The detective in Lamb to the Slaughter was easily fooled by Mrs Maloney when she fed the lamb to the police officers. This detective is not very observant and clever, however Sherlock Holmes is completely the opposite. Sherlock Holmes inspected every single thing in the house of which Julia Stoner died whereas the police detective only asked questions and didn’t look around the house much for clues. Some people may think the police detective is useless but Mrs Maloney had it all planned out, she had an alibi and that made her safe and secure from the investigation. Alternatively he could have searched for fingerprints and looked around he house for weapons. In my opinion I think that Sherlock Holmes is a better detective who searches for clues leaving nothing untouched and can think logically and analytically in all situations.
“ The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and when I coupled with my knowledge that the Doctor was furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was on the right track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not be possibly be discovered by any chemical tests was just such a one as world occur to a cleaner and ruthless man who had eastern training”. (Speckled band: 181)
The quotation above shows how Sherlock Holmes thinks. Sherlock Holmes can pick up clues and add to another which shows his determination, cleverness and professionism in solving mysteries.
The criminal in the speckled band was the stepfather of Helen and Julia Stoner. Dr Grimsby Roylott is a very aggressive man who uses his brute strength to his advantage. Dr Grimsby Roylott is a very wealthy man coming from an aristocratic family whilst Mary Melody is a middle class person coming from a ‘normal’ family background. Mary Maloney is a gentle person, however Dr Grimsby Roylott is a very aggressive man. Helen Stoner tells Sherlock Holmes how strong he is when she said;
“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream” (Speckled Band: 155).
Mary Maloney unleashes her anger, when she picks up the lamb and hits her husband over the head just as how Dr Grimsby Roylott hurled the local blacksmith into the stream and also when he killed his butler in India. Both have similar characteristics, Mary Maloney’s anger is very covert whilst the Doctor is overt.
Dr Grimsby Roylott has killed two people while being alive whereas Mary Maloney killed her first victim.
Both criminals kill a member of their family; Dr Grimsby Roylott killed his stepdaughter Julia Stoner whereas Mary Maloney killed her husband (the police officer). Oddly enough both murders happened at night where nobody else could see. Unfortunately Dr Grimsby Roylott gets caught and also dies; however Mary Maloney got away with the murder.
It is often said that men are usually the criminals in every crime but in Lamb to the Slaughter it is different. The world’s worst murderer is a man so this shapes what people think. In my opinion I think that both male and female are capable of doing these horrible crimes against people, whether they know them or not.
Mary Maloney is a very clever person whereas Dr Grimsby Roylott isn’t. Mary Maloney had everything planned, she had an alibi ready after killing her husband so that she would be not held responsible, whereas Dr Grimsby Roylott left traceable clues to what he was doing, like keeping a whip and milk in his room. Mary Maloney is the cleverer out of the two criminals.
The victim in the Speckled Band was the stepdaughter of the criminal, Julia Stoner whereas the victim in the Lamb to the Slaughter was the husband of the criminal, Patrick Maloney. Both Julia and Patrick were killed at night at home.
Julia Stoner was killed by her stepfather while she was sleeping; her father killed her with an exotic Indian snake whereas Patrick Maloney was killed by his wife. Mary Maloney killed him with the leg of a lamb; she hit him so hard over the head that he instantly died. The two victims were harmless people living their usual life.
Both victims were relatives to the villain. The two victims were killed because of something, bearing in mind that Julia Stoner was getting married in two weeks time, that could add up to why she was killed. Most people would think that the victims would die if they had done something to upset the criminal or if they knew something about them.
The motive for the murder in the Speckled Band was for the inheritance money left by Helen and Julia’s mother. Julia Stoner was getting married in two weeks time and took her share of the inheritance money for the wedding whereas the motive in the Lamb to the Slaughter is unknown. Mary Maloney decided to kill her husband after they had a discussion about something. Most people think that the husband was having an affair with her best friend.
One motive was for the money whereas the other was unintended. The author makes you confused in the beginning of the Lamb to the Slaughter when he describes her waiting for her husband to come home. He describes her waiting for her husband as if she wanted to kill him.
“ Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute had gone by made it nearer the time when he would come home”. (Lamb to the Slaughter: 137)
Looking at it this way makes you think if she was going to kill him anyway. This could mean that Mary Maloney wanted to kill her husband before for doing something. In my opinion I think that Mary Maloney intentionally killed her husband and this was premeditated murder in the first degree.
The two stories have similar settings; both murders are at the home of the murderer. In the Speckled Band the house is old and scary, the author gets this feeling of it being old by saying it had been passed on from generation to generation. The house is scary and gloomy whereas the house in the Lamb to the Slaughter is warm and clean.
“ 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 and whisky”. (Lamb to the Slaughter: 137)
Mary Maloney kills her husband at home where she stays everyday. The house is clean, warm and inviting whereas Dr Grimsby Roylott’s home is dark and scary with strange noises everywhere. The room that Julia Stoner died in was a normal everyday bedroom just as where Patrick Maloney died in his own sitting room.
Dr Grimsby Roylott comes from an aristocratic family dating back generations, whereas the family of Mary Maloney come from a middle class family. The Maloney family live in a nice house whereas Dr Grimsby Roylott lives in a mansion with butlers.
“ The family was at one time among the richest in England and the estate extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north and Hampshire in the west”. (Speckled Band: 154)
Most people would have thought that Mary Maloney was from a rich background because she didn’t kill for money unlike Dr Grimsby Roylott who is rich but still killed for the money; this shows Dr Grimsby Roylotts greed.
The language used in the Speckled Band is very complex whereas the language in the Lamb to the Slaughter is very straightforward and understandable meanings. The Speckled Band uses long excessive words whereas the Lamb to the Slaughter uses short sentences sounding very much like a conversation.
The usual argument is that the Speckled Band has hard words because it was written in 1883, which is a long time ago. People say that language has evolved and has now become mostly slang. This is why the Lamb to the Slaughter has less hard words.
Taking all this together I think that both books are good examples of detective stories. Both stories make you read on in amazement, it gets the readers attention and makes you wonder what would happen to the characters. Both stories build up tension as they go along making the story much more exciting. Both stories have a similar story line.
I think that the Lamb to the Slaughter had the best ending because it makes you realise how brainy people are. I laughed when it ended with the police officers eating the lamb. The Lamb to the Slaughter is more of a comical detective story because it reveals how stupid the police can be, whereas the Speckled Band is more of a serious detective story where the mystery is revealed at the end. Out of the two books I think that the Speckled Band is more of a detective story.
