Rating: 
Summary: more long-winded than later stuff, but brilliant!
Review: how can you not love anything about sherlock holmes? i'm pretty new to reading doyle's work, myself, and read one of his later works first and became an instant fan. now i've got his unabridged works and just read these first two books.they are obviously both vintage doyle, and well worth the reading...but like i said, he's a little long-winded here. it struck me that he learned to rein in his style better in his later works, and just get to the point. i suppose doyle is like sherlock holmes in that way - took him a little while to get up to speed and hone his talent. practice makes perfect! that said, however, even when he goes off on his more abstract tangents he still is pretty darn interesting - such as the whole short story in itself about the mormon colonization of utah. though i've been to utah several times, i really don't know much about the history of the mormons. i remember growing up around some mormon families when i was a kid, and they were pretty cold and strict, but were their early leaders really such slimy scoundrels?
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT~
Review: I didn't like to read any books before, but after I have read this book , I become more and more interested in reading. I started to have motivation to read as many books as in my life.
" A Study in Scarlet " ( written by Conan Doyle ) is the first full-length novel appearance of Sherlock Holmes. And I know Sherlock Holmes is very famous detective in fiction. Therefore, I choose this book.I like Holmes's deduction the most. He has great power in observation and understanding in all types of crime. He is full of knowledge that can help him to solve the problem and he likes violin and opera. If his brain contains anything apart from these , he must try to forget them all as quick as possible. I am quite interested in mystery. If you don't know which book is good to read , try to read the story about Sherlock Holmes . You must like it .
Rating:
Summary: What a great book!!!
Review: I had never read a Sherlock Holmes book until this week. I decided to begin with the first. It was amuzing, well written, intruiging, and then suddenly I'm thrown for a loop when it makes the Mormons out to be murdering kidnappers. I was so disturbed by this at first, that it almost ruined the book for me, but then I realize that you have to forgive Doyle because in 1887 information on Mormons was scarce and shady. It was a fairly new organization at that time and the biblical practice of polygamy that was practiced by a few of the members was very hated, as would be expected. But we must remember that Doyle was writing a work of fiction, and historical accuracy is unnecessary for a good story, and this is definitely a good mystery that is well written. I look forward to reading more of the adventures of Watson and Holmes (hopefully without any more slandering of Christians).
Rating: 
Summary: Don't forget that this is FICTION.
Review: I had never read a Sherlock Holmes book until this week. I decided to begin with the first. It was amuzing, well written, intruiging, and then suddenly I'm thrown for a loop when it makes the Mormons out to be murdering kidnappers. I was so disturbed by this at first, that it almost ruined the book for me, but then I realize that you have to forgive Doyle because in 1887 information on Mormons was scarce and shady. It was a fairly new organization at that time and the biblical practice of polygamy that was practiced by a few of the members was very hated, as would be expected. But we must remember that Doyle was writing a work of fiction, and historical accuracy is unnecessary for a good story, and this is definitely a good mystery that is well written. I look forward to reading more of the adventures of Watson and Holmes (hopefully without any more slandering of Christians).
Rating:
Summary: What a great book!!!
Review: I just finished reading this book and it is great. Sherlock Holmes dedctive skills are amazing. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's discriptions are very vivid( i get a perfect picture in my head). Some words can be confusing but that's what makes the story a little challenging. Buy this book!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting start to the Holmes phenomena.
Review: I seriously raced thru this book as it was highly addictive. Holmes is brilliantly introduced to us and to Watson. Once Holmes lets a room out in his house to Watson the intrique starts. Doc is suspicous of what Holmes does and is keen to join him on his cases. When a man is found dead in a seedy house in suburban London the mystery kicks in. Holmes uses his awesome methods of deduction to bring the killer straight into his hands. But then the story takes an unexpected and mostly inappropriate turn. We go back a few decades to the Salt Flats of Utah and follow the story of 2 lost travellers and how they are saved by fachist Mormons. It's all to unfamiliar and un-Holmes and I was glad to get it over with and back to Holmes mysteries and case-solving. I guess that Conan-Doyle never knew where the character of Holmes would go after this. The short stories and novels that followed were much better and developed some of the minors characters. But every "franchise" has to start somewhere. I assume Conan-Doyle never imagined that Holmes would have lasted so long and parodied and imitated to much, even to this day. But this is where it all started. And it got better and better from here on.
Rating:
Summary: All fanaticisms provoke disgrace
Review: I won't elaborate much on the plot of this first appearance by the "consultant detective" Holmes. My only point here is that Doyle was much more than a crime-fiction writer. He had more insight on the human being than simple riddle-solving.
