Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons

By: James Lovegrove

Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author James Lovegrove’s continues the story of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles, as five years later, another monstrous creature stalks across Dartmoor....

The year 1894. The monstrous Hound of the Baskervilles has been dead for five years, along with its no less monstrous owner, the naturalist Jack Stapleton. Sir Henry Baskerville is living contentedly at Baskerville Hall with his new wife, Audrey, and their three-year-old son, Harry.

Until, that is, Audrey’s lifeless body is found on the moors, drained of blood. It would appear some fiendish creature is once more at large on Dartmoor and has, like its predecessor, targeted the unfortunate Baskerville family.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are summoned to Sir Henry’s aid, and our heroes must face a marauding beast that is the very stuff of nightmares. It seems that Stapleton may not have perished in the Great Grimpen Mire after all, as Holmes believed, and is hell-bent on revenge....

©2020 James Lovegrove (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Faithful

James Lovegrove’s rendition of the world’s greatest detective are faithful to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his creations.

Mystery writing and narration at its best

Mr. Lovegrove emulates the essence of Conan Doyle’s narrative style magnificently.
Furthermore the mysteries themselves are well concocted.
Mr. Kleinman honours the prose with a fully Watsonish personality, in addition to gracing Holmes with the thin, well-bred voice of the smug detective. Other characters, male, female, youth and elderly are given believable pitch and tone, with regional accents well mastered. Thank you for the treat.

Enjoyed immensely

I am a lover of Sherlock Holmes stories.As a story I had not heard before,This was pure Sherlock goodness.The narrator brought each character to life so that I could visualize it . I loved the banter about Mr. chimney sweep and the scarecrow.What highly suggest others to enjoy!

Very interesting take on Sherlock Holmes

This story was really great. I really enjoyed the characters. It was a shock to see Dr. Mortimer and Barrel become antagonist, but still it was a really good story. I really enjoyed the part when Watson gave that bigot a thrashing. A pity he wasn’t given his name all in all. This was a very good story contacted by Lovegrove. I look forward to seeing what other stories he has written.

A little too implausible and untrue to characters

I really enjoy James Lovegrove's pastiches. I enjoyed The Beast of the Stapletons. But it was pretty implausible and did violence to the characters from the Hound of the Baskervilles. It was variance from the characters that detracted most from the story. It's still well worth listening to.

Enjoyable but a little predictable

Enjoyed the performance, but the ending a little predictable with Watson portrayed as something of a dunce

Fantastic!

Please continue, Sir Arthur Conan-Lovegrove! As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I greatly enjoy your books.

Mortimer was a vet, not a doctor

This book was great, and the narrator really brought it to life! One quibble - in The Hound of the Baskervilles, James Mortimer was a vet. Some time in the five years before this book takes place, he went to medical school. I didn't take points off the story because honestly that's something only a few people would care about. But I'm just saying.

A fantastic read, the character of Grier is a welcome addition, and the narrator really does him justice. And bonus points because I learned how to drain a mire.

A Worthy Tribute to Sir Conan

I'm a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, so it was with some intrepidation and skepticism that I approached this audio book. But just 5 minutes into the novel, my fears were allayed and I thoughly enjoyed both the story written by James Lovegrove and the performance of Dennis Klinman, who really brought the charecters to life.

Well done!

Picking up several years after The Hound of the Baskerville’s, in Dr. Watson’s voice, this story returns the characters of the original, but with a twist. Or, rather, several twists. No one is quite who they seem.

It was really fun to read a new Sherlock Holmes story. This one keeps to the texture of the original so closely, it might have been printed in The Strand.

One welcome update is a Black American character, a Buffalo Soldier, and Dr. Watson’s being frankly angry about the bigotry he faces. It works into the structure of the novel seamlessly.

As the casual racism of the original stories always makes me cringe, this was a change I really appreciate.

Mind you, Dr. Watson still seriously proposes that a woman’s “Latin temperament” might, in and of itself, cause her to commit murder. So that ridiculous motif is still present.

Overall, it’s as flawed, and as fun, as the original stories.