Sherlock Holmes and the Sixty Steps

By: Séamas Duffy

Narrated by: Michael Langan

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Séamas Duffy’s fourth novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Sixty Steps, follows a similar format to his previously published Holmes collections: a novella together with some shorter stories. The four stories are: “The Tragedy of Langhorne Wyke” (1890); “The Mystery of the Thirteen Bells” (1895); “The Adventure of the Sixty Steps” (1897); and “The Problem of the Coptic Patriarchs” (1898).

“The Tragedy of Langhorne Wyke” sees the detective and his chronicler travel to Yorkshire's North Riding to solve the double murder of a well-heeled but mysterious couple. Holmes and Watson are immediately confronted with the sudden, and ominous, disappearance of the two witnesses to the murder—an elderly widow and her traveling companion. The trail eventually leads back to London and to crimes committed, but unavenged, from Holmes’s past.

In “The Mystery of the Thirteen Bells”, Holmes and Watson, along with Inspector Lestrade, are involved in a grisly treasure hunt of a murder. In a London mired in thick November fog, their footsteps are dogged by a silent unseen adversary as they follow a series of cryptograms which they must decipher. These macabre clues lead them to some of Victorian London’s queerest places, and to one of its most bizarre institutions (which Holmes describes as “a citadel of the mad and the dead”).

In “The Adventure of the Sixty Steps”, Holmes and Watson travel to Glasgow in an attempt to save an innocent man—who has been wrongly convicted of the brutal murder of a rich elderly spinster—from the gallows. Their peregrinations take them into some of the lowest quarters of the city, peopled by shady underworld characters such as “The Moudie”, “Cauld Kale”, and “The Acrobat”. In uncovering a web of police corruption and malpractice, they are perplexed by the enigmatic genealogy of the victim and encounter more than one miscarriage of justice.

“The Problem of the Coptic Patriarchs” (a reference to one of Holmes's unrecorded cases from the canonical “The Adventure of the Retired Colourman”), Inspector Lestrade of the Yard arrives at Baker Street to inform Holmes that the rare and priceless 10th-century Alexandrian Scroll has been stolen and Father Philoxenus of the London Coptic Patriarchate has been kidnapped and ransomed. Holmes and Watson travel to the sleepy Thameside village of Bourne End to unravel the mystery of how the burglar-cum-kidnapper managed to escape from the scene of the crime in the middle of a blizzard without leaving a single trace in the snow.

©2022 Seamus Duffy (P)2022 MX Publishing

Imperfect but very good collection of Holmes stories

I have heard or read several less than satisfying attempts to create a sequel to "The Hound of the Baskervilles." This collection begins with its own sequel that starts out promising but peters out to a conclusion that was not unforeseen. A true sequel to perhaps Doyle's greatest work is deserving of a lengthy, well-thought outlook, not the formulaic and almost worn out short story presented in this recording. However, once I got past the Houynd story, the rest of the book was very good. The bulk of it was taken up by the titular "Sixty Steps," a close to excellent story.

Very good, very Holmes

Liked the plots, the portrayal of Holmes and of the relationship with Watson. Look forward for more from the author.

Engaging set of new stories

I thoroughly enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and the Sixty Steps by Seamas Duffy. There are 4 new stories that sometimes incorporate details and refer to previous stories in the original AC Doyle books. The narration by Michael Langan is fabulous. He creates unique voices, accents and inflections appropriate to each character. His performance brings life to the characters which adds to the enjoyment of the stories. Highly recommended to fans of Sherlock Holmes and anyone who enjoys a good historical mystery.

nice mix of stories

this was a really nice mix of stories. every so often I would think that something someone said was a little off the mark, but not so much that it ruined the story or listening experience. Will definitely look for more by the author.

Great listen!

I really enjoyed this book. Good story and well written. Looking forward to more from this author!!

A New Collection of Stories

This book contained 4 stories and the Title Story. I found the Stories well written and with referrals to previous Stories actually written by Sir Conan Doyle. Si.e of the Stories are almost a continuation of "The Hounds if the Baskerville" and such. Narrator does a good job with the various characters voices and Storyline.

Genuine Enjoyment

Of the various adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories, many are pretty true to the tone and form established by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his original works, "Sherlock Holmes and the Sixty Steps" among them. The notable difference I perceived is the subtly "updated" characterizations. Not to suggest the characters seem at any point incongruous with canon. Sherlock seems to me a little less obnoxious in favor of a somewhat more "socially invested" demeanor. Watson seems a little more astute. Lestrad isn't wholly dismissed as incompetent. Again, these are subtle in contrast, but these are the items that tended to grate after a while in the previous novels of the franchise.

The narrator delivered an excellent performance with clearly differentiated characters, as well as believably accurate representations of character accents. I felt his performance was very impressive, carrying the story with integrity and intensity.