A review by zoe_
A Study in Scarlet / The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

4.0

“Do you not find it interesting?”
“To a collector of fairy tales.”

The difference between the Sherlock Holmes short stories and this longer tale, for me, really comes down to one aspect: I had no idea whom to suspect. In all of the short stories I'm rather quick in coming to a conclusion (sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm not but that's beside the point) but in this story I was completely in the dark, which is really interesting because it made me rather dependant on Watson and his observations (and sometimes careful theories). This made for an interesting kind of suspense I hadn't really anticipated.

“There go two of my threads, Watson. There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you. We must cast round for another scent.”

However, apart from that suspense I confess to not really being fazed by the creepiness of the moor-setting or the case itself. I generally don't really get scared by a book but usually I'd have expected to be more in-tune with the atmosphere, which I wasn't in this case. But, honestly, that didn't really matter that much because I'm so much more focused on the case and the characters, rather than their setting.

The characters did not disappoint. Sherlock Holmes is as charmingly pesky as ever, Watson is as greedy for his approval as ever and the moor-folks are as eccentric as one would suspect. There was more than one occasion where I snorted a little laugh. Generally, this was great fun and I'm really excited to continue reading his adventures.

He burst into one of his rare fits of laughter as he turned away from the picture. I have not heard him laugh often, and it has always boded ill to somebody.

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