Sherlock Holmes: The Master of Blackstone Grange

Sherlock Holmes (Big Finish) #6

by Jonathan Barnes, Nicholas Briggs, Richard Earl

6.1 The Master of Blackstone Grange

The arrival at Baker Street of a client who, unusually, seeks advice from both men brings to their attention the existence of an isolated manor house in the east of England known as Blackstone Grange. The place, for so long the locus of wild rumours of witchcraft and sorcery, has acquired a very modern new master – a charismatic socialite named ‘Honest’ Jim Sheedy, a man of boundless ambition whose influence over British society appears, inexplicably, to be growing.

The detective learns that Colonel Sebastian Moran, released early from prison, travels to meet with Sheedy on the very day of his freedom. But curiosity curdles into obsession when Mycroft warns his brother, in the strictest possible terms, against investigating any further.

6.2 The Adventure of the Fleet Street Transparency

London at night.

Westminster, at the end of the age of empire. And here, two days before Christmas... an extraordinary mystery is about to unfold...

Footprints in the snow, an unfathomable assault in a Turkish bath... Watson is baffled, but Holmes has a growing suspicion that a seemingly fantastical encounter will become a reality.

Genres: Audiobook

Audiobook

First published March 1, 2018

About the author

Jonathan Barnes is the author of two novels, The Somnambulist and The Domino Men. He contributes regularly to the Times Literary Supplement and the Literary Review and is the author of several scripts for Big Finish Productions. He is currently writer-in-residence at Kingston University.

Reviews

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars mainly because I really enjoy diving into this world again. It takes awhile before all the pieces start clicking into place, but it never feels drawn out. The pacing is good. The revelations at the end feel both prosaic and shocking, if that's possible. And the denouement seems really drawn out. It's been so long since this was released that I'd forgotten how the ending points toward a larger plot.

Good to listen to this one again in preparation for the next episode, The Seamstress of Peckham Rye. (Although now that I'm 2/3rds of the way through that one, the connections between the two episodes seem tenuous, aside from the plot threads involving Watson's personal life. I expect the connections to be forthcoming though.)

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock and watson help a barber withhis wife who was married to a dangerous man.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The overall vibe of this was pretty good. Funny how Sherlock almost turned down a case.