The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle

De: Timothy Miller

Narrado por: Peter Noble

London is in flux. The clop of the hansom cab has given way to the madness of the motorcar. And Sherlock Holmes, safe in the bee-loud glades of the Sussex downs, is lured back to London when a problem is posed to him by Dr. Watson and Watson's friend, Col. Higgins. Is the transformation of Eliza Doolittle from girl of the streets to duchess more than it seems? Is it really the work of Henry Higgins's phonetics lessons, or has another girl been substituted for her, and why? Has the original girl been murdered? Even Eliza's father can't say for sure.

Posing as a rich American gangster, Holmes infiltrates the Higgins household. He meets Freddy, a seemingly ubiquitous suitor, and the mysterious Baron Von Stettin, Bavarian attache. He brushes up against a doctor whose potions can turn Eliza from a spitfire into a kitten. And he faces a deadly enemy who had been thought dead for twenty years. The world of Sherlock Holmes will never be the same.

©2021 Timothy Miller (P)2022 Tantor

An interesting mix of familiar characters

This was fun to listen to. With familiar characters from three different classic stories juxtaposed in a new way, I enjoyed listening to things unfold. Good narration.

Ludicrous

The plot of the book is based on an interesting premise. What if Eliza Doolittle, of My Fair Lady fame, isn't really a Cockney street flower seller but a doppleganger duchess or princess in hiding? And what if Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are brought in to investigate? That could be interesting. Holmes, pretending to be an American gangster, moves in with Higgins on the pretense that he wants to take elocution lessons. Now, throw in the Mafia along with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the namesake of a long dead Prussian war hero, Baron von Stettin, four! Freddies, and you have a convoluted mess. Professor Higgins becomes unrecognizable. Eliza becomes incredibly unlikable. And that's just the first half. It gets worse. Of all the iterations of Sherlock Holmes I've read or seen, this is the worst. Give it a pass.