Mr. Conan Doyle prepares the reader for a dramatic and sinister story. Hints of strange, mysterious happenings occur from the outset of ‘The Speckled Band’ ‘I have reasons to know there are widespread rumours as to the death of Dr Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even more terrible than the truth’ A similar style occurs in the middle in ‘Silver Blaze’. The action has already happened and unlike ‘The Speckled Band’, Holmes already knows a lot of the details.
‘The Red-Headed League’ begins instantly with Watson interrupting Holmes and ‘a very stout, florid faced, elderly gentlemen with fiery red hair’. This man (Jabez Wilson) has already begun his story to Holmes. Now with Watson present Jabez Wilson tells the story again so we, the reader, hear the story for the first time, like Watson does.
Conan Doyle uses flashbacks to explain what has led up to the mystery. Helen Stoner tells Holmes and Watson about her stepfather. The circumstances leading up to the disappearance of Silver Blaze are told to Watson as they travel down to Exeter on the train.
Again Watson represents the reader .He hears what we want to know; he asks the questions that we want answered. In ‘The Red Headed League’ the narrative is told by Jabez Wilson. As he talks, Watson inspects him closely he is a ‘portly client’ who ‘puffs out his chest with an appearance of some little pride’ ‘There was nothing remarkable about the man’. This shows that Watson does not really like him or have a lot of sympathy for him. He hints that Jabez is not very bright and that he is rather too pleased with himself. This is unlike ‘The Specked Band' where Watson and Holmes are extremely sympathetic and attentive to Miss Stoner. They feel sorry for her straight away.
Mysterious characters and events are used to add to the atmosphere of the suspense. The physical descriptions and appearances of Helen Stoner reflect the terrible things that have happened to her. Dr. Roylott is shown to be a dangerous and violent man, with reference to his past in India, by what he does to the local blacksmith, how he behaves in Holmes’s house, and the bruises on Miss Stoner’s hand.
Dr. Roylott keeps wild animals in his grounds which I think reflects his wild passions for unusual things. In ‘Silver Blaze’ the mysterious stranger Fitzory Simpson is used to put the reader off the scent he has a strange persona so most people would assume that he had something to do with the case. The gypsies are common to two of the stories .Gypsies have a bad reputation with people that don’t know them so they are always perceived as the villains .They are suspected of both murder and robbery but in both cases they are innocent so Mr. Conan Doyle had put something in all three stories to put us of the scent of who had actually done the crime. In ‘The Red-Headed League’ there is a mysterious advertisement in a newspaper, followed by the interview and the strange nature of the job: copying out an Encyclopedia. Then there is the further unusual incident when the Red headed League is dissolved. The reader is being teased by the writer by being lead down blind alleys, just like Jabez Wilson. The real crime is a robbery via a tunnel to the City and Suburban Bank. Also, the villain John Clay is known to the police and Holmes as a ‘murderer, thief and forger’. His grandfather was ‘a Royal Duke’ and he himself ‘has been to Eton and Oxford’. The writer creates a picture of a man who is a fitting enemy for Holmes. He is a man who is just as capable as Holmes and just as clever and cunning.
The reader’s interest is kept by the way he or she is given clues. These can be little details which on their own mean nothing, but which all go together to solve the mystery. When Holmes investigates the room in which Julia Stoner died, he finds several things which point to how she died. The contents of Straker’s pockets similarly add clues as to what happened. The state of Spaulding’s knees show that he has been digging a tunnel to the Bank whilst Wilson has been fooled into wasting time copying rubbish. This is so they can get him out of the way of course. Holmes notices this when he calls but he remains mysterious and merely says ‘Smart fellow that’ and says no more.
Mr. Conan Doyle builds the stories to a dramatic ending before the final explanation. By setting the scene as a lonely night in ‘The Speckled Band’ Mr. Conan Doyle is trying to build up tension in this part of the story. Waiting in the dark with the animals, the animals prowling outside, a hissing noise then….. Dr.Roylott’s screams. The tension leading up to the Wessex Cup race in ‘Silver Blaze’ and whether the horse will appear or not.
The surprise when the winner turns out to be Silver Blaze in disguise. There is a large build up of tension in ‘The Red-Headed League’ as Holmes and Watson and the police all wait in the cellar of the Bank whilst the robbers arrive though the tunnel.
Conan Doyle builds the tension dramatically like in ‘The Red Headed League’ He starts building the tension ‘Out of the darkness suddenly my eye caught a glimpse of a light.’ The next paragraph increases the level of fear and tension ‘as a womanly hand, with it writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor’. The use of present participles for example ‘reading’, ‘tearing’, ‘gaping’ etc build tension. The following paragraph increases the pace with intense action so the tension isn't lost and its still building. Holmes springs out and seizes the invaders by the collar. Mr. Conan Doyle knows that if you keep building tension too much then all the suspense and, the tension its self is lost. So what he does is to slowly build the tension up and then he releases some of it gradually. He then builds it up again to get it to the perfect climax.
The final explanation given by Holmes to Watson serves as a chance for the reader to understand the mystery.
In ‘The Speckled Band’ the final details are given to Watson, and therefore to us, as they travel home from Stoke Moran the day after the terrible death of Dr. Roylott.
In ‘Silver Blaze’ Holmes travels to London on the Pullman with Watson and Colonel Ross. During the journey from Winchester to London, he explains what really happened the night that Starker was murdered.
‘The Red-Headed Gang’ is different because much of the explanation has already been given during the story. But at the conclusion Holmes and Watson talk ‘over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street’. Holmes takes pride in the fact that he foiled ‘one of the most daring coolest criminals in London’. Conan Doyle’s style of writing is classic he immediatly grips the reader, by using different techniques to engage the reader. He uses a different yet very clever and cunning style of writing.
