A Detailed Comparison Of two Murder mysteries "Lamb to the Slaughter" by R.Dahl and "The Speckled Band" by A.Doyle.

        Roald Dahl was born in 1916 and died in 1990, Roald Dahl was most famous for writing children stories but he did also write some books for adults like “The Tales of the Unexpected” which “Lamb to the Slaughter” featured in. The characters in Roald Dahl´s books only ever appeared once. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was written around 62 years after “The Speckled Band”, which makes it more of a modern day detective story. Roald Dahl makes parts of the story unexpected, as people are not who they appear to be. For example, Mary Maloney is not a friendly widow, but a clever murderess. In his stories, the background is perfectly worked out with great detail.

‘The Speckled Band’ is written in first person from the point of view of Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick. This makes the story more suspense and realistic as Dr. Watson is a normal man, much like the reader, which helps the reader view how different Sherlock Holmes looks at things. The main frame of the story is a lady called Helen Stoner who is worried about her life and comes to Sherlock for help and advice. Holmes with his partner Doctor Watson investigates Helen’s sister’s death and hopes to find out the reason for this sinister crime. Holmes plays the hero and Helen stoner is the heroine. “The speckled band” is an exciting classic detective story as the reader does not find out who the murderer is and how it has been done until the very end. Only the murderer knows who has committed the murder and it the detective is the only one with the skill and experience to figure out the murder. And the reader follows the stages in which the murderer goes through to unravels the murder.

“Lamb to the Slaughter” challenges the stereotypical conventions connected a crime story. The story starts off with a warm, cheerful and happy scene where nobody would expect anything sinister to be going on (typical setting of a house). Mrs. Maloney like many other women is waiting for her husband “to come home from work”. She has everything ready for her husband, whom she loves very much and has everything set out for him. In ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ there is a ‘third person’ narrator. This gives an objective view and not a character perspective. Roald Dahl gives no clue of what is about to happen further on in the story. This story is more like a modern day crime and the murder is the result of emotional feelings whereas “The Speckled Band is classic detective story and the objective of the murderer is money.

The Speckled Band has the right elements for a superior detective fiction story. The components that have been finely placed into the story are an excellent start. The opening starts with Sherlock waking up to his travel companion Watson and explaining that he is required as a client is troubled.  From the very start we notice that Sherlock Holmes is very down to earth as he speaks with a very slow tone We also notice that he is very observant