Comparison of Doyle's Presentation of the Crime and the Way It is Solved in The Speckled Band / The Red Headed League

Comparison of Doyle's Presentation of the Crime and the Way It is Solved in The Speckled Band / The Red Headed League

All of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories follow the same basic

lines. There is always the discovery of a crime accompanied by

baffling circumstances, which attract the interest of the great

detective. His less astute assistant, Dr. Watson, always accompanies

him. Much time is spent examining clues and discarding red herrings,

working out motive and opportunity, finding the solution and

announcing the conclusion often to the surprise of everyone else.

Holmes takes specific notice of minute details putting together the

method and motive to the enormous admiration of Watson who is totally

baffled by the crime. He always visits the scene of the crime and puts

himself in personal danger.

In the two short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Speckled Band"

and "The Red Headed League", Sherlock Holmes, as usual, demonstrates

his remarkable ability to solve mind-bending mysteries. In "The

Speckled Band" Holmes solves a two-year-old murder and also prevents

another from taking place. In "The Red Headed League", he manages to

untangle a complicated web of events, eventually stopping a robbery

from happening and captures a criminal mastermind.

The ways in which the two stories begin are very similar. Both

mysteries start in Holmes' office where Holmes is questioning the

potential victims of the crimes and eliciting as much information from

them as possible. In both cases the victim has sought Holmes out for

assistance in their plight. They both have very interesting stories to

tell which excites Holmes' interest. Dr Watson narrates both stories,

although, at the beginning of "The Speckled Band", Watson points out

that the story is different to any other thus ensuring that the reader

knows immediately that what they are going to read will contain some

incredible information unlike any other story. This serves to start

the story off in a very serious note, and create tension from the very

beginning. In 'The Red Headed League' there is almost a humorous tone