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The Great Detective Collection

24 of the Best Classic Detective Stories

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The Great Detective Collection

By: Arthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, Ernest Bramah, Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Guy Boothby, Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Cathy Dobson
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About this listen

An engrossing collection of detective stories featuring all the great classic sleuths, including Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Max Carrados, J. G. Reeder, and C. Auguste Dupin.

  • 1. "The Tea-Leaf" by Edgar Jepson & Robert Eustace
  • 2. "The Queer Feet" by G. K. Chesterton
  • 3. "The Curious Circumstances of the Two Left Shoes" by Ernest Bramah
  • 4. "The Club of One-Eyed Men" by Arthur Somers Roche
  • 5. "Diamond Cut Diamond" by F. Britten Austin
  • 6. "The Game Played in the Dark" by Ernest Bramah
  • 7. "Murder Under the Microscope" by William Russell
  • 8. "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 9. "The Hammer of God" by G. K. Chesterton
  • 10. "Who Killed Zebedee" by Wilkie Collins
  • 11. "The Treasure Hunt" by Edgar Wallace
  • 12. "The Shadow of the Shark" by G. K. Chesterton
  • 13. "The Red Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • 14. "The Story of Baelbrow" by E. and H. Heron
  • 15. "The Invisible Man" by G. K. Chesterton
  • 16. "The Perfect Crime" by Seamark
  • 17. "The Wedding Guest" by Guy Boothby
  • 18. "The Trial for Murder" by Charles Dickens
  • 19. "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • 20. "The Magic Casket" by R. Austin Freeman
  • 21. "The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor" by Ernest Bramah
  • 22. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 23. "The Mystery of Marie Roget" by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 24. "To Be Taken in Water" by George Walter Thornbury

Public Domain (P)2015 Red Door Audiobooks Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Crime Detective Mystery Traditional Detectives Fiction Murder British Mystery Classics
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The stories were quirky and varied. Some ended suddenly. The narration was dreadful. I've never heard such a peculiar way of speaking. Creepy stupid intonation.. How does someone like that get the job? Is that how they usually speak? Or is that strange affect just for narrating. Either way please choose narrators more wisely. I've never had to speak so strongly about narration. Very disappointing.

Dreadful narration/Very disappointed

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The stories are first class; they deserve a narrator to match. A very lacklustre reader who manages to make wonderful fiction simply dull and unengaging.

Awful narrator

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I struggled through the first story, continually rewinding as the narrator made it so difficult to concentrate on the story.
Her diction was okay, but the manner of her narration was worse than a 5 year old.
Having previously 'read' Sherlock Holmes, narrated by Stephen Fry, I was really looking forward to this, but it was diabolical.
If I didn't have to put one star to it I wouldn't!
Oh so disappointed.
I now know I MUST listen to the sample prior to purchasing!!

Horrendous Narration

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A different narrator

What didn’t you like about Cathy Dobson’s performance?

The strange emphasis on parts of words, the sounding of the letter T e.g. it or honest, the way her voice strangely tails off, the stress put on words completely out of context.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Great Detective Collection?

None but I would have listened to the reader then employed someone who would do justice to the stories.

Any additional comments?

I have only got as far as the fourth story and I am losing patience with the awful narration. I will continue but I am not at all sure I will finish this audio book.

Terrible Narration

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This is a collection of some of the finest detective stories ever written, and should have been a delight, but it's badly let down by the narration. The reader's monotonous, sing-song delivery makes it impossible to follow or enjoy the tales. I couldn't take it.

Outstanding stories treated badly

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