About A Scandal in Bohemia

The Count Von Kramm reveals his true identity to Holmes and Dr Watson. This illustration by Sidney Paget originally appeared in The Strand Magazine where A Scandal in Bohemia was first published.

A Scandal in Bohemia was the first of the 56 Sherlock Holmes stories to be published in The Strand Magazine.

The story is famous for introducing Holmes’ enigmatic love interest and antagonist, the beautiful and clever American opera singer Irene Adler.

It begins when Dr Watson pays an impromptu visit to 221b Baker Street just in time for the arrival of German nobleman, the Count Von Kramm. The aristocrat is being blackmailed and he believes only Holmes can help him. Money is no object – but will money be enough?

In A Scandal in Bohemia, Holmes encounters one of his most memorable clients in Von Kramm, and a unique challenge in the unforgettable Miss Adler.

“It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind.”
– Dr Watson, in A Scandal in Bohemia