Arthur Conan Doyle - A study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes #1)

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meet at the start of this volume, and the young doctor is astonished by Holmes' many idiosyncrasies, including his talents on the violin.

But it's not long before Sherlock Holmes, with Watson in tow, is working with Scotland Yard investigating the murder of two Americans whose deaths have some mysterious connection to sinister groups gathering power in both Britain and America.