"A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1887)

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It's like someone made half the shows on the BBC into a book!

Honestly, where would modern story telling be without Sherlock Holmes? There would be no Law & Order TV series, no CSI, or Monk, or Psych. There would be no Dick Tracy, no Murder She Wrote, no Columbo. The world would have been deprived of Alex Cross novels, there would be no Sue Grafton or John Grisham. I mean, no Pink Panther? I don't think any one wants to live in that world.

This is the first book ever featuring Sherlock Holmes. This was the first time you'd read a Holmes book before (which is pretty embarrassing) and it was also the first eBook you'd ever read from beginning to end (which is not so embarrassing). Generally, you are not a fan of eBooks, not because of the format, but because the lack of a real physical copy prevents you from proudly displaying the fact that you've read the book where everyone can see it. Like big game hunters with the heads of their kills, you enjoy showing off the spine of your most prized conquests to anyone who happens to enter your home. Your friend Mark calls this obsession "book porn," and it's not one of your most attractive habits.

You were waiting in a line some damn place a month or so ago, and found yourself without a book to pass the time. You panicked for a moment, but suddenly you remembered that your trusty iPhone has dozens of free copies of works that are old enough for their trademarks to have lapsed into the public domain. You promptly opened to "A Study in Scarlet" and started reading it right there in line. The book proved enjoyable enough that you've been reading it in random lines ever since.

The first half (and some of the second half) of the book is written in the first person, something you'd never realized in all the years you'd heard cultural references to Sherlock Holmes. It is written from the perspective of Dr. John Watson, a veteran who was wounded at the Battle of Maiwand during the war in Afghanistan. (No, the OTHER war in Afghanistan. This one was England's second war there, the most recent is their fourth or fifth there, depending on how you count them.) After recovering from his wounds, Dr. Watson returns home to London and is very clearly frustrated in his attempts to integrate back into the civilian world. In today's society Dr. Watson would have been quickly diagnosed with PTSD but in 19th century England, he would have been expected to keep a stiff upper lip and carry on, something he proves decidedly unable to do. He quickly finds himself out of motivation, out of money, and in need of a room mate to alleviate the financial burden of simply paying rent.

Enter Sherlock Holmes.

Holmes is busy tinkering away in the laboratory of St. Bartholomew's hospital (Barts is still, to this day, the oldest hospital in London) when he and Dr. Watson are introduced to each other by a mutual friend who knows that both are searching for a room mate. Holmes has found a nice place at 221B Baker street that he can't really afford. Even though Watson has been warned of Holmes' oddness and eccentricities, he finds his new friend to be the perfect remedy for his own shiftless inactivity and agrees to the arrangement. Their introductions were so charming as to be worthy of being quoted at length.

After deciding they should room together Sherlock begins, "Let me see -- what are my other shortcomings? I get in the dumps at times, and don't open my mouth for days on end. You must not think I am sulky when I do that. Just let me alone, and I'll soon be right. What have you to confess now? It's just as well for two fellows to know the worst of one another before they begin to live together."

I laughed at this cross-examination. "I keep a bull pup," I said, "and I object to rows because my nerves are shaken, and I get up at all sorts of ungodly hours, and I am extremely lazy. I have another set of vices when I'm well, but those are the principal ones at present."

You loved this moment because it got to the core of their relationship so well. Each member of this legendary duo brings out the essential honesty in the other, enabling them to quickly get to the essence of the business at hand. They cut to the quick from the first moment they meet. This relationship serves them well in their ensuing adventure. Holmes is known by two of the inspectors at Scotland Yard (Lestrade and  Gregson) for his observational brilliance and is quickly brought on as a consultant to help them investigate a mysterious murder, and then another one, both of which he promptly solves.

And then the whole story line changes!

Suddenly Sir Arthur Conan Doyle pulls you from England to a far away desert in the American Southwest. Gone is the foggy urban London setting with which you have become so familiar, gone is Dr. Watson's charming first person perspective, and gone is Sherlock Holmes' insightful, almost unbelievable analysis. The back-story to the crime Holmes has just solved is layed out for you, and it evens gets a Later Day Saints twist. Brigham Young himself makes an appearance! The explanation and justification for the previously mysterious murders soon becomes clear and Watson's voice returns to give a charming end to the story.

What struck you about the book was how easily accessible the language and writing style was to a 35 year old, 21st century American suburbanite. Conan Doyle knew his material well enough to impart Holmes with a healthy dose of brilliance, but he also knew to keep his hero's behavior odd enough to always keep Holmes feeling human. Holmes is obtuse at times, and dismissive. He can be remarkably helpful one moment, but frustratingly tight lipped the next. You were swept right along with Dr. Watson (and millions of other readers over the last 130 years) and became an instant fan of this Sherlock Holmes character.

Luckily the BBC has a new and phenomenal series called Sherlock based on the Holmes stories, and all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works are loaded onto your iPhone so there are plenty of adventures to be had with Watson and Holmes. This will be fun. The game is afoot!

On to the next book!