A really good Sherlock mystery.

I honestly enjoyed the first half, the small short mysteries better than the main one. The main plot dragged out and I started to lose focus. It did get better toward the end and pulled me back in. I would recommend to people who love Sherlock Holmes or whodunits in general.

At my request, I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

2 people found this helpful

If only I knew what pigtail twist meant

This story, featuring the famous Sherlock Holmes, has actually an intro of five or six short mysteries. Most of them I could not guess the solution before it was revealed, usually because we are not provided with the full clues that Sherlock sees, but they are still very cool stories.
The main mystery takes a lot more trouble to solve than the short ones (all of them in a day, one without even leaving the bedroom) so it's much more challenging. The mystery of the murder weapon persist even after the perpetrator is apprehended. The logics of trying to find evidences and the narrator fantastic job, in true british accent, come together for a fantastic tale for anyone that likes Sherlock Holmes world.

1 person found this helpful

Sherlock does not disappoint!

As a fan of the characters and time period, I bought this looking for another classic mystery and I was not disappointed!
The story and the narrator are wonderful and engaging! I would highly recommend this to any Sherlock fan!

1 person found this helpful

Could have been written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!

The well-developed story held my attention throughout!

Joff Manning did a great job narrating!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 person found this helpful

Sherlock Holmes

I love Sherlock Holmes and this story didn’t disappoint. I hope they write more

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

1 person found this helpful

Enjoyable Sherlock Mystery

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.

Here, Watson is concerned that Sherlock, in his boredom, will return to using narcotics to stimulate his mind. He and Inspector Lestrade try to divert Sherlock's attention with a series of cases. The first five cases are quick and then more time is spent on the last case. The entire story is told from the point of view of Watson.

The first quick cases were okay but I thought a bit pedestrian for someone of Sherlock's intellect. However, it is the longer case which I really enjoyed. Overall, I really liked the writing style of this book - it is a bit formal but certainly encompasses the feel of the original Sherlock stories by Doyle. Sherlock is certainly his snarky superior self, who others, at times, endure but mostly love. And, of course, Watson is frequently flustered by his failure to have observed or surmised that which Sherlock could in the briefest of glances. But, that is all part of the fun.

I found the narrator to be engaging. I did not notice any audio problems mentioned by other reviewers.

1 person found this helpful

Interesting Sherlockian Adventure

This book has a few very short appetizers that were just okay, but I found the main story to be very interesting. Though no one has matched Doyle, I thought this story was a very good imitation. They narrator did an outstanding job doing the voices you expect in a Sherlock Holmes audio.

1 person found this helpful

Clever Story, Enjoyable Listen

This Holmes & Watson escapade is one of the better non-Conan Doyle stories, with a unique approach. The book starts with Sherlock solving a series of small cases before getting in to the main story. The main story is very interesting, with plot twists and a solution that were not as obvious as some other Sherlock Holmes books. I also liked the digression of a whole other case that Holmes describes to Watson while passing time.

Two things I didn't like...without giving it away, the case goes from several suspects to just one very abruptly. And, the narrator's voice for Holmes is horrible. I don't know why so many narrators struggle to voice Holmes after their regular voice serves Watson well.

Overall, the compelling story makes this a good choice for Sherlock fans, while the voice of Watson is well done to compensate for the grating voice of Holmes.

Engaging plot but odd presentation

The book is split, with the first part being a few short and seemingly unrelated snippets of cases, then the majority of the book following one case. The short cases were nothing spectacular but didn’t take much time to listen to and a larger collection of such small cases could make for a good book for those who have limited time and want something smaller as the cases could be read individually. The larger case of the pigtail twist had a much more intriguing plot and to me was more enjoyable.

The writing style was very formal, almost feeling at times as if it were presenting evidence as a news report rather than a novel despite being written in the first person perspective of Watson. Additionally, the characters seemed flat. Watson frequently remarks on how Sherlock is breaking his normal habits which makes me wonder how normal they truly are, and many of the characters revere Sherlock to an almost alarming degree even though he frequently uses them or doesn’t tell them anything about his thoughts. Overall the way characterization seems to be done is through Watson describing what has happened in the past or assuming things about Sherlock’s behavior rather than through any actual interactions between the character.

The narrators voice is soothing and relatively unaffected by events in this story, which I think actually fits the more news-like style of the book. However, at times the audio cuts off abruptly or gets too muddled to make out some words and there are occasionally very long pauses. It seems like there may have been some issues in editing the audio.

Overall I think the story has a lot of potential but I would have enjoyed more genuine interaction between the characters to bring a little more life to them.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Simpleminded pastiche of Sherlock Holmes

These short, simpleminded mysteries are repetitious and tedious. The puzzles are so obvious, the reader can solve them quicker than Holmes. The characters are flat and uninteresting, presenting Holmes as a sneering, self-satisfied intellectual and Watson as a jolly and fumbling sidekick.

At one point, I thought this must be a parody of the original. For example, this author's version of Holmes does not deign to eat "while working a case." However, in one instance Watson reports, "he did indulge in eating along with the rest of us, the great unworthy." On that occasion, "he simply leaned forward, picked up a soft boiled, carefully removed the shell, and devoured it in two bites. This seemed to suffice as he returned to his pipe with renewed gusto, and indeed, gusts. At a little after eleven o'clock, Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard arrived in full-on bluster mode with added pompousness."

The recording is also a bit unclear, as if the narrator were speaking at a distance from the microphone. In short, I did not find this pastiche up to the general standard of this genre.