A Study in Scarlet

An Apple Books Classic edition.

Combining brilliant deduction with an unexpectedly sprawling story, Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel introduces one of literature’s most enduring partnerships.

Recently returned from military service, Dr. John Watson meets the eccentric and relentlessly observant Sherlock Holmes in London. When a baffling murder leads Holmes through a maze of clues, the investigation becomes a tale of betrayal and vengeance in the American West.

Watson watches his new companion transform scattered evidence into certainty, as the case reveals how a grievance carried across decades can turn poisonous. A Study in Scarlet’s brisk, inventive, and structurally daring style captures the birth of a legendary relationship, and the moment the modern detective story found its voice.