The Complete Sherlock Holmes

More than a century since his conception, Sherlock Holmes remains the epitome of the private detective. In this remarkable collection, here are all the 60 stories - 56 short stories and four longer novels - which relate the work and skill of the legendary Holmes. In a remarkable tour de force, David Timson reads them all, arguably one of the greatest voice achievements in recorded history. Each story is presented with classical music, making this special 60 CD set one of the most collectible audiobooks ever released. It also comes with a 64 page booklet with comprehensive notes to the background and content of each of the stories. The set also contains a new Sherlock Holmes story, specially written by David Timson to celebrate the completion of the project.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has been given a fitting tribute in The Complete Sherlock Holmes...150 years after his birth. I've enjoyed David Timson's spirited readings of the stories ever since The Speckled Band appeared in 1999. He is one of those narrators who sinks himself so convincingly into character, so subtly differentiating timbre, dialect and accent, that you can hardly believe that the reading is being done by a cast of one - this requires extraordinary versatility given the 228 disguises in the four novels and 56 stories starring Holmes that Conan Doyle penned. Timson told me that he elected to go back to the original Strand Magazine version of the tales, warts and all. Conan Doyle never proofread his work, believing that the sweeping energy of the telling was more important that accuracy of detail: "What matter if I can hold my readers?" he said. Hold them he and Timson certainly do. -- Christina Hardyment, The Times 'David Timson must have had difficulty returning to his real self after this recording tour de force - every nuance in his voice is Holmes. All 56 stories nd four novels are here: 60 CDs with a chunky booklet. Years of top listening.' -- Rachel Redford, The Observer 'It has taken 10 years for Timson to record all 60 Sherlock Holmes stories. The hard-working radio actor has completed the project just in time for his bumper compendium to appear as crime-fiction fans mark the 150th anniversary of Conan Doyle, the creator of perhaps still the greatest ficitonal detective...the appeal of the super sleuth was and is irrepressible. Holmes's violin-playing is reflected by the plentiful bursts of plangently atmospheric strings in these productions, and Timson draws a nice vocal contrast between the flinty solver of mysteries and his bluff amanuensis.' -- Karen Robinson, The Sunday Times 'Conan Doyle would surely feel gratified by this magnificent recording of the Holmes canon of four novels and 56 stories. Timson brings to life a huge cast of characters, from murderers to maiden ladies, and there is incidental music by Dvorak, Paganini and others. A tour de force.' -- Jane Shilling, Daily Mail 'This is the first time the entire Holmes canon - four novels, umpteen adventures and scores of stories...has been published in a single package. Here's where I eat my hat and confess that, far from being lukewarm as I've claimed more than once about the legendary sleuth, I am now as addicted to the delights of elementary deduction as Holmes was to opium. What prompted the U-turn? It's hard to pinpoint. The unhurried build-uo of the Holmes/Watson buddy relationship, maybe, described so endearingly by the latter, those fireside evening with the doctor deep in a surgical treatise while his flatmate deciphers the inscriptions on a 15th-century palimpest with a magnifying glass. Then there's Holmes's unpredictable character...And finally there's David Timson's wonderful voice, bringing Conan Doyle's vast and extraordinary cast from every level of Victorian society to life. What a marathon, what a result.' -- Sue Arnold, The Guardian He is one of those narrators who sinks himself so convincingly into character, so subtly differentiating timbre, dialect and accent, that you can hardly believe that the reading is being done by a cast of one - this requires extraordinary versatility given the 228 disguises in the four novels and 56 stories starring Holmes that Conan Doyle penned. -- Christina Hardyment, The Times Over a period of several years, Timson has achieved a feat comparable with the BBC's dramatisations starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. As far as I am aware, he is the only reader to have tackled the entire Canon. And he has proved himself equal to the task. All of Conan Doyle's stories are represented in this 60 disc-set, providing nearly 73 hours of listening pleasure - which is an entirely accurate description of the set's contents. I'm happy to report that Timson's work is among the best curr

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