The Papers of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 1

By: David Marcum

Narrated by: Simon Shepherd

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Spanning events over thirty years, Volume I of The Papers of Sherlock Holmes relates narratives of Holmes and Watson's days in Baker Street, as well as particulars of Holmes's supposed retirement.

Follow along as The Master and his Boswell travel from the streets of London to the Kent countryside, to Oxford and Sussex.

Written in traditional canonical style, these stories provide fresh details of Holmes's world. Join us as we climb the seventeen steps to the Baker Street sitting room, where Holmes and Watson prepare to begin their next adventure. The game is afoot!

©2013 David Marcum (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Overall this is a dud

I'm usually a fan of well-written Sherlock Holmes pastiches, as long as they are written with the basic facts of Sir ACD's original works intact. This book is a hodge podge that strays greatly from the known narrative. The novella of the extended Holmes family is particularly annoying to me. The gifted narrator's rendition of Holmes is sing-songy and so unlike Holmes that it is distracting. However, the narrator's portrayal of Watson is excellent. Overall, don't bother with this book.

A middling Holmes pastiche

The stories herein are just that, stories. There is little in the way of mystery and our protagonists feel as though they're just along for the ride.

The Papers of Sherlock Holmes

Mr. Marcum, needs to keep finding more lost or hidden papers. A very well done novel. New Holmes Family information was great!!

as bad a narration as ive ever suffered through

Actually could have enjoyed this story with the very weak plots, especially since much of it was set in my home area of East Tennessee. However, the narrator made me glad when it was finished. The increasingly higher pitched, herk and jerk voice of Holmes made it unbearable. Absolutely pathetic narrator

many nested stories

I like the way the author packs each story with multiple coalescing storylines, so each tale is made of several. It seems like a spendthrift approach, tossing out so many story lines that other people would be happy to have just one of, but it makes for a rich narrative, a tour de force . . .

No one talks like that.

What would have made The Papers of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 1 better?

The volume was fine.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The stories were quite good.

What didn’t you like about Simon Shepherd’s performance?

His voicing of Sherlock was stilted, halting and sounded like a poor imitation of William Shatner. No one speaks like that normally and it was grating on the ears.

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

The stories/cases were good.

Any additional comments?

What a shame that the voice portrayal of the main character spoiled the whole experience. Very disappointing.

So much back stories ....

Loved the back stories and locations, extra guests writers and artists...the voice was fantastic and WOW!!!. YA'LL are going to love this.

Awesome Holmes and Watson

One of the best listening books yet. Keep up the good work. Thanks so much.

not bad but not ACD

good easy listening. Stories not to deep but a little to light hearted for a good Holmes narrative.

great stories

I enjoyed all of these stories. the narration was good except for the voice of Sherlock. for some reason the narrator would pause a couple of seconds after every word that Sherlock spoke. very irritating.

Not great - narrator irritating

Not one of the better ones of the 'new Holmes' genre. The narrator seems to be making Holmes sound like a poor man's Edward Fox, which becomes really irritating after a while.
And I'm afraid the plots just aren't in the style of Conan Doyle's. If you like the Bert Coules stories, I doubt you'll enjoy this any more than I did.

Irritating american vocabulary

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not bad until each ridiculous and lazy American term cropped up - Fall / Autumn, Sidewalk / Pavement etc - which was distracting

What will your next listen be?

Not something like this

Did Simon Shepherd do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

Yes but his Holmes voice is annoying

Do you think The Papers of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 1 needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not until author has better attention to detail

a very decent try

Occasionally goes a little off course but mostly good. Liked exploration of Sherlock's family connections.

Disappointed

I am very annoyed by the use of Americanisms here, it is jarring to hear people measuring distance in "blocks" and referring to Autumn as "Fall" to name but two examples, and I was surprised to hear The Great Detective sounding like a bad Bertie Wooster impression.

Good continuation stories

Thoughtfully put together, and very enjoyable. I find the Americanisms irritating - gotten and drapes for got and curtains. Maybe I’m being too critical, but Holmes and Watson wouldn’t use American words. Gotten is the biggest giveaway, and makes it harder to suspend disbelief. In Victorian times, gotten was a word heard in England only in the Norfolk region of the country… Good narration…

Stick with it, it gets better!

Use of Americanisms and the annoying voice of Sherlock can be overlooked as the stories improve through the book.