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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: 3
There is one literary detective who stands above all others, whose powers of deduction are known the world over, whose influence can still be felt in todays most modern whodunits. Who is it, you ask. Why, its elementary! Sherlock Holmes, the famous gumshoe of 221B Baker Street. And Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the man who made him famous in such tales as The Hound of the Baskervilles and A Study in Scarlet changed the world of mysteries, inspiring legions of devoted fans. Whether you're a devotee or you've yet to be awed by Holmes's powers of deduction, you'll love this Canterbury Classics edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles famous works, including The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of Four, The Valley of Fear, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. The perfect book to complete any bookshelf, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Other Stories features an eye-catching leather-bound cover with gold foil stamping, as well as fine ivory paper with gilded edges. Youll be spellbound by Conan Doyles descriptive prose, and then delight in displaying this beautiful book in your home.
- GenresAudiobook
Audio CD
Published November 28, 2017
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12 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.8k books24.3k followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 6, 2021
Part 3 finished. This section contains "The Final Problem," which I had never read before. I can see why Holmes fans were angry with Doyle at his abrupt method of ending his popular hero. In was incredibly ham fisted and lazy. One step away from, "Then a comet hit the earth and everyone dies."
February 13, 2025
Excellent collection of shorter cases.
My third foray into the world of Holmes and Watson, ably assisted by Mr Fry.
I think I prefer the shorter stories to those that encompass the whole running length of a book. Some barely stray outside of Holmes' consulting 'office' as he solves and deduces from his chair. Some are dastardly murders, others merely mysterious goings' on that need unravelling.
The famous Irene Adler makes her appearance here as well in an enjoyable escapade, seeing Holmes smitten and respecting is quite some sight.
I liked trying to work out what clues were those that Holmes would use to piece things together, and of course failed utterly in coming to the conclusions he does.
Watson's narration is wonderful, such a perfect plot device as he can write from the near or far future, back to the days he lives with Holmes or from when he was married. He can travel around at will as he reports the cases, refer to others, give insider information.
One more for me - Hound of the Baskervilles, before I consider myself educated in the ways of the Great Detective. Thank you Stephen Fry again, for the multi-voiced reading that easily flows through Conan Doyle's pages.
My third foray into the world of Holmes and Watson, ably assisted by Mr Fry.
I think I prefer the shorter stories to those that encompass the whole running length of a book. Some barely stray outside of Holmes' consulting 'office' as he solves and deduces from his chair. Some are dastardly murders, others merely mysterious goings' on that need unravelling.
The famous Irene Adler makes her appearance here as well in an enjoyable escapade, seeing Holmes smitten and respecting is quite some sight.
I liked trying to work out what clues were those that Holmes would use to piece things together, and of course failed utterly in coming to the conclusions he does.
Watson's narration is wonderful, such a perfect plot device as he can write from the near or far future, back to the days he lives with Holmes or from when he was married. He can travel around at will as he reports the cases, refer to others, give insider information.
One more for me - Hound of the Baskervilles, before I consider myself educated in the ways of the Great Detective. Thank you Stephen Fry again, for the multi-voiced reading that easily flows through Conan Doyle's pages.
April 18, 2024
A great collection of 12 short detective stories that I would highly recommend listening to in a form of an audiobook (who wouldn’t want to listen to Stephen Fry for 11h? ♥️). Out of three Conan Doyle’s Holmes books, this is my favourite so far.
July 29, 2019
Let me write a love letter to this book.
Not only is this collection of stories the gateway drug to the lifelong addiction that is Sherlock Holmes, it's a remarkably good short story collection by any standards. We've already had two long stories, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, but it's A Scandal in Bohemia that draws us in with the intrigue of the opening sentence, "To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman," and closes with the perfectly bookended "He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honorable title of the woman."
Part of it is that 'is' - Sherlock Holmes is part of our own present as we are reading, an 'is,' not a 'was.' He's also a very completely described character, thanks to Watson, who prides himself in knowing Holmes better than anyone else alive, and yet he's more than the sum of his parts. Taking the opening paragraph of this first story as an example, Watson goes on at length about Holmes' absolute antipathy toward the softer emotions (understandably so when the most charming woman of his acquaintance poisoned her children for the insurance), but closes the first paragraph of this first story with a thoughtful, "and yet."
"Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory."
And yet.
One likes Holmes better for the fact that he seems to like Adler the better for having been beaten by her. And lets talk about his misanthropy; despite frequent statements as to the unreliability of the female sex, he is, as Watson puts it, a chivalrous opponent (and while I take his celibacy at face value, I can see where some might believe he doth protest too much). Where a true chauvinist might have found some common ground with the contemptible step-father of Mary Sutherland, Holmes is tempted to take a riding crop to him. He takes the side of Hatty Doran in the Noble Bachelor, where it would have been easy to condemn her precipitate behavior (his charitable attitude toward the American colonies is perhaps parallel). In the Beryl Coronet, he is if anything compassionate whilst laying out the story of the crime, and in The Copper Beeches he accepts the plucky Violet Hunter as a collaborator as readily as he would a man.
Doyle has a pretty wide sampling of female 'types' in this collection; a female adventuress, a good tempered self supporting commoner, an American hoyden married into the peerage, a governess, more than one dutiful daughter victimized by one or the other - or both - of her parents, a mysterious foreigner, a fallen woman... And in not a single case does he moralize; more than one of these women is no better than she should be, but neither Holmes nor Watson casts a stone. When Holmes predicts that one woman will be punished as her sins merit, her loss of virtue isn't the crime, it's her betrayal of those who trusted her.
