A Study in Scarlet is an 1887 detective novel by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. In it, the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, two of the most famous figures in all of literature, are introduced. Brought together by a mutual friend, Dr. Watson begins assisting his new roommate Holmes with his work as a "consulting detective". In helping the police with a vexing pair of murders, Holmes displays his uncanny ability to assemble deductions based on seemingly minor details of the crime. The story is told from Dr. Watson's perspective, who takes up the mission of describing Holmes' exploits when the police take the credit in the end for solving the crime.