BiblioAddict

Excuse while I gush.

What fun! Neil Gaiman’s “A Study in Emerald” will definitely go down in my book as one of the most memorable short stories I’ve ever read (considering that I don’t often read short stories, that may not be saying much). The story begins normally enough, and in the beginning, seems to be merely a mild reworking of Doyle’s original Sherlock story, “A Study in Scarlet.”

Though no names are used, one assumes – especially if you’re familiar with the original story – that the two characters in the beginning are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: the narrator whom we assume to be Watson, is an ex-army doctor currently living with an enigmatic character who excels at disguise, and has a keen eye for details.

It is only when they are called to the scene of a gruesome murder that things begin to take an…interesting turn. I confess, I re-read the scene in the murder room several times to be sure I was reading it correctly. To that point, I had been following Gaiman quite well, when suddenly I blinked a few times, frowned and thought, “What? What a minute. What’s happening?”

Needless to say, the story proceeds to only get odder, especially during their otherwordly encounter with the Queen. I haven’t read “A Study in Scarlet” in quite some time, but I recall enough to know that wasn’t in the story.

After the meeting with the Queen, however, Gaiman duped me again by sucking me into my own assumed notions of familiarity: Sherlock is hot on the trail of the culprit and soon enough corners his quarry. His quarry, however, escapes and a very unexpected and remarkable twist is revealed. This is where I exclaim: What fun!

Perhaps someone quicker than I figured it out before I did (I, myself, thought certain details seemed a bit off), but I think Gaiman was very clever in the placing of his details to keep his readers unsuspecting. “A Study in Emerald” won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. If you’d like to know why, the story can be found online here. After you’ve read it, check out the Wikipedia page here, which ties together all those clever details you may have missed.

It was clever of Gaiman’s editors to place this as the leading story to Gaiman’s FRAGILE THINGS. I can’t wait to see what other wonders I’ll find within this collection.

Warning: If you read the Wikepedia page before/without reading the short story, beware of the plot spoiler in the story’s summary.