by John Taylor
Plot Summary:
Four more thrilling Sherlock Holmes adventures from John Taylor, the creator of The Unopened Casebook of Sherlock Holmes , inspired by the original stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Includes An Inscrutable Masquerade ; The Conundrum of Coach 13 ; The Trinity Vicarage Larceny ; and The 10:59 Assassin.
Review:
Some new Sherlock Holmes stories read by Benedict Cumberbatch? Yes, please. Honestly that is the only reason I picked up this audiobook, but I'm glad that I did because not only did I really enjoy Benedict's reading (wonderfully varied and distinct and his Sherlock is appropriately different from his modern TV version), I really enjoyed these stories.
"An Inscrutable Masquerade" was my favorite actually, Watson is kept largely in the dark, as Holmes works on the case, and I found Watson's repressed exasperation yet general good will to honor Holmes' difficult requests so endearing and a perfect representation of his character. The mystery itself was not too difficult to unravel, but the crafting of the story was very entertaining.
"The Conundrum of Coach 13" was a bit drawn out, probably because I think it is easy to guess how the crime was engineered. The 'who' was not as easy to figure out, and it was a fun twist. And nice to hear Benedict do an American accent!
"The Trinity Vicarage Larceny" was the weakest story in my opinion. More of a character driven mystery in a small town village. It was only okay for me.
"The 10:59 Assassin" was a good end to this set of stories because the nature of the mystery was so convoluted and full of red herrings. Definitely this was a more mind twisty mystery, with a very memorable set-up.
Of course these stories don't match the original in cleverness, but it does a believable job of capturing the characters and creating some very interesting mysteries. It's an enjoyable listen and worth it if you are a fan of Holmes or Benedict.
"An Inscrutable Masquerade" was my favorite actually, Watson is kept largely in the dark, as Holmes works on the case, and I found Watson's repressed exasperation yet general good will to honor Holmes' difficult requests so endearing and a perfect representation of his character. The mystery itself was not too difficult to unravel, but the crafting of the story was very entertaining.
"The Conundrum of Coach 13" was a bit drawn out, probably because I think it is easy to guess how the crime was engineered. The 'who' was not as easy to figure out, and it was a fun twist. And nice to hear Benedict do an American accent!
"The Trinity Vicarage Larceny" was the weakest story in my opinion. More of a character driven mystery in a small town village. It was only okay for me.
"The 10:59 Assassin" was a good end to this set of stories because the nature of the mystery was so convoluted and full of red herrings. Definitely this was a more mind twisty mystery, with a very memorable set-up.
Of course these stories don't match the original in cleverness, but it does a believable job of capturing the characters and creating some very interesting mysteries. It's an enjoyable listen and worth it if you are a fan of Holmes or Benedict.
