Compare the murder mysteries of “A Lamb To A Slaughter” and “The Speckled Band”

The murderer in 'The Speckled Band' was Doctor Grimsby Roylott. He was a violent man who had a bad and short temper "In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death". After his wife dies he shut himself up and became very violent "But a terrible change came over our step-father about this time..."he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger". His motive for trying to kill Miss Helen Stoner was over money. His deceased wife left money for her daughters, but if they die he would receive the money. I not feel sympathy for Doctor Roylott because he's sick and twisted. He is also very selfish, but a very dangerous man. He should have got capital punishment when he murdered his butler in India.

In 'Lamb to the Slaughter', in the scene of the crime there is a very calm and relaxed atmosphere "The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight - hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, whisky. Fresh ice cubes in the Thermos Bucket." Although there is calm and relaxed atmosphere, it is a little too calm which creates tension. I understand why her husband left her because she created too much tension and she fussed over him too much.

In the scene of the crime in 'The Speckled Band' was in an old house. The house is described as "The building was of grey, lichen - blotched stone, with a high central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved in, a picture of ruin." This creates a spooky and scary atmosphere. The atmosphere makes me feel very cautious because it's a typical description of a haunted house where anything could suddenly happen. You could relate this atmosphere to a typical atmosphere of a murder mystery. To add to the atmosphere or fear and horror were both a baboon and cheetah in the house.

In 'Lamb to the Slaughter' the detective did not suspect Mary Maloney, put pressure on her, they didn't make her leave the room, suspect a women and didn't solve the crime. These were things, which they should have done. Things they did do which they should have done were discussing the crime with Mary, drinking, eating on duty and eating the evidence. The detectives were very sloppy with the investigation " she could hear them speaking among themselves, their voices thick and sloppy." This has a double meaning about the detectives and their investigation. They were thick because they ate the evidence and they ran a sloppy case.

In 'The Speckled Band' Sherlock Holmes suspects Grimesby Roylott, treats the case as urgent, treats Helen Stoner kindly, spots all the clues, recognises red herrings, takes personal risks and solves the crime. He does this by spotting all the clues "My attention was speedily drawn...to this ventilator, and to the ropes which hung down to the bed. The discovery that this was a dummy and that the bed was clamped to the floor, instantly gave rise to suspicion that the rope was there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me. Initially I had an idea that Doctor Grimesby Roylott had something to do with the murder, but after, when Sherlock Holmes revealed it couldn't be him I had a suspicion that it was an animal because there was a cheetah and a baboon in the house. Sherlock Holmes is a good detective because he is very observant and picks up on clues very quickly. He also thinks very logically.

In 'Lamb to the Slaughter', the murderer, Mary Maloney gets away with killing Patrick Maloney. She wasn't suspected atoll. At first she was sad but eventually got over it. This doesn't usually happen in murder mysteries. I think she was clever how she managed to get rid of the evidence. What else is unusual is that the murderer was a pregnant woman.

In 'The Speckled Band' the snake kills the murderer, Doctor Roylott. I think he deserved to get killed because he is sick and twisted and does not care for any one apart from himself. I like my murder mysteries to have a twist at the end and that good always wins.

The most exciting part of 'Lamb to the Slaughter' was when Mary Maloney hit her husband over the head with a leg of lamb "At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without and pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb on the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head." The part which made me carry on reading the story was when Patrick Maloney was going to tell Mary the bad news "This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I'm afraid' he said 'but I've thought about it a good deal and I've decided the only thing to do is to tell you right away. I hope you won't blame me too much."

The most exciting part of 'The Speckled Band' was when the snake killed Doctor Grimsbey Roylott. "His chin was cocked upwards, and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor movement." Another part, which made me want to read on, was when Doctor Roylott followed Miss Helen Stoner to Sherlock Holmes office "Don't you dare meddle with my affairs. I know Miss Stoner has been here-I traced her! I am a dangerous to fall foul of! See here."

'The Speckled Band' is set in Victorian times. We know this because it uses old -fashioned language, difficult words; women wore long dresses and gloves. We also know this because dogcarts were around in this time. "There is no dog cart which throws up mud in that way". You can tell the 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is set in the 50's because the language used is modern. In the story there is also a car "tyres on the gravel outside", and a thermos bucket "Fresh ice in the Thermos Bucket." They both show that the story was set in the 1980's.

I don't think it is unusual that there are no female detectives because both before and after the 1900's and during half of the 20th centaury women were only thought of as house wives and who only listen to their father who would have no say in anything.

'The Speckled Band' because it went into detail with the investigation, unlike 'Lamb to the Slaughter' which was a snappy story and a quick investigation. Even though the language is more old fashioned then the language used in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' I found it more enjoyable. Both stories had unconventional endings that I liked and made both stories more interesting.

People will always like to read Murder Mysteries because they are interesting and they make you think about what will happen, and you have to work things out using clues that you have been given.