Conan Doyle sets "the speckled band" first at bakers street in London, where Sherlock Homes's office is and, secondarily at stoke moran, at a mansion, A mansion out in the countryside which no one visits and where a girl mysteriously died years ago, This is you average scary place and actually quiet typical of a murder mystery, this or a castle any way, so you know right from the start that this is going to be a scary place especially when you hear that a girl died here previously of "fright"
The Atmosphere at the house at stoke moran is very mysterious, but also low key, The step father is a very grumpy, large man, who one defiantly wouldn't want to cross, so it is always very tense.
The reader doesn't expect Patrick Maloney to be a victim because he is ment to have a loving wife in a picture perfect setting and no one sane murders a high ranking police officer. Patrick Maloney is a grumpy self centred fool, who seems to care for no one but himself and I feel absolutely no sympathy for his death considering how he treats his wife like something he stepped in, and then cheats on her, it is actually no small wonder that she murders him.
In "the speckled band" there are two victims, the sister Julia and Dr Grimesby. We are told Julia the fist victim had no great pleasure in life and that she was engaged and was to be married two weeks after her death. We expect Helen to be the second victim because she also is engaged and it is two weeks until her marriage and is also hearing whistles in the night as her sister did. We feel sympathy for her because of how her life is with Dr Grimesby and her sister dying. She seems to be a typical murder mystery victim. Conan Doyle instead turns his murderer into the second victim as an element of surprise and of a twisted sense of justice.
The Speckled Band.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle arouses and keeps the readers interested right from the start of the story.
This mysterious adventure starts off with a loud knock on the door of Sherlock's flat at a very early hour. This is enough to interrupt Sherlock Holmes's regular habits. Watson describes him as a habitual late riser. This makes the reader wonder what could be so important to interrupt Sherlock's regular habits.
Holmes then wakes Watson and tells him that a very distressed lady in a state of considerable excitement wishes to see him. It had to be very important, for a lady would not wander around London at that hour of the morning unless she had a valid reason. Watson is immediately interested for Holmes is known to be associated with the unusual or even the fantastic. This case promises to be an intriguing one.
The words 'shiver', 'fear' and 'terror' in the woman's speech show the reader that something terrible has happened. Her face is 'drawn and grey'; her eyes are restless and frightened 'like those of some hunted animal'. Helen Stoner is certainly a person in a considerable state of distress.
When Helen tells Holmes the story of her sister's unfortunate death, the whole scene is described with great drama. 'The wind was howling outside and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows.' The weather mirrors events inside the house. She then heard the 'wild scream of a terrified woman' and then the 'low whistle that her sister described, the words that her sister uttered before she died: 'the speckled band'. This makes the reader wonder what she meant by these words.
The first impression that we get of Helen's stepfather, Grimsby Roylott, is one of a violent man. Sherlock Holmes noticed that she had finger marks on her wrist, made by a strong man. When Holmes noticed the marks, he remarked on them. Helen proceeded to describe her stepfather as 'a hard and cruel man'. Shortly after Helen left, her stepfather burst into the room. The writer describes his appearance vividly, and little is left to the imagination. His clothes, stature and nature are all summed up in one paragraph. His clothes are described as 'a peculiar mixture of the professional and of the agricultural' and we are told that he is a tall man, whose 'breadth seemed to span the doorway from side to side'. The author paints a very real picture of a frightening man, and says his face is marked with 'every evil passion'. From this description, Doyle shows us very clearly who the villain is, without actually stating it in any way.
So far, the only clue the reader has as to what might have been the motive to kill Helen's sister is money. Helen and her sister were left an allowance in their mother's will, which their stepfather had access to until the young ladies were married. Helen's sister had announced her engagement shortly before she had been murdered, and Helen had announced hers not long before she had had cause to visit Holmes. The reader suspects Grimsby as he had both motive and opportunity, and by the way in which he is described, we are inclined not to like him.
Holmes and Watson are given permission by Helen to visit Stoke Moran so that they can investigate the scene of the crime. Upon their arrival, Helen is spotted walking in the fields surrounding the manor, and they meet her there. When she was told of her stepfather's visit to Holmes, we are made aware of how terrified she is of him, and said that she 'never knows when she is safe from him'.
Upon an investigation of the house, we are told that Helen has been instructed to move into her sister's old room, which is next to her stepfather's room, under the pretence of building repairs. Holmes and Watson carefully examine Helen's new room, as well as her stepfather's. Doyle leaves the reader feeling puzzled, and we still have no clue as to how the murder was committed, though we are certain that Roylott is the killer.
Sherlock tells Helen and Watson that they would have to spend the night in her room. Just before they go to the house to spend the night Sherlock says to Watson. "But we shall have horrors enough before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more cheerful." I found this bit to be quit funny and it also made me wonder what could be so horrifying.
"A moment later we where out on the road, a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand." This gives the reader the impression that they are scared and also makes the reader more interested in what might happen next.
By now we have reached the climax of the story but it's not over yet. "Making our way among the trees, we reached the lawn crossed it, and were about to enter though the window when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness." This must have been a very scary experience for Watson and a very interesting one for the reader.
Once in the room Sherlock whisperers softly into Watson's ear and tells him to be very quiet and that he should not go to sleep as his life may depend upon it. This makes the reader even more interested and keeps us in the grip of the stories climax. Now Sherlock and Watson is waiting in the dark of the night, Watson with his pistol ready for action and Sherlock with a box of matches and a stump of candle. The grip of the climax is now closing in on the reader for the reader can share the state of fear and nervousness with Sherlock and Watson.
Then suddenly Sherlock jumps up after hearing a slight noise and strikes a match "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" Watson could not see anything but the way Watson describes this is very dramatic as if Sherlock is being attacked and in great danger. "I could, however, see that his face was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing."
The climax and drama is now over. Sherlock solved the case and killed Dr. Roylott in the process. The last bit of drama in the story is when Watson describes the body of Dr. Roylott. But the story still keeps the reader interested for now Sherlock will explain how he came to his conclusions and why.
Compare and contrast 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and 'The Speckled Band.' To what extent are they typical of murder mystery stories?
In my opinion a typical murder mystery is one where it keeps you reading in anticipation wanting to know who has committed the well planed out murder, the whole way through. Until the end where the clever detective (who is usually quite an old man, dressed in a smart tweed suit) goes through one by one all of the suspects telling them exactly why they could have committed the murder, but then why they didn't. He then confronts the real murderer who is normally the one everyone least suspects. This all takes place in a large country manor where lots of people would have been busying round but for the murderer, conveniently there are never any witnesses to the crime. The murder is most often well planed out, with a devious reason behind it.
The two stories are both very different and mainly the only similarities are that they are both about murders that are done by people that are close family to the victims they murder in there own homes.7
The settings in both of them are very different; in lamb to the slaughter the setting is in a normal home in a small village, where normal family life goes on. To begin with everything is going fine and things are going on the same, as they would do every other day. The husband has just got home from work and his wife asks him how his day has been
'Hullo darling' she says and then gets him a drink. The fact it is just like every other day shows in the relaxed atmosphere, which is described as 'a blissful time of day'
The atmosphere also seams to be warm and cosy as she was 'luxuriating in his company'
Where as in the Speckled Band the setting is really as you would expected a murder mystery setting to be. This shows as at the start there is an air of panic as Watson and Holmes have been 'knocked up' as 'a young lady had arrived in a considerable state of excitement'
The murder setting is also typical as it is in a large country manor, owned by the well-known Surry Family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. But unlike an average murder mystery there wouldn't be an awful lot of people around to be suspects, as only the two stepdaughters and their father were in the house. Although there wasn't a lot of atmosphere after the opening part of the story, as there is just a woman telling her story about what had happened to her late sister. The atmosphere does build up towards the end where Holmes and Watson are sneaking around the crime scene 'There is a distinct element of danger.' Through out the scene it carries on to be exciting and the pretence builds up as you keep waiting for the murderer to be caught and to see exactly how they preformed a what seems to be impossible murder. This is part of how the writer keeps their readers reading, not so much who murdered her but more how they did it.
Where in Lamb to the Slaughter the end is more like a comedy scene, which is designed to make you laugh as you watch the police men eat the leg of lamb that she committed the murder with and then hear her laugh 'Mary Maloney began to giggle.' Also the murder weapon is meant to funny, as she doesn't kill her husband with a conventional murder weapon with is cunningly thought through, but instead a leg of lamb. Neither does the murder as it is just a spur of the moment thing 'She simply walked up behind him and without pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air, and brought it down as hard as she could.
This doesn't make the story seam very, sinister or cunning compared to the Speckled Band. Which is planned out to the last tee, this affects the atmosphere greatly, which makes you keep reading to the end where it finishes dramatically and quickly. The reason for keeping the reader reading in Lamb to the Slaughter is to see if Mary manages to fool the police into believing it's not her and also to see what else happens that is strange and also to see if the police have anything to say about what her husband told Mary before she killed him, and to see if they know about it. It affects the atmosphere hearing the story from the murders point of view, as it doesn't make it all seam as brutal as you see her point of view as well as his.
Neither in Lamb to the Slaughter or The Speckled Band a stereotypical murder weapon is used, or a stereotypical murder mystery commits a murder. In Lamb to the Slaughter a leg of lamb is used to kill a loving husband and farther to be, by his loving 6 month pregnant wife who looked 'placid' and 'tranquil' with 'soft dark eyes.' But on the other hand it is usually the person you would least suspect, and she had been told some pretty awful news. 'This is going to be a bit of a shock to you.'
In the Specked Band the murder is a stereotypical murder, but still not a typical murder mystery killer. He easily losses his temper 'in a fit of anger' 'absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.' Even his daughter describes him as 'shutting himself up in his house, and seldom coming out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with who ever might cross his path' at the start of the story. She also admits he became 'the terror of the village' This makes you immediately think he would be the one to have committed the murder, whilst usually in a story of a murder mystery genre a character like him would only be in the story to take the detective off the sent. The author makes it even more obvious when he finds out his daughter had been to see Holmes, so he goes round to tell Holmes to keep his nose out, in a rage. But this doesn't affect the need to keep reading the story the reader has, because after that they keep reading to find out how he did it. The only time you are taken off the sent is when a speckled band is spoken about by the dying girl whom her sister thought was a band of local gypsies. 'The spotted handkerchiefs, which so many of them wear.' Holmes asks when inspecting the house 'were, there gypsies in the plantation at the time?'
The murder weapon used in the Speckled Band was a well thought out one, but it still isn't typical a it is most probably very risky using a live animal as a weapon, because any thing could go wrong as it does when at the end of the story when it turns on its master. But the big carefully thought out plan shows how it wasn't just an impulse kill like in Lamb to the Slaughter, he must have had to go to a lot of trouble to get every thing he needed, like a snake that's venom didn't show up in tests and also who's fangs don't make visible marks in the skin. Also this murder was taken out by a man motivated by nothing but money and greed. As the only reason he tried to murder both his stepdaughters was because they where due to inherit ?250 each when they where to marry, from his dead wife, that would be his other wise. Where Mary murdered her husband by not being able to live without him, not because he had things she wanted.
Also one of the most unlike parts in the two stories is the people who investigate the murders. In one of the stories, Lamb to the Slaughter, a group of not very clever, local policemen investigate Patrick Maloney's death and even treat the murderer nicely 'exceptionally nice to her' and even before they had really even started investigating the murder they had decided that it was 'impossible that she' had done anything to harm him and completely forgot that there was even the slightest chance she could just be putting all the tears on. One police officer even offered her a bed for the night at his own house where 'his own wife would take care of her.' Before they went she had even managed to get them all to have 'a little nip of whisky' and to eat the murder weapon they had been searching everywhere for, taking up most of their evening. 'They where persuaded to go into the kitchen and help themselves.' This sort of behaviour is probably nearly the most opposite type of detective you could get to a typical murder mystery one.
But in The Speckled Band Sherlock Holmes is really the most typical murder mystery detective you could read about and exactly what you would expect a murder mystery detective to like, in looks, as he smokes a pipe and wears a tweed suit and personality. He doesn't let anything get passed him, and has to be sure with everything. Even the last little detail he will pick up on, 'after a careful examination.' He takes time to think things carefully through 'buried in the deepest thought' as not to make any tiny mistakes. His sidekick, Watson is also clever but I don't think quite as observant as Holmes 'I may have deduced a little more,' he usually has to ask Holmes for directions in what to do 'can I be of assistance?' and he seems to look up to Holmes as he acts like he's an authority in what is right and what's not. 'admiring the rapid deductions.'
The structure in both the stories is quite different as well, The speckled Band isn't set until two years after the murder that is being investigated which was brought back to life when her sister starts hearing the same whistles at night as her sister did nights before her death 'I suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the herald of her own death.' It is told by Watson, Holmes's trusty side kick, this gives you the same information that is given to him, so makes you realise how difficult it is to get your head around the murder and how clever he and Holmes are to be able to solve it. It is told by the murder in the other story, Lamb to the Slaughter, this is a very different way for a murder mystery to be told and so shows you everything from a more interesting point of view. It makes you realise everything is done for a reason, and most murder mysteries wouldn't be a mystery if they were told like this, so it isn't conventional at all. This also shows in the ending of the story, instead of the detectives finding out the murderer and locking them up, it finishes with them eating the murder weapon whilst saying 'the weapon is probably right under our noses.' and with the murderer laughing 'Mary Maloney began to giggle.' This is all designed to add to the humour of the story, instead of having an usual ending which would be quite boring for the reader as they have known who killed him all the way through any way.
The Speckled band ends in an average murder mystery-ending sort of way, where the murderer is found and the way he murdered is also found out. The one difference is that he is killed with his own weapon, the Indian snake he had brought especially over to England as it's poison wasn't recognised by doctor here. Unlike in Lamb to the Slaughter it ends with the end of the case as Lamb to the Slaughter ends really before the case had really began but just when you know they will never catch her as they have eaten the weapon.