The detective in The Speckled Band is the well-known Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is well educated; “to work out the present prices of the investments with which is concerned…” tells me that Sherlock Holmes is intelligent because he is able to calculate prices, and work out the prices of investments left by their mother, which is claimed by their stepfather and two daughters. Sherlock Holmes works for pleasure, “shall be happy to devote the same care…” he says this when he is talking to Helen Stoner, Sherlock Holmes is a caring and kind person, “pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee”. Sherlock Holmes is also physically strong, however ‘as he spoke he picked up the steel poker, and with a sudden effort straightened it out again…” due to this way he is able to defend himself against Dr Roylett and the readers feel that they can trust him to solve the case, especially as Sherlock Holmes is also brave and not afraid of danger, “do not go to sleep, your life may depend upon it”. This tells me that Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are risking their lives to solve a case.
Sherlock Holmes is also a careful, thorough, good investigator, “and afterwards I shall walk down to doctor commons where I hope to get some data which may help us in this matter” this tells me that he went to gets some background information on the case he has accepted, therefore we know he is a thorough investigator. Sherlock Holmes is a typical detective because he is every thing a detective is supposed to be e.g., kind, strong, clever etc and comforts the intended victims. Holmes also solves the case, he catches the villain and ensures that justice is done, the weapon that Dr Roylett used to kill his victims was unleashed with fury upon him, owing that Sherlock Holmes hit the snake with its stick
The detectives in Lamb to the Slaughter are Jack Noonan and O’mally. The detectives are not very professional even though they are trained for the job. “Its not strictly allowed, but I might take a drop to keep me going”; this shows that they are not professional because they are drinking on the job. The detectives are not really sure what the murder weapon is and who the murderer is, “probably right under our very noses” they are looking for the obvious, the man and weapon. The detectives have stereotypical views because “get the weapon and you’ve got the man” tells me that they think a female cannot commit a crime and that men are the villains in the criminal world. In the 1950’s when the story was written women were expected to be weak, defenceless housewives who could not commit a crime. We are unsure that they will solve the crime. The detectives are made to look foolish with direct speech, “probably right under our very noses”. The detectives are outsiders in this story, which is because the story mainly concentrates on the villain Mrs Maloney rather than the detectives. The detectives are easily taken in; this is because Mrs Maloney manipulates them, by giving them food and drink, “why don’t you eat up that lamb that’s in the oven?” This tells me that she cunningly offers them the murder weapon to eat. The detectives are not typical of the genre because they do everything that a detective is not supposed to do on the job, e.g., drinking, eating, comfort the murderer, and more, they don’t solve the case.
The villain in The Speckled Band is Doctor Roylett. He is the stepfather of the victims. Doctor Roylett is also clever like Sherlock Holmes, because he is a qualified doctor. This way the doctor has the knowledge to kill someone without anyone realising it was him. The villain, Doctor Roylett is equally as strong as Holmes, “seized the poker and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands”. This is important because this is typical of a villain, he is strong, clever, and extremely evil. Doctor Roylett is tall as he is described as ‘so tall that his hat brushed the cross bar of the doorway and his breath seemed to span it across from side to side’. This way Doctor Roylett could bully people because he was taller and stronger then them. The Doctor is also old ‘a large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned with yellow’ this tells me that the doctor is evil, each of his wrinkles are seared with anger and evil. The Doctor has a short temper, ‘five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb where printed upon the white wrist’, “he beat his native butler to death”, “he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet floor into a stream”, these quotations tell me that Doctor Roylett is a very violent man and that he is capable of murder. The readers feel hatred towards Doctor Roylett and therefore urge Sherlock Holmes to solve the case. The Doctor also has a passion for exotic animals, a baboon, a cheetah and a snake, “the doctor kept a cheetah and a baboon”, “ a swamp adder”. This could show the wild side of Doctor Roylett because of the wild animals he keeps. There are also metaphors used in this story to show how a wild he is. The house in which he lives represents the style of a crab.
The villain in Lamb to the Slaughter is Mrs Mary Maloney. She is the wife of the victim. Mrs Maloney is clever, ‘as the wife of a detective’, this implying that she knows how the police will try to solve the case. There fore Mrs Maloney can think ahead because she is the wife of the detective. Mrs Maloney seems like the victim at the start of the story, ‘ there was a slow smiling air about her, and everything that she did, “of course I’ll give you money and see you’re looked after”, this quote tells me that Mr Maloney was leaving her and this would make her feel like a victim. But as the story continues, Mrs Maloney turns into a killer. The readers are shocked that Mrs Maloney turns out to be this killer in this story, but we have little sympathy towards Mr Maloney, partly because we know that he was leaving her and he didn’t want a fuss that would jeopardise his career. Mrs Maloney then starts like one by covering her tracks, ‘ both the smile and the voice were coming out better now. She rehearsed it several times’. It is ironic that Mr Maloney was killed by his dinner, which he refused to eat. Which is humour and entertainment killed Mr Maloney.
The Speckled Band is very typical of the genre because of the characters in the story, Shelock Holmes is very typical detective, and Dr Roylett is also Typical of the genre. The plot of the story is also typical because the detective solves the case, and the criminal is killed by his own murder weapon. While in Lamb to the Slaughter the story and characters are not typical of the genre, the author of Lamb to the Slaughter, Roald Dahl subverts the murder mystery genre. The characters in this story are unusual, partly because they are not typical. Mrs Maloney turns out to be the murderer, while her husband Mr Maloney, turns out to be the victim and the detectives turn out to be an insult to the name of detective.
