in, until now. I had high hopes for it, but... it didn't turn out as well as I had expected.
First, I've got to say that Sherlock Holmes is indeed an extremely interesting character. Reading this, how Watson and Holmes met... the very beginning of this duo... it made me excited. What I hadn't expected was to read it through Watson's point of view, which is to say, this book was written in the third person. It's a format I rarely encounter. Truly, this is only the second book I've encountered. The first? I didn't even get past the halfway mark before I decided to put it down. Reading this now, I know now why 'A Study in Scarlet Women', the book I picked up quite a long time ago at my feeble attempt to try a mystery novel that took place in historical London, was written in third person - just because it was inspired by the Sherlock Holmes series. I was fairly disappointed, because I'd wanted to know how the mind of Sherlock Holmes worked directly, not through his mouth.
Honestly, I have no idea how this book could have been better, because it was my first historical mystery novel. Although it did keep me in suspense as to who the murderer was, it still felt underwhelming. I'll probably try to find other historical mystery novels to read - hopefully, not all of them are written in the third person. Furthermore, this author had included one whole chunk of the murderer's past, which I felt was rather unnecessary - so I actually skipped those parts too.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.