A Study in Scarlet. and The Country of the Saints.

by Arthur Conan Doyle

In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army. Having completed my studies there, I was duly attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as Assistant Surgeon. The regiment was stationed in India at the time, and before I could join it, the second Afghan war had broken out. On landing at Bombay, I learned that my corps had advanced through the passes, and was already deep in the enemy's country. I followed, however, with many other officers who were in the same situation as myself, and succeeded in reaching Candahar in safety, where I found my regiment, and at once entered upon my new duties.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook

162 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2017

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a strange Sherlock Holmes story. Not what I expected. It basically takes you through the crime committed of a man and daughter being trapped and manipulated by Mormons of all people and then how Sherlock Holmes solves the case. Not at all my favorite to listen to.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Country of the Saints is the explanation book for A Study in Scarlet.

The Country of the Saints is an odd story. You wouldn't know that it was a Sherlock Holmes story. It starts out with John Ferrier and a girl named Lucy. They were originally part of a group of 21 traveling from east to west across America and ran out of water in Utah where they run into a team of Mormons running from persecution in Illinois. The Mormons rescue them and John Ferrier shows himself to be a skillful hunter on the remaining journey and is given a large plot of land when they settle in Salt Lake City. He outperforms his neighbors and in 9 years he is a rich man and Lucy is the flower of Utah.

It seems all is well until Lucy falls in love with a Christian. John Ferrier silently disagrees with the Mormon religion, which he states that the persecuted become the persecutors. That marriage to a Mormon is no marriage at all and he does not want her to marry a Mormon. However, the elders of the temple (Brigham Young himself) tells John that his condition to them picking him up when they were dying on the trail was that he conform in all ways of their faith. Since John hasn't taken any wives the way he can show his true faith is by making Lucy marry a Mormon boy. Brigham Young gives Lucy two options and a month to decide. John Ferrier sends a letter to her Christian man in hopes that he can help them - help Lucy - out of this predicament.

Her Christian Man, Jefferson, finally arrives and helps spirit them away in the night. However, once day when Jefferson is hunting fort hem on the trail, John Ferrier is killed and Lucy is captured. She is taking back and married to one of the men. Jefferson vows revenge.

Over the years he attempts to kill both of them and on one occasion they are successful in escaping to Europe where Jefferson tracks them. Those are the 2 men from A Study in Scarlet. Jefferson is the cab driver at the end who was arrested. Now we are all caught up.

Jefferson succeeds at his plot of revenge obviously and it turns out he has a heart condition with only days to live - so we don't need to be sad about him dying in prison.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eccentric and cerebral detective and his trustable (if a little obtuse) sidekick have been an instrisc part of pop-culture for over 130 years and it all started with A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes first published case (both in his own timeline and his author's life). Of course, Holmes was not the first literary detective, but he certainly has become the stereotypical/archetypal sleuth... even if our mental images of him combine elements that never were mentioned at the same time in the novels and short stories (namely, the deerstalker hat and the calabash, curved pipe). And that literary and cultural phenomenon is firmly rooted in the masterfully written first chapters of this book, in which Conan Doyle introduced down-to-earth Doctor Watson and the peculiar, almost inhuman Holmes, balancing charming dialogues and scalpel-like descriptions. Much like Poe had done with Dupin and his anonymous sidekick, Conan Doyle introduced Holmes and his investigative methods in small doses, before fully launching into the proper investigation. Of course, the case is interesting by itself, but the author has been carefully laying its foundations for several chapters. And even the very extended explanation of the case's background (which almost reads like a 19th-century adventure novel in miniature) is enrapturing and exciting in itself, even if it initially seems unrelated to the main narrative. Further novels and short stories starring Holmes and Watson (and Father Brown, Poirot, Miss Marple, among many others) would integrate that exposition segment with far greater ease. Nevertheless, A Study in Scarlet remains a memorable tale and it doubtlessly consolidated all the major elements of detective fiction (which, in lesser hands, turn into predictable clichés). Countless canon and non-canon books, movies, TV series, comics books, and games have their origins in this story. Not many literary works can claim to have exterted such a vast influence.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The initial review I gave of “A Study in Scarlet” still stands. A good first story by Doyle, BUT, it just ends with no explanation.

What we have here is the full true story, a story in two parts, two books within a book. Initially, and seemingly unrelated, Doyle embarks on a story in America (The Country of Saints). Well, what a surprise and joy that story is. A story of religion, love, romance, a feud. It can be a stand alone story in itself. To me, this is a surprising story, which, if you took it by itself, you would not know it is by Doyle.

Both stories ultimately merge into one for a truly great novel by Doyle, of which, you can see the beginnings of ‘Holmes and Watson’.

[Jonny Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, quick read-- so fun that a whole second story in Mormon-country was a part of the original!

[esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

a must read for sherlock fans !!

the start and end were captivating, if i’m gonna be honest. i did have somewhat of a hard time halfway through when the second part started & i lost almost all motivation to continue reading it.
this was my first ever conan doyle book i read, so the beginning of that part definitely confused me a lot and i put it aside for some time.

but as time went on and i gave it another shot, i started grasping the whole idea more and began to connect the dots & that’s where it got good and entertaining again!
the ending was great and it’s always a very pleasant insight to see in the mind of sherlock holmes himself :) though i absolutely love having watson as the first pov !!

[Bill Benedict · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok. That turned out really well. As I said, this was a two-part story. The first takes place in London proper, and as one might surmise is traditional who-what-how-dunnit. Fair enough. The second part takes place in mid-1800s Utah, and features Evil Mormons (I love that part, being a recovered Mormon) I digress. Without giving away too much story. A dreadful wrong occurs and is revenged upon, whilst in London years later. Enter Holmes and Watson to clear everything up to the complete satisfaction of the reader (Me) Five stars

[Arkrayder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m enjoying Stephen Fry’s narration of Sherlock Holmes, but The Country Of Saints does plod on a bit and isn’t one of the strongest Holmes novels. On the other hand A Study in Scarlet is one of the best Sherlock Holmes story’s. And the first one written. Sherlock is in top form as he runs circles around Lestrade and Scotland Yard. This story has aged badly at all. Still captivating.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book knowing it was written in the 1800’s and the first book introducing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. I found it enjoyable reading and loved the description of the characters. There was so much detail given to every little thing including how Holmes solves the mystery of the murder. Glad I decided to read something I normally wouldn’t have picked up.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of Part 2 threw me for a loop. It didn't make any sense, but when it all came together it was amazing.

[Thomas Emmanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part was exciting. But the second part was a little bit time consuming

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parts 1 and 2 of longer books of the complete Sherlock Holmes show these are separate tales but in truth they are one.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Study in Scarlet" is what you would expect from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, superb. "The Country of the Saints" was not. I found it to be a very hateful, biased opinion of someone who listened to the fears and baseless gossip of very stupid individuals. The extension of the story into "The Flower of Utah" proved my before mentioned sentence. The story has no basis in historical facts and makes the Mormons out to be murderers and control freaks. But since it is only a made up story as were his wonderful accounts of the great Sherlock Holmes, which one can only view as one of the first superheroes like Superman and Batman, I guess one should take it for what it's worth, pure fiction. One can only wonder what sort of hatred drove him to write such drivel.