A Study in Scarlet book summary
Back in London after being wounded in Afghanistan, army doctor John Watson takes rooms at 221B Baker Street with Sherlock Holmes, an odd young man who calls himself a consulting detective. Soon an American, Enoch J. Drebber, is found dead in an empty house off the Brixton Road, with no wound on his body and the word RACHE written in blood on the wall. While Gregson and Lestrade of Scotland Yard chase their own theories, Holmes reads the clues that others overlook. The second part, “The Country of the Saints”, goes back to 1847: in the American desert, Mormon pioneers bound for Utah rescue John Ferrier and the little girl Lucy, who begin a new life under the community’s strict rule. Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel, published in 1887, introduces the famous partnership and joins deduction with a story of love and revenge.
A Study in Scarlet at a glance
- Level
- C1
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 119
- Words
- about 43,401
- Unique words
- 5,828
- Estimated reading time
- 3–5 hours
- Formats
- EPUB and PDF
Reading time is an estimate at 150–250 words per minute.
Why this book is useful for C1 English learners
A Study in Scarlet is useful for C1 English learners because it gives you complex sentences, subtle tone, abstract vocabulary, and longer passages that reward slow, careful reading. As a mystery text, it lets you meet vocabulary inside a real reading flow instead of memorizing isolated words.
Vocabulary difficulty
C1 vocabulary often includes literary wording, precise verbs, abstract nouns, and expressions that change meaning by tone. Across about 119 pages, Okuzeka helps you slow down only on the words or phrases that block understanding, so the difficulty becomes easier to manage without turning every paragraph into a translation exercise. This makes it a practical C1 vocabulary reading choice.
Recommended reading level
Best for advanced readers who want to grow range, precision, and comfort with authentic English prose. If you are looking for C1 English books, this page gives you the book format, page count, category, and reading tools before you add it to your library.
Most common words in A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet contains about 43,401 words, 5,828 of them unique. These content words appear most often in the text:
- man×132
- holmes×89
- time×76
- way×68
- face×67
- asked×65
- see×61
- answered×59
- eyes×59
- hand×56
- ferrier×55
- found×55
How to read A Study in Scarlet with Okuzeka
Add A Study in Scarlet to your Okuzeka library, open it in the reader, and tap difficult words while you read. Okuzeka shows meanings in the sentence you are reading, lets you save useful vocabulary as flashcards, and keeps the book available across web, iOS, and Android.
- Add the book to your library.
- Read normally and tap only the words that stop you.
- Save useful words as flashcards for later review.
Similar C1 books
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Next step: C2 English books
A Study in Scarlet FAQ
Is A Study in Scarlet good for C1 English reading practice?
A Study in Scarlet can be used for C1 English reading because you can read the book in Okuzeka, check difficult words in context, and save vocabulary while staying inside the text.
Can I read A Study in Scarlet as an EPUB in Okuzeka?
Yes. A Study in Scarlet is available as an EPUB book in Okuzeka.
Which words appear most often in A Study in Scarlet?
The most frequent content words in the text of A Study in Scarlet are: man, holmes, time, way, face, asked, see, answered, eyes, hand. The book contains about 43,401 words in total, 5,828 of them unique. While reading in Okuzeka you can tap any of these words to see the meaning they have in that sentence.
How long does it take to read A Study in Scarlet?
A Study in Scarlet has about 43,401 words. At a reading speed of 150 to 250 words per minute, that is roughly 3–5 hours of reading. This is an estimate: your own pace, and stopping to look up words, will change it.
Which formats is A Study in Scarlet available in?
A Study in Scarlet is available as EPUB and PDF. Both files can be downloaded from this page without an account. Reading it in the Okuzeka web reader, with tap-to-translate and flashcards, needs a free account.
How should I read A Study in Scarlet with Okuzeka?
Read normally first, tap only the words or phrases that stop you, and save the useful ones as flashcards. This keeps EPUB and PDF reading close to real book reading instead of constant dictionary switching.
