The Sherlockian

By: Graham Moore

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

In December 1893, Sherlock Holmes-adoring Londoners eagerly opened their Strand magazines-- anticipating the detective's next adventure-- only to find the unthinkable: his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, had killed their hero off. London spiraled into mourning -- crowds sported black armbands in grief -- and railed against Conan Doyle as his assassin.

Then in 1901, just as abruptly as Conan Doyle had "murdered" Holmes in "The Final Problem", he resurrected him. Though the writer kept detailed diaries of his days and work, Conan Doyle never explained this sudden change of heart. After his death, one of his journals from the interim period was discovered to be missing, and in the decades since, has never been found.

Or has it?

When literary researcher Harold White is inducted into the preeminent Sherlock Holmes enthusiast society, The Baker Street Irregulars, he never imagines he's about to be thrust onto the hunt for the holy grail of Holmes-ophiles: the missing diary. But when the world's leading Doylean scholar is found murdered in his hotel room, it is Harold - using wisdom and methods gleaned from countless detective stories - who takes up the search, both for the diary and for the killer.

©2010 Graham Moore (P)2010 Hachette

Perhaps a tad over-rated.

This may sound harsh- though it's certainly not my intention- and I hope that those who love the story will forgive me, but I think this one is a tad over-rated. I'll have to agree with former reviewers who found the modern Sherlockian character to be unlikable, and a bit... well... stupid. I enjoyed Doyle's story much better, and found myself disappointed when we were forced to return to the modern tale. As a result, I can only honestly recommend half the book.

One last thing- for those of you who get frustrated by poor audio production, I found it odd that the publisher didn't notice that the reader switched voices around for certain characters- sometimes mid conversation! There is a police officer who, at first, is given an older, authoritative voice. Then the author describes the officer as appearing to be rather young and inexperienced- suddenly his voice changes! Clearly the narrator hadn't read the chapter before recording it. But what compounds the issue is that later on in the book, the narrator switches the voice around a third time! I quickly learned that I couldn't rely on the sound of a voice to know who it was who was speaking, as the problem cropped up repeatedly. It was very distracting.

Fun

I had gotten this booked based on another listener's input, it is fun and quirky little book. Well written and research as all historical fiction should be. The jumping between Victorian England and Modern Times was handled well.

A great mystery inspired by Sherlock Holmes.

An engrossing double mystery spanning two time periods about the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
An excellent story performed by a superb narrator in James Langton.

I really enjoyed it.

I would probably have given it 5 stars but I'm really trying to save that for books that blow my mind. It was nice that I had read some Sherlock Holmes just before. I definitely felt like bingeing the book at times. The reader did a pretty good job at doing an American accent.

Hit and Miss

The book moves between two time periods--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's late 19th century, and the current time period. The Conan Doyle parts of the book I enjoyed. The current time period I wanted to like, because it offered a unique take on today's Sherlock Holmes fans. But by the end of the book, I was rooting for the main character to get shot. Breaking into museums, destroying exhibits, and happily flinging priceless pieces of history into a lake just didn't work for me. And, just to be really picky, I thought the main character (not Conan Doyle) was a whiner. The narration was very good.

An intricate story somewhat helped by vocalization

Though slow to start, the story is crafted with impressive research and knowledge of all things Sherlockian.There's an interesting juxtaposition between the present day characters and Conan Doyle's era, with an intriguing glimpse of common threads and challenges.

Different vocalizations for the various characters were more or less effective; I've listened to better, and at times I simply gave up trying to place the character by the voice. But that could be the result of the list of characters rather than the deficiencies of Mr. Langton as narrator.

The British versus American accent distinctions were well done. I also felt I was given fuller knowledge of several of the characters because of the tone and timbre of the voices the narrator used.

Worth the read, the time and the cost.

Riveting story!

I loved it, and couldn't wait to get back to it every time I had to stop listening. I would have given it 5 stars if it hadn't been for the use of some offensive language.

Wow

Been reading (listening) to 100 books a year. I would put this in the top 10. Could not put it down.

Just a great and unexpected story

Told in a compelling way by an author I really like. His book on Westinghouse, Edison, Tesla, and Kravath is tremendous.

Very "literary" mystery yarn

I enjoyed it on the whole but found the end to be a bit unsatisfying. And it's the end that makes a mystery worth the journey.