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Sherlock Holmes

A Year of Mystery: 1881

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About this listen

The beginning of a beautiful friendship!

For all we know, or think we know, about Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, what we don’t know is far, far greater. In the duo’s first case, A Study in Scarlet, we learn that Holmes and Watson met on January 1st, 1881, and subsequently moved into an apartment together at 221b Baker Street. Their first case officially began on March 4th of that year, and it is argued that “The Adventure of the Resident Patient” possibly took place in October of 1881, depending on which version of the story you read. But what happened during the rest of 1881? Or all of 1882?

To help fill the void, we have asked today’s top Sherlockian writers to rummage through their Watsonian correspondence and uncover the many mysteries left untold until now. There’s a new story for every month of the year!

©2021 Belanger Books (P)2023 Belanger Books Anthologies & Short Stories Detective Fiction Mystery Traditional Detectives Sherlock Holmes
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If you are an SH fan and enjoy some of the many pastiche stories of recent years, this book is well worth listening to all through. I am finding I like some author’s attempts to add to the SH cannon and dislike others. Rather than investing in whole books by one author, or relying on publishers summaries/ reader’s comments, books such as this allow you to get a better flavour of many authors and choose your style.
I must admit that the first story I skipped after 5mins and nearly gave up on further reading but am glad I persisted as I’ve found three excellent authors from later stories.
My one dislike is the narrator. Only an English accent and pronunciation is acceptable if you are to emulate Watson’s narrative voice.

Well worth a listen

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If you can get past the first two stories they do improve. Holmes having a brother is mentioned early on which breaks canon and there are a number of other minor flaws. As with any book covering multiple authors some stories are better than others.

A mixed bag

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Some very good stories, (a few less so), but the sound of the narrator is nauseating. It just doesn't work with this period type of story. I've long felt publishers don't give a monkey's curse for their paying audience as long as overall they make a profit. This is an excellent example.

Some good stories

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