The true mark of the greatness of these stories is probably the number of ways you can analyze them. I'm thinking of Doyle's women at the moment, but I could as easily talk about his male protagonists, who are equally varied; the grotesque nature of many of the crimes, some of which are not crimes at all; his deft pacing, his expertly sketched settings, the elegance of his off-handed deductions, his wry comic timing. I could certainly wax rhapsodic on the character of Holmes himself, who is not a machine nor a superhuman, despite Watson's portrayal of him as such (and most especially not a high functioning sociopath; that modern incarnation is parodic at best); he is entirely human, touchingly so, and through the lens of Watson's friendship we can only admire him more the better we know him.
Finally, this audio version with Stephen Fry narrating is nearly pitch perfect, a wonderful marrying of material and voice. Sadly Fry's feminine American voice is better suited to a broadly comic middle-aged housewife than it is a femme fatale, with unfortunate results for Irene Adler, BUT. That aside, this is a really wonderful performance. Fry is fantastically emotive and a spot-on voice actor.
Not only is this collection of stories the gateway drug to the lifelong addiction that is Sherlock Holmes, it's a remarkably good short story collection by any standards. We've already had two long stories, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, but it's A Scandal in Bohemia that draws us in with the intrigue of the opening sentence, "To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman," and closes with the perfectly bookended "He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honorable title of the woman."
Part of it is that 'is' - Sherlock Holmes is part of our own present as we are reading, an 'is,' not a 'was.' He's also a very completely described character, thanks to Watson, who prides himself in knowing Holmes better than anyone else alive, and yet he's more than the sum of his parts. Taking the opening paragraph of this first story as an example, Watson goes on at length about Holmes' absolute antipathy toward the softer emotions (understandably so when the most charming woman of his acquaintance poisoned her children for the insurance), but closes the first paragraph of this first story with a thoughtful, "and yet."
"Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory."
And yet.
One likes Holmes better for the fact that he seems to like Adler the better for having been beaten by her. And lets talk about his misanthropy; despite frequent statements as to the unreliability of the female sex, he is, as Watson puts it, a chivalrous opponent (and while I take his celibacy at face value, I can see where some might believe he doth protest too much). Where a true chauvinist might have found some common ground with the contemptible step-father of Mary Sutherland, Holmes is tempted to take a riding crop to him. He takes the side of Hatty Doran in the Noble Bachelor, where it would have been easy to condemn her precipitate behavior (his charitable attitude toward the American colonies is perhaps parallel). In the Beryl Coronet, he is if anything compassionate whilst laying out the story of the crime, and in The Copper Beeches he accepts the plucky Violet Hunter as a collaborator as readily as he would a man.
Doyle has a pretty wide sampling of female 'types' in this collection; a female adventuress, a good tempered self supporting commoner, an American hoyden married into the peerage, a governess, more than one dutiful daughter victimized by one or the other - or both - of her parents, a mysterious foreigner, a fallen woman... And in not a single case does he moralize; more than one of these women is no better than she should be, but neither Holmes nor Watson casts a stone. When Holmes predicts that one woman will be punished as her sins merit, her loss of virtue isn't the crime, it's her betrayal of those who trusted her.
The true mark of the greatness of these stories is probably the number of ways you can analyze them. I'm thinking of Doyle's women at the moment, but I could as easily talk about his male protagonists, who are equally varied; the grotesque nature of many of the crimes, some of which are not crimes at all; his deft pacing, his expertly sketched settings, the elegance of his off-handed deductions, his wry comic timing. I could certainly wax rhapsodic on the character of Holmes himself, who is not a machine nor a superhuman, despite Watson's portrayal of him as such (and most especially not a high functioning sociopath; that modern incarnation is parodic at best); he is entirely human, touchingly so, and through the lens of Watson's friendship we can only admire him more the better we know him.
Finally, this audio version with Stephen Fry narrating is nearly pitch perfect, a wonderful marrying of material and voice. Sadly Fry's feminine American voice is better suited to a broadly comic middle-aged housewife than it is a femme fatale, with unfortunate results for Irene Adler, BUT. That aside, this is a really wonderful performance. Fry is fantastically emotive and a spot-on voice actor.
January 23, 2022
Stephen Fry is born to read Sherlock Holmes. He can read a grocery list and make is sound so amazing, so meaningful. There are many good stories in this amazing volume and I am choosing only the ones I want to read again. Some I read for the first time. The stories I am audio-reading from this volume are:
A Study in Scarlet
Silver Blaze
The Sign of Four
The Adventure of the Red-Headed League
A Case of Identity
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Five Orange Pips
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Valley of Fear
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
The Adventure of the Red Circle
The Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
His Last Bow
A Study in Scarlet
Silver Blaze
The Sign of Four
The Adventure of the Red-Headed League
A Case of Identity
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Five Orange Pips
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Valley of Fear
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
The Adventure of the Red Circle
The Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
His Last Bow
July 24, 2019
Stepehen Fry is a wonderful narrator, bringing the stories to life. I've listened to this book while driving, walking my dog, and working around the house, and enjoyed it always. Buyers, be aware that this audiobook does NOT include all of the Sherlock Holmes stories. For example, the stories in The Casbook of Sherlock Holmes are not included. That being said, the book is slighlty over 43 hours long - enough for a long drive - and Stephen Fry is an amazing reader. Highly recommended.
October 27, 2019
Brilliant.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews