Sherlock Holmes and the Shakespeare Globe Murders

By: Barry Day

Narrated by: David Ian Davies

Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

London 1899 and a matter of grave national importance. American impresario Florenz Adler, has rebuilt Shakespeare's Globe playhouse. The grand opening is to take place in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Amid the excitement, the actors receive sinister warnings in the form of cryptic quotations from Shakespeare's plays and a drawing of a rose. A hoax? A literary joke? But not for long - the joke turns sour as the murders begin, each an exact copy of a death in a Shakespeare play. Even the Queen receives a warning, and so Sherlock Holmes is called in to fathom out the plot - assisted, of course, by Dr. Watson.

©1997 Barry Day (P)2010 One Voice Recordings

Critic Reviews

"The most incredible one-person audio you have heard. Has to be heard to be believed. David Ian Davies creates theatre in a book." (Charles Prepolec, one of the most respected Sherlockians)

Look for better options elsewhere

Annoying reading style, choppy. At points I wondered if performer was severely asthmatic. Too many comma insertions in the text. Too many modern anachronisms. Plot point based on something that didn't happen for 25years after the story timeline. Then, unforgivable to me, rehash of Conan Doyle plot points and phrases. Not homages, outright copy. Glad it was extra cheap on sale.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Much better done than you'd think for the price

The narrator does a much better job than the sampling shows, and the writer does an entertaining and competent job on the story. It would be a bargain at twice the asking price.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I'm not sure the author did any research

Would you try another book from Barry Day and/or David Ian Davies?

No. The book was poorly researched and badly written. The performance, while better than the writing, was still bad. IF you're going to set a book in a specific time period, research the historical events/people/places that you're referencing. For one, there was no attempt to rebuild the Globe in 1899. The modern Globe was built in 1997. A Victorian era theatre, built in 1903, was called the Globe for 80+ years but had not been built at the time this book is set and in no way resembled the original Globe theatre in design. If you're going to create a meeting with Freud (which was completely unnecessary and distracting), don't say he is in Boston for the tour of the English publication of "Dreams" in Sept 1899 when it wasn't published at all until November 1899 and not in English until 1913.

Finally, if you're going to write a Sherlock genre mystery, don't make the identity of the murder extremely obvious in Ch. 5 but not have Sherlock even begin to suspect until Ch. 10. It reflects poorly on the character and the genre as a whole.

In general, the book is poorly written and the performance is extremely hokey and distracting.

Has Sherlock Holmes and the Shakespeare Globe Murders turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, only the author

What didn’t you like about David Ian Davies’s performance?

It was hokey in the extreme

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Nope

Production hobbles story and performance

The above story is strong and I will listen to it again however the production values are shakey. I can hear the audio cut out and come in again. It is as if the sound engineer and voice over artist decided to take a break. That happens in other audio novels but in the final product such rough patches are worked out. Not so here. So, high marks for story and narration. Average and low on presentation. Perhaps that is why I was able to buy it for under $5.00.

A Great Successor to A.C. Doyle!

What does David Ian Davies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good at voices but made a few slips, using cockney for Dr. Watson at times and I kept thinking of Mr. Peabody (old cartoon character) when I heard Sherlock Holmes.

Agatha acting like Sherlock on Shakespeare's stage

I bought this book a little while ago as I saw it was David Ian Davies who performed the story. It also is not part of the regular Sherlock Holmes canon.

Initially I started to listen to it and then I stopped. I must profess that I was a bit lost. I didn't understand the plot well. In the mean time I brought my Roman history up to date and read up a little bit about Shakespeare (not with listening to the book in mind).

Recently I discovered that I had this book in my library and I decided to give it a second try. I was pleasantly surprised, the plot is actually well thought through. Yet it felt more Agatha Christie-like than real Sherlockian.

David Ian Davies' interpretative reading performance needs to be commended, though I've heard better readings from him. It is still an excellent performance.

While Barry Day wrote an excellent plot, I suspect that this story will gain a large readership from Shakespeare fanatics and Agatha Christie mystery admirers. I wonder if the acting hasn't been a bit overdone in the book. Still a worthwhile listen!

Not quite up to scratch Holmes

Would you try another book from Barry Day and/or David Ian Davies?

I would certainly try other books from Barry Day and/or David Ian Davies if the selling price is attractive to me.

What was most disappointing about Barry Day’s story?

The story line of Shakespeare Global Murders, for me, was not up to my expectations. David Ian Davies gave his usually very good performance otherwise I might have gone to sleep confused by the multiple characters which entered left of stage leaving no opportunity for me to consider 'who done it'.

Which scene was your favorite?

Was not concentrating on 'scenes'.

Was Sherlock Holmes and the Shakespeare Globe Murders worth the listening time?

Holmes appeared to be in a bit of an egotistical dream this time, I hope he does better next time. Sherlock Holmes is a 'must listen' but this time it was not worth listening to.

Any additional comments?

The excellent Author could have done better.

Annoying reading

The character voices are poor and more importantly, the constant pauses after each and every phrase cannot be ignored. A choppy narrative that will make you grind your teeth anticipating the next phrase's pause.

Let down by poor production

Unfortunately I purchased two audiobooks together. The story is interesting but the production is poor. Towards the end of the story the audio appears to jump and repeat. The narration is at times also tedious with some rather bizarre effects and what sounds like post-editing dubbing as voices would often change between sentences.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful