However they differ in many ways. Holmes is a more upper-class, well spoken and well-educated man. The Continental Op is more of a slang-talking, lower-class working man. He works for a company, and has to travel to meet clients. Holmes works from home; Miss Stoner comes to see him. He seems to do detective work simply for enjoyment, he tells Miss Stoner she need not pay him. Holmes seems more calm and collected, he doesn't carry a firearm or get into fisticuffs - the Continental Op does both of these. Since Watson is narrating 'The Speckled Band', we get a good description of Holmes; the Continental Op does not describe himself at all - infact the only description of him is given by the Tenant, referring to him as "our little fat friend". The Continental Op is always skulking around bad areas and apartments, Holmes usually takes a safe journey to the scene of the crime (in this case a mansion). It is the difference in location and time that plays an integral part in shaping these completely different characters that share similar and almost universal traits. 'Death on Pine Street' is set in America in the 1930's; this was during the Great Depression when times were very hard on people. Unemployment was high, many people could barely afford to live and so naturally people were more highstrung or ill-tempered, and crime rose. It was this kind of tough way of life that forms the environment and the character in 'Death on Pine Street'. 'The Speckled Band' is set in England, in the 1890's, a fine period for upper-class people. Holmes would have been raised comfortably, and it would not have been a necessity for him to be "tough" like the Continental Op. He does not deal in the same way as the Continental Op; he quietly investigates a single place, and works without any interrogations or interviews. This greatly seperates the feel of the story from 'Death on Pine Street', as the Continental Op interracts far more, with many more characters.
The social and historical settings in the stories mean that although both stories are about crime and detectives, they are almost seperate genres as far as detective stories go. However, they have a very similar structure. Both stories start with a desperate young woman asking for help in solving a crime. In the middle of both stories, the detectives investigate the crimes and find evidence. Holmes does this mostly at the scene of the crime whereas the Op goes to the police station and people's apartments to interview people involved. Both storied have similar endings in that the detectives solve the crimes very cleverly and then explain to the other characters how they did it. This is a way to explain to the reader how they did it, so the plot makes sense. However, 'Death on Pine Street' ends with a display of the "roughness" of the Op, as he knocks the tennant down the steps. Holmes did not act in this manner.
The differences also lie in the characters other than the detectives. 'The Speckled Band" has far fewer characters, as it is focused on a far smaller location. The victims of the stories are different. In 'The Speckled Band' we feel sorry for Miss Stoner and her sister, they are innocent young girls being cruelly mistreated by a vicious stepfather. We can't really feel very sorry for Gilmore as he is a crook and a serial adulterer. His death may have been an accident, but he probably did deserve it. Dr. Roylott is obviously made out to be the evil, vicious villian of 'The Speckled Band', but 'Death on Pine Street' is set in an environment where just about everyone is unpleasant and involved in some sort of shady activity; this is again due to the socio-historic setting of the story. 'The Speckled Band' takes on a typically Victorian view of woman, innocently in need of rescue by a heroic character like Holmes. In 'Death on Pine Street' it is just the opposite; the women are tough, they can do things for themselves, and like Cara Kenbrook, are far from innocent. There is also a lot more violence in 'Death on Pine Street' than in 'The Speckled Band', this again, shows us the difference between 1890's England and 1930's America. The language difference is also clearly seen, Holmes' story being spoken in standard english, and 'Death on Pine Street' full of slang terms and americanisms. Both stories give us a good representation of what it was actually like in those periods of time.
Because Sherlock Holmes was the first fictional detective it is easy to see how later detective stories like 'Death on Pine Street' were influenced by him. But the whole atmosphere and morality of the two stories is different. The different historical and social circumstances are easily noticable.The language spoken, the attitude of the characters and the overall morals are different. 'The Speckled Band' is a classic, simple "Good Versus Evil" story, with "Good" prevailing as usual. However 'Death on Pine Street' has a general feeling of corruption, distrust and seems full of double crossings. The more modern story is influenced by classic features of Holmes such as his strength of character, brilliant mind and use of a complex mystery, however the modern American setting has meant changes to the classic English style. 'Death on Pine Street' blurs the borders between good and evil, which I find interesting. The classic Holmes approach, whilst enjoyable, can seem unrealistic, considering present day life. Both stories are very enjoyable in their own way, as I stated before they could almost be in seperate genres. The element of mystery is used well in both stories, and both stories have interesting characters. I think the fact that they are both so ingenious is what compells us to read on; we want to know how they managed to solve such a complex puzzle. Although from differing times and places, they are both prime examples of what a detective story should be.
