Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection

By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen Fry - introductions

Narrated by: Stephen Fry

Length: 71 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

"Fry's Holmes is crisp and high-handed, his Watson enthusiastic and bemused, and the rest of the narration colorful without being mannered. Have fun. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award." (AudioFile magazine)

"...it was reading the Sherlock Holmes stories as a boy that first turned me on to the power of writing and storytelling." (Stephen Fry)

Ever since he made his first appearance in A Study In Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes has enthralled millions of fans. Now Audible is proud to present Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, read by Stephen Fry. A lifelong fan of Doyle's detective fiction, Fry has narrated the complete works of Sherlock Holmes. And, exclusively for Audible, Stephen has written and narrated nine insightful and personal introductions to each title.

Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, comedian, film director and all round national treasure. He is the acclaimed narrator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and recently recorded The Tales of Max Carrados - which earned Fry the accolade of "quite irresistible" from the Washington Post.

©2017 Stephen Fry (introductions); original text public domain. (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"The pairing of Fry and Holmes is a bit of a marriage made in heaven...In the Holmes books, he reads just under a thousand pages in his wonderfully even and infallibly intelligent voice, touching the characters deftly...[H]e finds a variety of accents and tones for the many foreigners Holmes encounters; his American accents are lightly done, without attempting, for example, a Utah accent in 'A Study in Scarlet'.... Fry's triumph is in striking and maintaining exactly the right tone for the narrations, all, with a handful of exceptions, in the comfortable, slightly pompous voice of Dr. James Watson, Boswell to the great man's Johnson. Fry's Holmes is sharp-witted and mercurial, though not especially idiosyncratic: quite right, as he is merely being reported by deal old Watson. But Fry's skill in phrasing and articulation over the whole 60-plus hours is beyond praise.... Every consonant in place, every phrase perfectly shaped and filled with sense. There are other complete recorded Holmeses...but none that sustains the course so buoyantly, and none with the added pleasure of the readers' pithy commentary on each book." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Sherlock Holmes. Narrated by Stephen Fry. Need I say more? Honestly though, what a perfect way to get away from it all while you're cooking dinner, commuting, or tidying up this weekend." (Buzzfeed)

"Having already narrated one of the world's best-selling book series in the form of Harry Potter, Stephen Fry has returned to the recording booth to take on another hugely popular series." (BBC)

"It doesn't get much more British than Stephen Fry talking about Sherlock." (Mashable)

"Sherlock Holmes is the unfading literary icon - as beloved and as relevant as he was over 120 years ago. To celebrate his currency, Audible has released Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection; Arthur Conan Doyle's complete adventures of the famed detective, as narrated by lifelong fan Stephen Fry, including nine personal introductions exclusive to Audible." (The Independent)

An Incredible Experince

Any additional comments?
I had purchased some time ago " The Complete Sherlock Holmes: The Heirloom Collection "Narrated By Simon Vance a favorite actor since I discovered his narration of the Stieg Larsson Trilogy "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" being book 1. I enjoyed the Stories and narration and listened to the complete edition. It was wonderful. When I recently discovered a new "S. Holmes" audio book edition narrated by Stephen Fry whose work I admire greatly, I was tempted to purchase the stories all over again. I was also very much interested to hear Stephen Fry's commentaries on each of the wonderful stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. It proved to be one of my better audio book decisions. I rediscovered Holmes and was swept away by this superb edition, narrated by an actor with a lifelong appreciation of the Holmes characters and work. Now you can have a visit at Baker St. and sit at Watson side. Thank you to Mr. Fry for this exceptional effort. - P.S. to Audible I would very much like to purchase Mr. Fry's reading of the entire Harry Potter series even though I own the Jim Dale version...with all due respect to Mr.Dale

Bears repeating - this is NOT all the stories!

I've loved the stories since I was 15 years old. I've read the entire canon every few years for the past 50, and was thrilled to be able to get the whole collection narrated by such an amazing voice actor. I've listened to the entire thing twice since I originally purchased it, and only just realized that, despite what Audible says in its description, this is NOT the entire canon of Holmes stories. I don't know if I would have bought it if I had known that, but since Audible wasn't up-front about it, they got me to buy it. NOW I want the rest of the collection! The entire Casebook is missing - The Creeping Man, Schoscombe Old Place, The Blanched Soldier, The Sussex Vampire. Where are the recordings of these stories?! Yes, this collection is wonderful, as far as it goes. But it doesn't go as far as Audible claims it does. Members have been complaining about the misleading text for 3 years now and I think we need to keep complaining until something is done about it. Either provide the rest of the stories, or stop calling this the "definitive" collection. Don't mislead people just to get them to buy it. I'll be interested to see if this even makes it into the reviews. I'm betting it won't.

Simply the best!!!

What could be better than Sherlock Holmes read by one of the greatest and most gifted entertainers of our century? I love this and can't speak enough on what an absolute treasure this is to own...and you can't find a better deal! Thank you Audible!!!

Stephen Fry's performance alone is worth it!

I never much cared about Sherlock Holmes, but Fry's performance made it riveting. Great for those new to the stories.

Order is Correct, Fry Does a Nice Reading

There seems to be several complaints about the organization and running order of stories in this audiobook. Either the previous reviewers are mistaken or the errors have since been corrected. Ms. Rice gives an accurate and correct track listing in her review of 05-25-2018, which appears to be accurate and all in the correct order of the printed books. A later reviewer of 12-17-2019 complains that while listening to the first story, "A Study in Scarlet," the audiobook jumps to a brand new story just as the first story is being solved. This abrupt shift threw me as well, but a less-than-five-minute online search told me that this "brand new story" is just a flashback and is actually the second part of "A Study in Scarlet," so I kept listening, and all is wrapped up properly at the end of the story.

Stephen Fry does a fine job reading the stories, with good characterizations of each different character. Listen to the sample of this and other versions and decide which you like best, but don't skip this one simply because other reviewers are mistaken about the running order or their complaints are now out-of-date because the running order now appears to be quite correct.

Great story & Horrible Audible adaptation

Any additional comments?

Sherlock Holmes is a classic with a compelling story. Aided by narration of Stephen Fry, who does a great job in giving each character personality, this story and performance sets the standard high for other Audible tiles.

However, I found a couple of technical difficulties while listening to this:

1. Not a Whispersync title, so even though I could sync my progress from my phone to my Echo, I could not sync my progress from my Echo to my Phone.

2. Parts and Chapter titles as listed in the accompanying reference guide is different from what can be found in the Audible app for Android.
E.g. "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez" in the guide is in Part 4 Chapter 20. In the Audible app, it is actually Part 5 Chapter 5.

Perfect Narration for a Classic

Stephan Fry, a self-professed Sherlockian, is a perfect choice to present Sherlock Holmes. His enjoyment of the material is always in his presentation. The one quibble is that Audible chose not to include the final series of stories, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, probably due to the fact that Audible would have to acquire the rights from the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle. The rest of the canon is already in the public domain. Audible, you should know better!!

The Best!

This is the best version of Sherlock Holmes to which I have listened. Steven Fry did an amazing job as narrator!

Excellent performance of a classic

A very enjoyable listen. Stephen Fry is the perfect narrator for this collection. His forwards added interesting context to many of the narratives.

Best version ever

Phenomenal in every way. I listened to it twice.
Absolutely fantastic voice, acting and story.