Examine How Arthur Conan Doyle Builds Tension and Sustains Mystery for the Reader in the Speckled Band

Examine how Arthur Conan Doyle builds tension and sustains mystery for the reader in the speckled Band

The story ‘The Speckled Band’ written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1892 is a mystery story. A young woman named Helen Stoner consults the detective Sherlock Holmes about the suspicious death of her sister, Julia. One night, after conversing with her twin sister about her big day, Julia screamed and came to the hallway where Helen came out to see her, in Julia's dying words she said "it was the band, the speckled band!" Julia had been engaged to be married and, had she lived, would have received an annual of two hundred and fifty pounds from her late mother's income. Now Helen is engaged to be married. Holmes' investigation of the mother's estate reveals that its value has decreased significantly, and if both daughters had married, Dr. Roylott, Helen's ill-tempered and violent stepfather, would be left with very little, while the marriage of even one would be crippling. The story ‘The Speckled Band’ is a collection of stories including the speckled band. The society at that time was extremely terrible. Crime was endemic in the slums of London. Prostitution, drug abuse and murder were common place. There was a great deal of poverty and ill health; poor people lived in cramped, dirty and squalid circumstances. Also at that time jack the ripper was on the loose on the streets of London. He knifed and ruthlessly murdered many prostitutes, often sending body parts to the police force to show off his crimes. Also a number of officers were also publicly exposed as corrupt. Arthur Conan Doyle was writing for the Victorians public as they liked Sherlock Holmes because he cracked every case. Mastery stories were very popular because of the fact that he always defeated the evil as he became the perfect detective. Conan Doyle was regarded as being such a good mystery writer because she was writing good stories which Sherlock Holmes was in and also kept the audience in suspense...