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A review by ronitjauthor
Sherlock Holmes A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
3.0
I read a few Sherlock shorts when I was in school, and I always wanted to read more Sherlock stories. A few months back, my wife & I found the entire collection at Fountain at less than half price. Naturally, we picked it up.
My wife read the first book [A Study in Scarlet & The Sign of Four] pretty much a day after we bought the collection. She did not like it.
After months of making progress through my TBR, I finally picked up that volume, and… I kinda agree with my wife.
A Study in Scarlet:
This isn’t how I remember Sherlock being. But then again, this was Holmes’ first-ever appearance, so there were bound to be some rough edges. The mystery itself was pretty basic. What really got me frustrated was the entire Mormon flashback. 5 chapters, about 50 pages of just filler nonsense. The whole slog felt unnecessarily detailed and long. I get it, this is from a different era and 19th-century Brits probably were fascinated by the descriptions and exploration of Utah. I was not. The book minus the Mormon flashback is maybe a 3-3.5/5, but with that slog, it’s a 3. I want to give it a 2, but that wouldn’t be fair since this is a product of its time.
The Sign of the Four
A much more interesting mystery and overall story compared to ASIS. Wasn’t the best, but definitely a better narrative and pacing than the first. Didn’t like how the last chapter was expository but I guess it’s just a product of its time. Also hated the racist stereotypes and representation of colonised India but those again are a product of their time.
Overall an improvement, but still far from what I expected from a Sherlock Holmes story.
3/5
TL;DR:
WHAT I LIKED: The mysteries were pretty interesting and fun to read
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Mormon flashback in ASIS, racist stereotypes in TSOF
My wife read the first book [A Study in Scarlet & The Sign of Four] pretty much a day after we bought the collection. She did not like it.
After months of making progress through my TBR, I finally picked up that volume, and… I kinda agree with my wife.
A Study in Scarlet:
This isn’t how I remember Sherlock being. But then again, this was Holmes’ first-ever appearance, so there were bound to be some rough edges. The mystery itself was pretty basic. What really got me frustrated was the entire Mormon flashback. 5 chapters, about 50 pages of just filler nonsense. The whole slog felt unnecessarily detailed and long. I get it, this is from a different era and 19th-century Brits probably were fascinated by the descriptions and exploration of Utah. I was not. The book minus the Mormon flashback is maybe a 3-3.5/5, but with that slog, it’s a 3. I want to give it a 2, but that wouldn’t be fair since this is a product of its time.
The Sign of the Four
A much more interesting mystery and overall story compared to ASIS. Wasn’t the best, but definitely a better narrative and pacing than the first. Didn’t like how the last chapter was expository but I guess it’s just a product of its time. Also hated the racist stereotypes and representation of colonised India but those again are a product of their time.
Overall an improvement, but still far from what I expected from a Sherlock Holmes story.
3/5
TL;DR:
WHAT I LIKED: The mysteries were pretty interesting and fun to read
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Mormon flashback in ASIS, racist stereotypes in TSOF