A Study in Scarlet

Two American travelers have been killedone with poison, the other with a knife through the heartand the only clues at the scene are a womans wedding ring and the German word for vengeance written in blood. The military surgeon Dr. John Watson is brought in to investigate, along with his clever, arrogant new roommate, Sherlock Holmes. Thus begins one of the most famous crimesolving partnerships of all time in this debut of one of literatures most remarkable detectives. Doyle borrowed his major elementsthe detective of superhuman intellect; cases as fantastical as they are criminal; the final, dramatic resolutionfrom the works of Edgar Allan Poe, adding his own distinctive touches: a strong feeling for the atmosphere of lateVictorian London, an interest in the methods of science, and a chivalric concern for justice and the oppressed.