The Sherlockian

By: Graham Moore

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

In December 1893, Sherlock Holmes-adoring Londoners eagerly opened their Strand magazines-- anticipating the detective's next adventure-- only to find the unthinkable: his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, had killed their hero off. London spiraled into mourning -- crowds sported black armbands in grief -- and railed against Conan Doyle as his assassin.

Then in 1901, just as abruptly as Conan Doyle had "murdered" Holmes in "The Final Problem", he resurrected him. Though the writer kept detailed diaries of his days and work, Conan Doyle never explained this sudden change of heart. After his death, one of his journals from the interim period was discovered to be missing, and in the decades since, has never been found.

Or has it?

When literary researcher Harold White is inducted into the preeminent Sherlock Holmes enthusiast society, The Baker Street Irregulars, he never imagines he's about to be thrust onto the hunt for the holy grail of Holmes-ophiles: the missing diary. But when the world's leading Doylean scholar is found murdered in his hotel room, it is Harold - using wisdom and methods gleaned from countless detective stories - who takes up the search, both for the diary and for the killer.

©2010 Graham Moore (P)2010 Hachette

Perhaps a tad over-rated.

This may sound harsh- though it's certainly not my intention- and I hope that those who love the story will forgive me, but I think this one is a tad over-rated. I'll have to agree with former reviewers who found the modern Sherlockian character to be unlikable, and a bit... well... stupid. I enjoyed Doyle's story much better, and found myself disappointed when we were forced to return to the modern tale. As a result, I can only honestly recommend half the book.

One last thing- for those of you who get frustrated by poor audio production, I found it odd that the publisher didn't notice that the reader switched voices around for certain characters- sometimes mid conversation! There is a police officer who, at first, is given an older, authoritative voice. Then the author describes the officer as appearing to be rather young and inexperienced- suddenly his voice changes! Clearly the narrator hadn't read the chapter before recording it. But what compounds the issue is that later on in the book, the narrator switches the voice around a third time! I quickly learned that I couldn't rely on the sound of a voice to know who it was who was speaking, as the problem cropped up repeatedly. It was very distracting.

Fun

I had gotten this booked based on another listener's input, it is fun and quirky little book. Well written and research as all historical fiction should be. The jumping between Victorian England and Modern Times was handled well.

A great mystery inspired by Sherlock Holmes.

An engrossing double mystery spanning two time periods about the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
An excellent story performed by a superb narrator in James Langton.

I really enjoyed it.

I would probably have given it 5 stars but I'm really trying to save that for books that blow my mind. It was nice that I had read some Sherlock Holmes just before. I definitely felt like bingeing the book at times. The reader did a pretty good job at doing an American accent.

Worth purchasing

I recommend "The Sherlockian" to any Sherlock Holmes fan. (I didn't know that they were called "Sherlockians," did you?) Although I don't quite qualify as a Sherlock Holmes fan, I have listened to all the stories at least once, and enjoyed them. This author -- Graham Moore -- definitely qualifies as a Sherlockian, and knows whereof he speaks. He has woven an entertaining tale (actually, two concurrent tales) around the mystery of Holmes' creator -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- and his (apocryphal) missing diary. Using the technique of interweaving two stories -- one set in the present day, and one set during Doyle's time -- Graham Moore explains why Doyle resurrected Sherlock Holmes ten years after he had killed him off. Apparently, Doyle considered himself well-rid of Holmes, and never wanted to write about him again. However, Doyle's public never forgave him for killing off their favorite detective, whom they definitely did not consider fictional. If we can believe the stories emanating from that time, it would seem that all of literate England was thrown into angry turmoil at the abrupt loss of Sherlock Holmes. (Maybe they felt the way I did when Harry Potter grew up ...!) As far as I can determine with a little quick research, Graham Moore invented the missing Doyle diary in "The Sherlockian" to create an intriguing mystery for his Sherlockian protagonist -- Harold White -- to investigate, using Holmes' protocols. At the same time ... well, actually, 110 years earlier ... Doyle himself is investigating a series of puzzling murders. Both investigations spin off into unlikely territory (requiring the loss of a star in my rating), but they do lead to a satisfying resolution. The British narrator, James Langton, has a good voice, and does an excellent job of narrating "The Sherlockian." Like many British actors, his rendition of the American accent sounds funny -- betraying how yucky we Americans must sound to the Brits -- but I expect American actors trying to do any of the myriad British accents probably sound pretty funny to the Brits, too. All-in-all: "The Sherlockian" is worth one of your Audible credits.

Decent book

I read this book based on another reviewer recommending in his review of a book that I was thinking about getting. The reviews on that book were only so so, so I decided to read a book that someone recommended with gusto. This book was pleasant. It wasn't faced paced or cutting edge, but interesting enough. I like Sherlock Holmes as much as anyone does who likes mysteries. The best part about this book was that the chapters alternated between a present day "Sherlockian" and the voice of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his day. As the Sherlockian was uncovering a mystery, the mystery was being acted out in real time in the other chapter. I was really intrigued by this format. I kept wondering what Sir Doyle had done that would be so interesting to today's Sherlockian - did he murder someone? Intrigue. So, the overall resolution to the book was pretty good. I recommend it. Not fast paced and exciting, but interesting.

Perfect story!

Perfectly plotted story line without all the unnecessary lewdness found in most of today's books and movies . Voice acting was superb!

a wonderful story for all Sherlock fans

I have enjoyed listening to this book multiple times. the story is well written, full of details and surprises.

If you like Sherlock Holmes this is a must read.

My husband and I listened to this book on the long drive from Florida to Delaware. We both have read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories. We found this to be a very enjoyable story. It flips back and forth from the 1900s and the 2010s weaving two connected stories. It was both interesting and clever with some humorous moments. It entertained us well during the long drive.

Loved It

I really loved this book. I liked jumping from the present and past. I totally didn’t end the why I thought. Thanks for writing it.