Rating: 
Summary: A must-have for your Sherlockian library!
Review: Mr. Klinger has taken a great deal of time and effort to research this novel, and his notations really do bring the book to life, adding an entire new dimension to it.The footnotes are detailed, yet informative and easy to follow. These notes give us a new insight into the novel, and clear up many points that might confuse some readers. This was my first exposure to Mr. Klinger's series, and I certainly will purchase the rest of them--they are an essential addition to a Sherlockian's library. Well done, sir!
Rating: 
Summary: A great detective makes his first appearance
Review: The book tells the story of how Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson came to be partners and details their first murder case. Like every other conscious person in the western world, I have always been aware of Holmes' titanic status in our popular culture, but this is actually the first story about him that I've ever read. It's very entertaining to follow as A. Conan Doyle introduces the various facets of the Holmes legend: we meet Gregson and Lestrade, watch Holmes and Watson take up lodgings at 221B Baker Street, and are introduced to Holmes' violin playing, pipe smoking, snuff addiction, and, of course, his incredible powers of deduction, which are a marvel to all that surround him. Watson's musings on Holmes' nature are often quite humorous as he attempts to figure out this eccentric individual. The mystery itself is quite good. Many have remarked on how the story derails with its lengthy digression to the back-story of the murder, which occurred in Utah. This part of the story is sure to offend Mormons, who are here portrayed as a cultish fascist state that will resort to officially sanctioned murder to accomplish its ends. Doyle appears to have been reflecting the prejudice of his time, and this is a very unfortunate and disappointing aspect of the novel. However, if you can look past that, perhaps by imagining that they are some fictional cult, this section of the book is quite effective and suspenseful in its own way. However, the major strength of the story is, of course, Holmes himself. I think that Doyle quickly realized this and focused on Holmes much more closely in later stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but inaccurate
Review: This book is a satisfying introduction to Holmes and Watson. The first half of the book is a fast-paced murder mystery, in which Holmes demonstrates his wonderful deductive reasoning.
The second half of the book, however, goes back to explain the incentive behind the crime. This leads us to the Salt Lake Valley and the Mormon pioneers.
I found that this second half lessened my enjoyment of the book. Doyle presents some terrible inaccuracies about Mormon culture and their way of life; inaccuracies that grate painfully to an LDS reader such as myself. Doyle seems to have known just enough about the Mormon trek west to feel comfortable writing about it. He doesn't even spell some of the names (the ones he borrowed from real people) correctly.
When reading this book I had to suspend my disbelief and treat this second half for exactly what it is: an entirely fictional account of Mormon life. I found that when I stopped equating Doyle's work to history, that this part of the book was rather interesting.
This aside, the book is a delight to read. The account of how Holmes and Watson met is wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Intro to Sherlock Holmes
Review: This book is the first of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The book starts with the arrival of Dr. Watson to London following his discharge from military service. He's looking for a place to stay, and an acquaintance suggests he find a room together with Sherlock Holmes, a man who has been hanging around in the medical school laboratories. Watson finds Holmes amiable enough to live with, but an enigma- -just how does he earn his living? Before he knows it, he's helping Holmes with the investigation of a murder.
If you want to read Sherlock Holmes, you need to start here. Considering that the genre was in its infancy when Doyle wrote this volume, the story is remarkably well told. The plot hangs together, there are clues for the inquisitive reader, and plenty of plot twists. This particular recording has its ups and downs. Some of the voices are well done, but others are rather shaky. Clive Merrison as Holmes has a rather irritating laugh, but perhaps that was intentional given Holmes' personality.
Rating:
Summary: This was a very interesting book and had a great plot.
Review: This book was with Holmes and Watson. I am only thirteen and could understand it pretty well. Holmes and Baker are investigating a murder. They stumble into some twisting and mind boggling facts about the case. Read this book and you will be very suprised by it.
Rating:
Summary: unraveling the scarlet thread
Review: This first of the Sherlock Holmes stories, A Study in Scarlet introduces Watson and Holmes and narrates the beginning of their ongoing partnership. Holmes' genius and his theory of deductive reasoning, which he presents in an article ambitiously titled "The Book of Life," is proven effective when he solves the case of a murder whose links extend as far as the Mormons in Utah. Detective connoisseurs will enjoy Holmes' humorously arrogant references to the fictional detectives of Poe and Gaboriau, among the first authors in the genre and influential for the Holmes stories. Though Doyle pitches some of the morbidity and philosophical profundity in his inheritance from authors like Poe, the reader who enjoys a good story - detective or not - will be pleased to find surprises, intrigue, and a little art jargon in the unraveling of the scarlet thread that runs through life and underlies the mysteries of the human mind.
