Discuss The Sherlock Holmes Stories That You Have

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Discuss the Sherlock Holmes stories that you have studied, and say which you think is the more effective detective story. Sherlock Holmes is the fictional creation of Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories of the legendary detective have been read by millions since their first release over 120 years ago in 1887 and remain a hugely popular piece of literature across the world. Holmes takes the reader through his countless investigations with the faithful help of his close friend and associate, John Watson, and, with his unique skills of deduction, shows the reader how he solved them. I have studied 3 separate stories featuring Sherlock Holmes. These short stories are, The Sussex Vampire, The Adventure of the Speckled Band and The Red-Headed League. I have also looked at what an effective detective story should compose of and using these criteria I am going to show how The Adventure of the Speckled Band, is the most effective, followed The Sussex Vampire. A detective story must have certain qualities to be successful. One of the most important of these is to have an ingenious and effective detective. This means a person who knows exactly what he’s looking for. The reader must have a sense of security and an amount of confidence in the detective. The story must not have a predictable ending, I feel this is very important because the reader must have that want to read on and discover how the story will end. However, at the same time the story must give the reader enough clues to allow them to make their own judgment as this is one of the enjoyments of detective fiction. The atmosphere of a detective story is also important; the writer’s use of language and dialogue must create a sense of suspense to captivate the reader. The final important aspect I feel is that the detective must have some sort of assistant, like Watson, who is perhaps less able. I
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