The Complete Sherlock Holmes

The Heirloom Collection

By: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 58 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the 2014 Audie Award for Classics

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales are rightly ranked among the seminal works of mystery and detective fiction. Included in this collection are all four full-length Holmes novels and more than forty short masterpieces—from the inaugural adventure A Study in Scarlet to timeless favorites like “The Speckled Band” and more. At the center of each stands the iconic figure of Holmes—brilliant, eccentric, and capable of amazing feats of deductive reasoning. By his side is Dr. John Watson, his steadfast assistant and our trusty narrator. This set is a must-have for every discriminating bibliophile and Sherlock Holmes fan.

Volume 1
A Study in Scarlet: A Novel
A Sign of Four: A Novel
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories

Volume 2
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories
The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Novel

Volume 3
The Return of Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories
The Valley of Fear: A Novel

Volume 4
His Last Bow: A Novel
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories

Public Domain (P)2013 Brillance Audio, all rights reserved.

Exceptional narration

I enjoyed this beautifully narrated compilation of Sherlock Holmes. 58 hours went by swiftly and kept me entertained.t

All of Sherlock in one place.

All the original Sherlock stories are here. clear tone reading. Perfect for all fans to listen to repeatedly.

Truly Complete BUT…

This audio book is truly the complete Sherlock Holmes canon BUT the chapters in The Case-Book Sherlock Holmes track list are incorrectly listed as:

Preface (55:50)
The Adventure of Blanched Soldier (40:10)
The Adventure of Mazarin Stone (32:17)
The Adventure of Three Gables (33:18)
The Adventure of Sussex Vampire (32:41)
The Adventure of Three Garridebs (1:23:35)
The Adventure of Creeping Man (40:53)
The Adventure of Lion’s Mane (37:47)
The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger (23:44)
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place (32:02)
The Adventure of Retired Colourman(30:03)

Not only are most of the titles incorrect (i.e., the definite article “the” is omitted from most of the titles), but two titles (and their corresponding separate tracks) are completely missing from the list!

But to be sure, they are included in the recorded book even though they are not specified in the track listing.

So, if you want to listen to “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client” then go to “Preface” track and skip to 3:50.

Or, if you want to listen to “The Problem of Thor Bridge” then go to “The Adventure of Three Garridebs” track and skip to 33:20.

As a point of clarification, here is the accurate and complete listing of chapters in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes:

Preface, by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
The Adventure of the Three Gables
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
The Problem of Thor Bridge
The Adventure of the Creeping Man
The Adventure of the Lion's Mane
The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
The Adventure of the Retired Colourman

Perhaps this may be corrected by the time you listen to the audio book. I hope so!

The complete masterpiece

From the stories we have heard, to the less known endeavors, this is the most complete tales of the greatest detective.

Doyle is a legend; Vance a master narrator.

Although a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, this is my first reading of Doyle's complete Sherlock Holmes. Not since Jeremy Brett's exquisite portrayal of Sherlock have I enjoyed the brilliance of the original stories.
Vance's narration is so well acted that the characters come to life; it's more like listening to a play, rather than a book reading.
Despite the length of this book, I believe this is only my first of many readings. This audio production is a magnificent treat!

Good value; long, repetitive, variable quality

This is a LONG audible book and is, thus, a great value for a credit.

The book is generally quite enjoyable and it's nice to know Holmes' whole 'canon' collection.

However, a few negatives:
1) A book of this size and complexity (lots of sub-parts) really needs some kind of better organization, introductions, or explanations of structure. I finally wound up downloading some lists from on-line so I'd have some clue where I was at.

2) The collection is quite long which presents some pains.
- It's broken into 7 smaller 'books', which makes it harder to keep track of where you are.
- The the general story format is very similar. So, after a few dozen hours, it gets quite repetitive. I almost stopped about 1/3 and 2/3 through (with intent to return months later when the repetition was less 'fresh.'

3) This is a collection of short stories, with a few novels/novellas thrown in. With so many stories, logical consistency isn't perfect, nor is quality quite consistent. In particular, I definitely enjoyed some of the novels less than most of the short stories.
- Some of of them don't flow very well and are somewhat confusing, especially "A Study in Scarlet" which had me wondering whether I'd somehow jumped to another story.
- "Study in Scarlet" also seemed rife with inaccurate and distorted history, which took away from enjoying a 'period piece.'

Overall, it's an interesting collection and a good value if you're using credits. However, if you're not using credits, I might suggest considering a smaller, more selective collection to avoid some of the negatives mentioned above.

Simply marvelous!

Everyone agrees that the Sherlock Holmes stories are brilliant. But here the reader has just made it better. Extremely well read.

Fantastic

A must for every Sherlock fan. Vance does a great job especially over such a long run.

Fantastic

Great story of course. Simon Vance's performance was also amazing. My only complaint is that you can't navigate the stories/chapters with much ease.

100+ years old and still entertaining

These stories may be more than 100 years old but they are still intriguing and entertaining. Sir Arthur is a wonderful storyteller who translates as beautifully to the spoken word as to the written page. Simon Vance does a marvelous job as narrator and seems to be having as much fun presenting the works as we have listening. I have spent many happy hours commuting in bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go traffic while communing with Simon and Sir Arthur, and not regretting a minute of it!