Certainly not the best of his stories, from the point of view of crime fiction, here Doyle tells us a story of how religious fanaticism always becomes a facade for the old and pure human ambition and lust. Intolerance, supported by the claims of Holy Men, always turns out to be in the material and carnal advantage of the suppopsedly saint people. Here we see the lives of John and Lucy Ferrier destroyed by the despotical power of the Mormon leaders. But Hope, Lucy's fiancée, shows once more that man is free and should never subside to the arbitray impositions of despots. So he devotes his life to the pursuit of those who committed horrible crimes and destroyed his life and the lives of those he loved. That leads to the crimes that the great Mr. Holmes will solve using his incomparable powers of deduction.
Some Holmes fans don't like the long flashback where we are told the story of the Ferriers, but I think that is precisely the feature that elevates Doyle's writings above the genre of simple "detective" stories. It gives the short novel value-added as literature. Of course I don't mean that Doyle's intention was to give moral lessons to humanity, he was far from that. But he could give more body to a simple murder-case.
For the rest, I agree with most reviewers here at Amazon: the great value of this novella is to introduce us to Holmes and Watson, two of the best characters in all fiction.
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Summary: The First Appearance of Sherlock Holmes
Review: In this novel, Dr. Watson, a sick, bankrupt doctor returning to homeland from the British-Afghan war, meets a very singular personality. In his formal way of writing he starts a strange story, accounting his acquaintance with a Mr. Sherlock Holmes. He starts living with the fellow and then he discovers that he is the world's first and only - at the time of the story - unofficial sleuth. Later on in the story we are introduce to: a body of an American, a strange ring, twists in the face, 2 stupid Scotlandyarders, and a struggle to prove Sherlock Holmes's strange views about the story. I have got to tell you that Holmes does not appear in the whole story. He, as a matter of fact, appears in about half of it and the other half is a background of the crime; I hope I am not spoiling the story. It is obvious through out the story that Doyle was really affected by both Poe and Gabourio. The affection of the former is obvious through Dupin his sleuth who stared in three short stories that might be the first stories ever about unofficial detectives; and the latter through Lecoq the french detective who stared in 5 novels, and it is known that Gabourio was the one to lay the bases of modern mysteries. I really recommend the novel for those of you who love mysteries, and I have to say that it is not a whodunit; it is more of a deductive account of how Sherlock Holmes found his way to the villain.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully entertaining
Review: It is 1878 and Doctor John Watson, his health damaged by his experiences with the British Army in Afghanistan during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, is looking for lodgings in the great city of London. It seems fortuitous, when a mutual friend introduces him to another who needs someone to share costs on a suite on Baker Street, but this other man is quite an eccentric. Sherlock Holmes has bent his life and education towards turning himself into the premier detective. Watson can hardly credit Holmes's claims of what a first-class detective can do. But, when a note arrives from a Scotland Yard detective, inviting Holmes to consult on a particularly mysterious murder, Watson soon finds himself carried along by Holmes, watching his new friend's powers unravel a seemingly inscrutable knot. The game is afoot, and Holmes needs to solve a murder, and bring a murderer to justice. This fascinating book was first published in 1887, and was the very first Sherlock Holmes story. In it we get to see the first meeting of Holmes and Watson, and hear Holmes explain his methods in detail. If you are a fan of murder mysteries, then this is definitely a book that you should not miss. The center part of this story revolves around the actions of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Author Arthur Conan Doyle had a tendency to "wing" the details of his story, and his treatment of the Mormons shows a certain carelessness in how he presented them. Therefore, if you are a Mormon, you will most likely find this book offensive. But, that said, this is a wonderfully entertaining story that is sure to please most every mystery fan. And, if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, then you must read this book! It's great.
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to a great character
Review: Meet Sherlock Holmes. Hopelessly eccentric, devastatingly brilliant, and seemingly born of a supernatural ability to accomplish what he sets his mind to, the world's greatest detective has devoted himself to the pursuit of criminals. By matching wits with both the criminals he hunts and the official police inspectors, Holmes has found a pasttime that has a neverending series of puzzles on which he can train his amazing powers of observation and deduction.
We're all familiar with this character, and that's because, a hundred years after Holmes was first unveiled to the public, he continues to gather new readers. An icon who has spawned dozens of stereotypes, Holmes has a universal appeal that still fascinates us, even though the world of crimefighting has transformed itself entirely.
For the modern reader, the writing is stiff and takes some getting used to. Watson's buffoonish amazement at every word Holmes utters is comical, and the pronouncements of the great detective seem arrogant and, at times, obvious or self-serving. But make no mistake. There's some magic in these writings.
This particular edition (I have the 1975 printing) is a very nice introduction to Holmes, beginning as it does with the first two stories which made the character famous. Young readers in particular should enjoy the immersion in Victorian England, and the exposure to this great character's methods. Highly recommended.
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