John Taylor (51)

Warning: this review contains spoilers.

Overall a pleasant collection of Holmes stories, even if they were not written by Conan Doyle. This collection contains four stories with a variety of problems for Holmes to solve. The first, "An Inscrutable Masquerade", had probably the most interesting concept and resolution, while the last, "The 10:59 Assassin", won Most Convoluted But Still Neat Solution. The middle two stories were middling in terms of plot, but really only because they had show more essentially the same solution, and having them one after the other in the same collection diluted their effect. Of these two, I preferred "The Conundrum of Coach 13" over "The Trinity Vicarage Larceny", perhaps because I like railways.

My rating is basically three stars for the content and an extra star for Benedict Cumberbatch's excellent narration. He added a different note to his voice to distinguish Watson from Holmes, who sounds remarkably like his normal voice! (Sherlock reference ahoy!) I enjoyed his American accent too, especially because the character was a loud, booming, gruff sort AND was also named Benedict. Even the bishop in the Trinity Vicarage story had a distinctive voice, sounding very elevated and refined. And I liked that the females who appeared were not given screechy high-pitched falsettos; Benedict just softened his voice a bit.

Verdict: basically the narrator sold me on the content. I would gladly read more if he narrated them. show less

I swear I reviewed this one!

Anyway, I recommended this one to someone who wanted some audiobooks read by Benedict Cumberbatch (hi, Vanessa~!) and that is precisely why I picked up this book.

It was a bit surreal having Benedict Cumberbatch speak as John Watson, the narrator, but I still loved it. I love all the stories. I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan, and nothing will ever change that, let's be real.

Some of the stories (one of them, in particular) I really, really liked, and some others felt a show more little bit too formulaic but that clearly didn't stop me from reading.

The version of myself a few years ago thought she would only ever read the Arthur Conan Doyle stories, but I'm glad I've moved on from that because there are a wealth of adaptions that I can explore, including this one.

So if you like Sherlock Holmes, check this one out. Me? I'll just keep reading Sherlock Holmes adaptions until the end of my days. show less

An interesting collection of stories written in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, originally written to accompany a radio series that I would still like to get my hands on.

The linking theme of the stories is the supernatural, with a strong hint of ghosts, ghouls, witches and curses, and it is down to Sherlock Holmes to bring the human villains to justice.

John Taylor does a far better job of writing like Conan Doyle than most. This is shown particularly in the opening of the stories in show more 221B Baker Street, where instead of settling for the parody that most authors accomplish, and in Dr. Watson's foreword.

Of the 6 stories, there are 3 I particularly like - The Wandering Corpse, The Paddington Witch and The Devil's Tunnel. I am less fond of the other three stories although the Phantom Organ's ending fits in well with stories in the actual canon. The mysteries are not as tightly wound as the originals, but have their own quirks and some nice stylistic touches, particularly the Wandering Corpse.

An enjoyable collection. show less

'The Wandering Corpse': *** This one is set early enough in the Holmes-Watson relationship that Mrs. Smallbone requests Dr. Watson's help without knowing he has a famous flatmate. Professor Smallbone has published an interesting article about his experiments with electricity. Things get quite painful for our good doctor, on more than one level.

'The Horror in Hanging Wood' -- **** Lestrade calls in Holmes and Watson because a man has been found brutally murdered and mutilated. I didn't show more suspect the solution. The killer may have thought the perfect selection method had been found, but no.

'The Paddington Witch' -- ***1/2 Mrs. Hudson's friend and her sister run a good bakery Local thugs Garth Ransome and brother want protection money, more than the sisters can afford. Then murder is done. Holmes and Watson get more on their plate than they expected.

'The Phantom Organ' -- *** The Hembury family is proud and arrogant toward the villagers, even the vicar and his wife. Unlike some other aristocrats, they get a phantom organ heralding their deaths instead of a phantom coach. Holmes need not expect to be thanked for his efforts.

'The Devil's Tunnel' -- *** Watson is seeing an actress. She and her two aunts are with Watson on the train when it goes through the Devil's Tunnel. One of the women is missing when the train comes out. Watson and the police are baffled.

'The Battersea Worm' -- *** For two years Angel Holland has been living at the top of a tower with no method of entry to his room except an elevator. His son, who went to medical school with Watson, wants to go on vacation. Watson agrees to substitute for his old classmate. Can he keep Angel safe until his son returns?

None of these radio episodes is bad, but they aren't great, either. They were entertaining. show less