Rating:
Summary: Excelent!!
Review: This is one of the best books i've ever read! Great mistery until the end! Don't miss it!
If you like books, you MUST read this one!
Rating:
Summary: Great first half...
Review: This is the first Sherlock Holmes novel and the perfect place to begin reading his literature. Forget about the movie clichés of Holmes and Watson - here you meet them for the first time. Watson - far from a bumbling fool - is a military doctor just returned from Afghanistan. An old acquaintance reluctantly suggests looking for a room with a school chum of his who is a bit odd. We first meet Sherlock Holmes as a graduate student. He's very brilliant - the only thing is nobody can figure out what he is studying or what he does. The two chums become roommates and the rest is history. Seeing Sherlock Holmes anew, he is reminiscent of a positive version of Hannibal Lecter. Both of them are able to detect anything about a person at a glance - or a whiff. Each have encyclopedic knowledge of medicine, psychology, and everything else you can think of, and both are intellectually vain. Sherlock likes to show off and is downright childish in taking pleasure in how clever he is. The book starts off great - introducing the characters and getting right to the heart of the matter. It continues at a nice place until the half-way mark where Conan Doyle (who had not yet mastered the art of the novel) interrupts the dramatic action for a flashback. That aside, it is still a great read and you can probably get done with it in one sitting. I HIGHLY recommend the Vintage Classics edition with an introduction by Ann Perry and footnotes, the latter proved an invaluable addition.
Rating:
Summary: Great first half...
Review: This is the first Sherlock Holmes novel and the perfect place to begin reading his literature. Forget about the movie clichés of Holmes and Watson - here you meet them for the first time. Watson - far from a bumbling fool - is a military doctor just returned from Afghanistan. An old acquaintance reluctantly suggests looking for a room with a school chum of his who is a bit odd. We first meet Sherlock Holmes as a graduate student. He's very brilliant - the only thing is nobody can figure out what he is studying or what he does. The two chums become roommates and the rest is history. Seeing Sherlock Holmes anew, he is reminiscent of a positive version of Hannibal Lecter. Both of them are able to detect anything about a person at a glance - or a whiff. Each have encyclopedic knowledge of medicine, psychology, and everything else you can think of, and both are intellectually vain. Sherlock likes to show off and is downright childish in taking pleasure in how clever he is. The book starts off great - introducing the characters and getting right to the heart of the matter. It continues at a nice place until the half-way mark where Conan Doyle (who had not yet mastered the art of the novel) interrupts the dramatic action for a flashback. That aside, it is still a great read and you can probably get done with it in one sitting. I HIGHLY recommend the Vintage Classics edition with an introduction by Ann Perry and footnotes, the latter proved an invaluable addition.
Rating:
Summary: Great first half...
Review: This is the first Sherlock Holmes novel and the perfect place to begin reading his literature. Forget about the movie clichés of Holmes and Watson - here you meet them for the first time. Watson - far from a bumbling fool - is a military doctor just returned from Afghanistan. An old acquaintance reluctantly suggests looking for a room with a school chum of his who is a bit odd. We first meet Sherlock Holmes as a graduate student. He's very brilliant - the only thing is nobody can figure out what he is studying or what he does. The two chums become roommates and the rest is history. Seeing Sherlock Holmes anew, he is reminiscent of a positive version of Hannibal Lecter. Both of them are able to detect anything about a person at a glance - or a whiff. Each have encyclopedic knowledge of medicine, psychology, and everything else you can think of, and both are intellectually vain. Sherlock likes to show off and is downright childish in taking pleasure in how clever he is. The book starts off great - introducing the characters and getting right to the heart of the matter. It continues at a nice place until the half-way mark where Conan Doyle (who had not yet mastered the art of the novel) interrupts the dramatic action for a flashback. That aside, it is still a great read and you can probably get done with it in one sitting. I HIGHLY recommend the Vintage Classics edition with an introduction by Ann Perry and footnotes, the latter proved an invaluable addition.
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