A Scandal in Bohemia

A Scandal in Bohemia

To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman.

So opens A Scandal in Bohemia, a Sherlock Holmes short story contained within The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

The story is written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was born in Edinburgh and studied medicine prior to pursuing his career as a writer. Aside from meeting writers such as James Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson, he also met Dr Joseph Bell. Bell was a master of observation, logic, deduction and diagnosis. And as you’ve probably guessed, he was the inspiration for Arthur’s greatest creation: Sherlock Holmes.

Dr Watson is now married, and in civil practice, when his footsteps lead him past 221B Baker Street, where he calls in on his old friend, Holmes, on 20th March 1888, and the chemistry between the two partners is instantly rejuvenated. I liked the idea of giving an exact date to their rendezvous as it not only gives the story a periodic appeal but also a journalistic feel.

Holmes is about to take on a case for Wilhelm von Ormstein, the King of Bohemia that has the potential to cause a great deal of, well, scandal, and invites Watson to help him solve it, just like old times.

Before going further, I would say that the astute observation skills of Holmes do deserve an applause. He is able to deduce a number of minute details of Watson’s life within the first few seconds of seeing him. As to how he deduces that, I will leave to the reader to find out. Not only that, even before he meets the potential client, he has been able to guess the identity and motive of his guest. Leaving me, as always, mesmerized with his sheer genius.

A few years previously, the King had been involved with an opera singer of surpassing beauty - Irene Adler, who possessed a photograph of the two of them together - the only proof that the relationship took place – and was now threatening to expose him. Holmes is confident that he can recover the photo without any damage to the King, who is set to marry very shortly. However, he reckoned that without the resourcefulness of one Irene Adler. Though the story might only be a few pages long, it's definitely an entertaining read, as Holmes goes to what might be considered extreme lengths to recover the King's photo, only to be outclassed at the last moment by the somewhat shadowy Miss Adler.

A Scandal in Bohemia is definitely worth a read. Dr. John Watson makes for an excellent narrator and Holmes is the sort of know-it-all that we love to read about, but would probably hate in real life. This story is particularly engaging because Holmes’s unparalleled genius is pitted against a woman who shares his brand of cunning.