Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Narrator: Alan Cumming
ASIN: B004UGDJOO
Audiobook Length: 47 minutes
Genre: Classics, Mystery
Origins: Mine. All mine.
Bottom Line: Short but sweet mystery that Holmes fans will love but only confirmed my own dislike of the famed detective.
“An unusual sequence of events leads the legendary Sherlock Holmes to locate the precious jewel owned by the Countess of Morcar.”
Thoughts: This was a free audiobook from Audible for the holiday season, and the fact that Alan Cumming was the narrator is the only reason I downloaded it. I am not a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes canon, but I adore Alan Cumming and thought he would be an excellent test to see how deep my dislike of Holmes runs. Even with Mr. Cumming’s wonderful performance – always energetic and delightful – Sherlock Holmes is not for me. Everything others love about him – his curiosity, his bombast, his superiority complex – do nothing to make him a fascinating character for me, and I felt all three negative character attributes were on full display in this particular adventure. The mystery of the Blue Carbuncle is interesting if only because the strange events that oblige Holmes to get involved are so unusual and widely circumstantial. Because it takes less than an hour to listen to the entire mystery, it was not a complete waste of time, and Holmes’ fans will enjoy Mr. Cummings’ enthusiastic performance. For me, it was a good test that the Sherlock Holmes stories are ones I would do well to avoid.
I can believe it since I've only read one of his stories, and I normally like detective novels! I will be curious what you think of it if/when you get around to listening to it!
Interesting. I got this because it was free and for the narrator too but now I'm wondering what my reaction will be. I've never really read any actual Holmes stories/books if you can believe that!
LOL! There are so many other, better detective stories IMO, but he continues to be popular for a reason.
It very well might be a great introduction for you. The entire thing is only 47 minutes long, so you don't have to invest in a long story to decide whether you like the medium.
As I said, I love Alan Cumming. I wasn't certain how I felt about Sherlock. At least it was a free lesson.
LOL! I think if you were a Sherlock fan, it would rock. I am not, so no big loss for me. I wish I could share it with you because Alan Cumming does rock!
I haven't read any Sherlock…yet! I will try Doyle out one of these days 🙂
Ohww! I adore Sherlock Holmes, and Alan Cumming, but I do not adore audiobooks. I wonder if this would be a good introduction to the world of audiobooks for me!
Well, whew! It's always good to re-affirm our literary dislikes. You were brave to even try it. Once something hits my "hate" list, I would not very likely be persuaded to try it once again.
Excuse me while I kick myself. Alan Cummings is FAB.
At least you didn't say it rocks. Then I would reallly kick myself hard.