The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1

By: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 20 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

First appearing in print in 1890, the character of Sherlock Holmes has now become synonymous worldwide with the concept of a super sleuth. His creator, Conan Doyle, imbued his detective hero with intellectual power, acute observational abilities, a penchant for deductive reasoning and a highly educated use of forensic skills. Indeed, Doyle created the first fictional private detective who used what we now recognize as modern scientific investigative techniques.

Doyle ended up writing four novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson. All but four are told in the first person by Watson, two by Holmes, and two are written in the third person. Together, this series of beautifully written Victorian literature has sold more copies than any other books in the English language, with the exceptions of the Bible and Shakespeare.

Volume 1 in this series consists of two novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, followed by a collection of short stories entitled The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Public Domain (P)2009 Audio Connoisseur

Classic Crime

Would you consider the audio edition of The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1 to be better than the print version?

No, It's just faster for a slow reader like me to get through and I can listen while doing house work.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Watson. I'm a Watson girl ;)

Would you listen to another book narrated by Charlton Griffin?

In a better audio quallity yes

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are so many stories in one audiobook here, so its hard to find one point. I gets moved at least once in almost all the stories.

the basis for every good detective story since.

A classic series for a reason! The narrator is fantastic! The character of Holmes is enthralling. I now recognize how often modern fictional detectives mimic Sherlock's observation skills. I also like the short length of these mysteries, I often listen to one or two between other books to break it up a little. Listen and realize why these stories have lasted and been duplicated for over a hundred years!

Fabulous

Wonderful stories beautifully and spellbindingly narrated. Could not stop listening! Have ordered volumes 2 and 3 .

Reason you've heard of Sherlock Holmes

There's a reason you've heard of Sherlock Holmes before ever cracking a page or hearing the narration.
These stories are great, things explained and you're never left in the dark as to what is happening.
That was my biggest fear with mystery novels, that I never knew what was going on till the very end explanation.

This Audio book narrator is TOP notch, I don't think I've heard any better, and only a few on the same level.
This is absolutely worth getting without a doubt! A voice for every character and they all come to life.

Excellent, but one quibble

The narrator does an excellent job, though the women's voices are simpery and sometimes even a bit silly, especially Mrs. Watson. However, it is rather annoying that there's nothing to allow you to jump to or go back to the beginning of a particular story, as there would be if this had been bought in CD format with a cover. If your player loses track of where you left off and you don't remember, you're going to be looking for quite a while; I was glad I have a complete set of the stories in paper to allow me to find my place by scanning and looking for key words. There could easily be a table of contents read at the beginning, with notes of where the stories begin, e.g. *A Study in Scarlet*, 5 hrs, 17 min.

I'm tempted by Volume 2, with *Hound of the Baskervilles*, but I may choose to buy it as a stand-alone audiobook.

Shockingly Modern

I’ve been sampling the “classics” more for a few years. I have mixed feelings about the classics, as a group. Both time and the “wisdom of the crowd” are a powerful filter, but sometimes the gap in world views is a problem. For example Aristotle’s word view was just too un-modern for me to glean much from his writings. In contrast Plato requires only a modest ability to explore a less modern paradigm and many of his gems are trivially transported to a modern context.

Sherlock Holmes felt like it was written today and merely set in the past. It was truly amazing. The only tell was slight aversion to gore (which I rather think is not such a bad thing).

It is targeted at the young reader, but very inter-generational. It’s the perfect book to read to your children or grandchildren.

A surprised fan

Any additional comments?

I never thought that I would be that into Sherlock Holmes. I purchased this mainly because I've decided to become better acquainted with classics that have shaped the literary landscape. I had never found a mystery novel that I had much use for and really without the urging of a friend to at least try Sherlock Holmes I probably wouldn't have.

I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this first part. Amazing book with some brilliant quotes. Very very pleasantly surprised.

I took one star off the performance because the narrator has pretty much one female voice which caused me to have to go back and re-listen to figure out who was speaking. Holmes and Watson are incredibly well voiced.

Sherlock Holmes never disappoints.

Sherlock Holmes offers great stories by a truly amazing author, readers by very good narrator.

Well done!

Would you listen to The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1 again? Why?

Most likely. I enjoyed having it broken into mini-books, as it was written many a year ago.

Which character – as performed by Charlton Griffin – was your favorite?

He is expert at the male voices, but a touch off for the females, which is what stopped me from giving a 5 star for performance. Still, he's quite a good narrator, and I do recommend him.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Is this a real question for this type of book?

Any additional comments?

Very well done package! I'm looking forward to the next book.

For those with discriminating tastes

Well performed. Great stories. Keep in mind you can actually buy all three parts of this book with one credit. This is only part one.