(post may contain affiliate links)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars (4.5 rounded up to a 5)
Fireside Reading of A Study in Scarlet is just what it sounds like: a wonderfully narrated version of the mystery novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, read before a fire. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at six hours and is narrated by Gildart Jackson.
This is the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and was originally published as a magazine serial in 1887. Here, both men are strangers who meet and decide to split the rent at a flat located at 221B Baker Street, though an old friend warns Watson about Holmes’s eccentric nature. Holmes notes that he is a “consulting detective,” and is working on a case involving two murders of Americans who are somehow connected to sinister Socialist groups who are gaining power in Britain and America. The first part of the book is the whodunit story. The second part of the book is mostly a flashback to provide background information about the people involved in the whodunit.
It is quite lovely to hear a fire crackling in the background while Jackson is reading. I also appreciated that he added a bit of personal notes in his introduction to the book as a whole. The second half did drag a bit for me, but in the end I was glad to have learned the full backstory.
CW: murder, death, violence, blood, animal death, alcohol abuse, forced marriage (mentioned)
Special thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing an audio galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
View all my reviews
ruse reviews 