The Great Detective Collection

24 of the Best Classic Detective Stories

By: Arthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, Ernest Bramah, Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Guy Boothby, Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

An engrossing collection of detective stories featuring all the great classic sleuths, including Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Max Carrados, J. G. Reeder, and C. Auguste Dupin.

• 1. "The Tea-Leaf" by Edgar Jepson & Robert Eustace
• 2. "The Queer Feet" by G. K. Chesterton
• 3. "The Curious Circumstances of the Two Left Shoes" by Ernest Bramah
• 4. "The Club of One-Eyed Men" by Arthur Somers Roche
• 5. "Diamond Cut Diamond" by F. Britten Austin
• 6. "The Game Played in the Dark" by Ernest Bramah
• 7. "Murder Under the Microscope" by William Russell
• 8. "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allan Poe
• 9. "The Hammer of God" by G. K. Chesterton
• 10. "Who Killed Zebedee" by Wilkie Collins
• 11. "The Treasure Hunt" by Edgar Wallace
• 12. "The Shadow of the Shark" by G. K. Chesterton
• 13. "The Red Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• 14. "The Story of Baelbrow" by E. and H. Heron
• 15. "The Invisible Man" by G. K. Chesterton
• 16. "The Perfect Crime" by Seamark
• 17. "The Wedding Guest" by Guy Boothby
• 18. "The Trial for Murder" by Charles Dickens
• 19. "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• 20. "The Magic Casket" by R. Austin Freeman
• 21. "The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor" by Ernest Bramah
• 22. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe
• 23. "The Mystery of Marie Roget" by Edgar Allan Poe
• 24. "To Be Taken in Water" by George Walter Thornbury

Public Domain (P)2015 Red Door Audiobooks

Good stories, terrible narrator.

These classic stories were well chosen but the narration made it almost impossible to follow them. I would not recommend this version.

great stories, wrong narrator

What did you like best about The Great Detective Collection? What did you like least?

Many lovely long stories ruined by the narration. Cathy Dobson seems as though she is constantly trying to sound like a man, and every sentence is painfully drawled out at the end so that it becomes distracting and tortuous to listen to. All the characters sound the same from story to story. I hate leaving a review that is at all negative, and this is just my perspective, but I was really looking forward to listening to this book and it's been difficult.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Not really.

Couldn't listen past the first 2 minutes

I just finished listening to Simon Vance read The Complete Sherlock Holmes and wanted to listen to some more great classic mystery stories. I thought this would be the perfect next audio book. Unfortunately, I couldn't listen past 2 minutes. Cathy Dobson's drawn out, slow paced manner of speaking grated on my nerves. I couldn't stand it. I'll be looking into how to return this book and hopefully get my credit back.

Read Reviews First!

Yikes! I never thought such great stories could be trodden upon by bad narration. Count me corrected. Almost impossible to get through, despite such classic tales being read. Wasted a credit. So it goes.

Extremely Distracting Narrator

What disappointed you about The Great Detective Collection?

I had a hard time paying attention to the stories because of the narrator's voice and how they said things. It came off as a bit silly and stagey and I wanted something more serious and less theater class. I ended up not being able to listen to it because I found the stagey-ness took away from any drama and mood the stories would otherwise have had. I ended up not listening to any of the stories in full because of this.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Too stagey and over the top.