The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

by Ken Greenwald

When radio broadcasts of the Sherlock Holmes stories were first aired in the 1940s, the avid - and the occasional - Holmes readers were all thrilled. Although the early radio scripts were based on the Conan Doyle stories, they often dealt with questions unanswered by the original stories.

Recently 221 "A" Baker Street Associates found an entire season of long-lost Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce radio broadcasts. Here were the answers to many of the questions only hinted at in the original stories: How and when did Sherlock Holmes meet Professor Moriarty? Why did Sherlock Holmes buy his Sussex bee farm? These puzzles and many others are solved in this collection of The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Join Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they struggle with a headless monk on the mist-shrouded moors; try to discover how a priceless painting was stolen from a locked room; use a pocket watch to catch a killer; meet a terrified man who wakes up each morning with fresh blood on his hands. These thirteen new mystery adventures, based on the Denis Green and Anthony Boucher radio plays, written by Ken Greenwald, present the Great Detective and his loyal companion in the new adventures that will keep you guessing until the final solution.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Anthologies

199 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Bobby Underwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

There never has been anything quite like old-time radio in America. It was pure magic. Each week comedy, adventure and drama, mystery and suspense drifted through the night air into homes lit only by the glow of a radio dial. Families gathered around the radio, carried away by their imaginations.

Author Ken Greenwald was one of those listeners, and one of his favorite shows growing up was Sherlock Holmes. For most of us, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce will always be Holmes and Watson. The films and radio shows are still watched on late-night television and listened on radio by film and radio buffs like myself.

When radio archivist Ken Greenwald and a small group of friends discovered a long list of missing radio shows from 1945, written by great radio writers Dennis Green and Anthony Boucher, the idea of turning their original radio scripts into short stories was born. Greenwald has done a marvelous job of blending the two distinct mediums together without ruining their radio vibe.

You can easily picture Rathbone and Bruce in these fun adventures as Greenwald has kept the fast pace of the radio plays while fleshing them out just a bit, and adding the transitions necessary for the short story form. Greenwald gives us a baker's dozen here, and tasty they are. My personal favorites are "The Adventures of the Headless Monk" and "The Adventure of the Iron Box." The former is filled with atmosphere of the foggy moors and a dash of the supernatural, making it a lot of fun. In the latter, Holmes hatches a clever scheme to solve a mystery shortly after the Christmas rush, that will include, of all people, Sir Walter Scott!

All that prevents me from giving this five stars is that it most likely will not appeal to Conan Doyle aficionados. These stories are strictly for those who loved radio, and find the old films with Rathbone and Bruce irresistible. The stories are fun, but they definitely have an old radio show feel to them. If that's not your bag, you probably won't enjoy them as much.

How did Sherlock Holmes first meet Moriarity? Why in the world did Holmes buy that Sussex bee farm? Telling you in which stories you'll find the answers to these questions would only ruin the fun. Enjoy!

[Paul Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable addition to an ever expanding Holmes canon!

Author Ken Greenwald has done a most creditable job of adapting some of the original Sherlock Holmes radio broadcasts featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. His "novelizations" of the radio scripts stay true to Conan Doyle's style, to Watson's literary efforts in his role as Holmes' "publicist" and to Holmes' character and brilliance in the resolution of his cases. Three stories of particular note stood out in the collection - Holmes' first encounter with Moriarty in THE APRIL FOOL'S ADVENTURE; Holmes' acquisition of his Sussex bee farm retirement property in THE ADVENTURE OF THE OUT-OF-DATE MURDER and a most amusing locked room mystery that Holmes cleverly solves in THE CASE OF THE GIRL WITH THE GAZELLE. It would be difficult to imagine that any fan of Sherlock Holmes would be disappointed with THE LOST ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

In his introduction to the book, Mr. Greenwald talks about the inherent difficulty of adapting radio plays into the short story form, what with having to fill in all the gaps and, y'know, actually describe things. And, well, let's just say that his work here a marvellous job of proving the point that, yes, it's a very very difficult thing to do indeed. Perhaps in the hands of a superior writer it could've worked, but Greenwald's adaptations are rather horridly flat, to be perfectly honest. If you're the sort of person who is completely enamoured with the idea of experiencing the old-timey Basil Rathbone radio plays, then why not just...actually seek out the actual radio plays? Please?

(Also, Greenwald thinks Dr. Watson is, like, 140 years old or something? I'm......clearly overthinking this.)

[Arturo De Tuoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

A most peculiar oddity; this volume contains prose adaptations of several radio dramas broadcast as part of the "New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" radio series that ran on MBS and starred Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. If you already listened to the radio series, it is hard not reading this without hearing both Bruce and Rathbone in your head; it is also hard understanding why you would read this when one can, in this glorious day and age, readily find the original broadcasts and enjoy those. Only would recommend this for diehard fans or Holmes enthusiasts looking for a historical oddity (curious frame narrative elements added to the prose adaptation).

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was well written. The major author used the scripts from radio plays, adding the explanatory and background information needed to make the transition from play to story. It was certainly worth reading if you are a Sherlock fan.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

You may need to be a Sherlock Holmes geek (like me) or at least a fan, but I found this to be a delightful read.❤️

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes includes thirteen different stories, all written in the perspective of Watson. Each story is very engaging and the mysteries that ensure each uniquely captivate the reader. I gave the book 5 stars because of how well each story is told. I really enjoyed the perspective from Watson. It gave it a more organic feel to the story, and I did not feel like just some third party observing what was going on. I felt as though I was actually there and could solve the mysteries alongside Holmes. There really was not much that I did not like, for it was a very good book. I also liked that it consisted of a bunch of mini stories, and not just two hundred pages of one long mystery. Although a longer mystery is fun to follow along with, this was very nice because I did not feel obligated to keep reading. As much as I like reading, the way this book was written was nice because I was able to just sit down for a short period of time and read one mystery then continue on with my day. When I was younger I would love mystery books and read ones like Nancy Drew. Now that I am older, I have come to have a more refined taste when it comes to mystery books. Sherlock Holmes is perfect to me because of the sophisticated humor and snide remarks made by Holmes.

[Debra Jeakins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes & Dr.Watson! Whenever I come across a new book of Sherlock Holmes I quickly grab it. When I came across THE LOST ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES BY KEN GREENWALD I grabbed it up and held on tight!

THE LOST ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES is comprised of short stories taken from the bygone era of a yesteryears radio series.
Included in the book we even get to find out a little bit about Holmes and Watson's life after Baker Street!
Well written and edited, you dont have to read Mr.Greenwald's introduction to know he is also a true Holmes/Watson fan (Sherlockian? Baker Street Irregular?)

If you are a Sherlockian fan or just like a book of very good short story mysteries, then I hope you will give THE LOST ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES BY KEN GREENWALD a read.

[Thaddeus Tuffentsamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice series of adventures. Not exactly true to the Conan Doyle canon, but true to the early radio adventures of which these are based.

The Adventures are fun, with the exception of the last story, The Notorious Canary Trainer, and only because it includes Conan Doyle as Watson’s literary agent. I’m not in the camp that enjoys this, I prefer when canon is upheld in its truest form.

This book may be hard to come across now as it’s 30 years old (In 2023), but if you can get you hands on it and enjoy the original radio dramas, you’ll enjoy this immensely.

[Ann Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Radio broadcasts from the 1940s featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce have been turned into a book of short stories. At the time of the book’s publication, it was mentioned that the broadcasts were available on cassettes. But nowadays, they can be heard on the Radio Classics episodes on SiriusXM radio. A must for Sherlock Holmes fans. (The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars is due to the grammatical errors. I believe writers should know the rules of grammar— just my bias.)

[Kaitie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of both the radio show and the novels, it was a fun way to combine the two. The writing doesn't try to match Arthur Conan Doyle's too closely, but it does more closely match the speech-heavy style of the radio shows, so I could see how that might turn off some fans of the books.

I will, however, forever be stuck on the accidental (?) idea that Holmes and Watson are immortal beings thanks to a bee-honey-related alchemy spell Holmes decoded. It's hilarious.

[Elle Hartford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with some of the other reviewers -- these stories are light-hearted takes on Holmesian adventures rather than very literary tales. They're fun, especially for Holmes fans, but perhaps a little obscure for most.

[Gus Scholtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great surprise. I was not expecting it to be so well done. Greenwald has taken the old radio programs and turned them into written stories.
I first thought this is going to be boring. But from the first ( of 13) I surprised. Well done and engaging.

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and lovely read of Sherlock Holmes Stories but my Favorite is the Adventure of the Headless Monk. A Must Read.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are the radio scripts written as short stories. A little disappointing.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on some original radio broadcasts from the 1940s, then redone as short stories.

Plus: Loved the story of the first meeting of Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes. All the stories are loosely based on ones from the Holmes canon. For instance, the first story is about the daughter of Irene Adler.

Minus: I don't think they always got Holmes quite right. He's a little too friendly, a little too quick to laugh. He's brilliant enough, and Watson seems pretty accurate. But Holmes is a little too approachable.

[John Bastin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Sherlock Holmes stories originally written by Denis Green and Anthony Boucher as radio scripts for shows aired in the 1940s starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. This group of scripts was lost for some time, and finally discovered by 221 "A" Baker Street Associates. After ;this discovery, author Ken Greenwald took the scripts and wrote them in short story form. The result is a very entertaining collection that extends the legacy of Sherlock Holmes tales for the reader.

[Laura Verret · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you begin reading this book hoping to experience adventures in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you will be sadly disappointed. However, if you have watched and loved Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes movies (as I have) and are prepared to be reunited with him and his sidekick Nigel Bruce, then these stories will be a delight.

[Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are the novelized version of screen plays written by Denis Green And Anthony Boucher( of science fiction fame). I have discovered two sites to listen to old time radio dramas : radiolovers.com and antioch radio. If you love the old dramas, these are the places to go.

[Read1000books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories based on the original radio dramas of the 1940's starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

[James D Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful fun!

[Elizabeth Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally I loved it . Good stories and fact that Watson is actually equal footing with Holmes. I enjoyed the stories greatly and if you don't care about radio stories then it's great .

[Tim Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are one or two good stories here, but it's a patchy collection. Radio is not the ideal medium for mystery, and novelization can't repair that.

[Pinko Palest · Rating 1 out of 5]

The original radio adventures might have been birlliant, but this rendition of them doesn't fit the bill and is a dumbing down of the characters