Comparisons to Other Mysteries and Characters

This is a bit of a peculiar question for me to answer.  I mean how does Sherlock Holmes not relate to every other mystery we have read in this class? There is a detective or problem solver who has a past. There is a bad guy who you only find out at the end. There are victims. The story is typically fast moving and keeps you on your toes. You are lead down different paths and end up thinking you have figured out this deep, twisted mystery and then find out you were no where close. You end up rooting for someone, connecting with a character, and rooting for the victim to find justice. Almost all of the stories we have read have had these things in common. To make a good mystery like Sherlock Holmes you need to feel a connection to one of the characters.  I feel only a few did not feel connect to in this way to the Sherlock Holmes way of mystery writing. One story that I did not feel this connection with is "Skin Deep" by  Sara Paretsky  (p. 308). For whatever reason I felt no connection what so ever to the characters in the story, which I think is vital for this genre of writing and really, any genre of writing. I think it may have been because it was so far-fetched when I feel like Sherlock Holmes actually seems somewhat possible and logical.

That also connects most of the stories in this class is the fact that all of the detectives are gritty around the edges and I think that all of the main detectives/crime solvers fall into this from this term.  Sherlock connects with the others in this way. He is definitely gritty in the movie. He is often seen dirty, fighting, drinking, drunk, disheveled, or just plain out of it.