The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Narrator: Cathy Dobson
Series: Sherlock Holmes
Published by Red Door Audiobooks on July 28, 2015 (first published 1921)
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 36 mins
Format: Audiobook
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It was pleasant for Dr. Watson to find himself once more in the untidy room of the first floor in Baker Street which had been the starting-point of so many remarkable adventures. He looked round him at the scientific charts upon the wall, the acid-charred bench of chemicals, the violin-case leaning in the corner, the coal-scuttle, which contained of old the pipes and tobacco. Finally, his eyes came round to the fresh and smiling face of Billy, the young but very wise and tactful page, who had helped a little to fill up the gap of loneliness and isolation which surrounded the saturnine figure of the great detective.
"It all seems very unchanged, Billy. You don't change, either. I hope the same can be said of him?"
I listened to The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone while I was folding and taping newsletters the other day. I always like Sherlock Holmes, but I didn’t love this one. First, he’s already solved who the culprit is before the story starts; he just needs to find the stolen diamond, he knows who the thief is. Second, he uses a trick that he’s used before and it’s a large part of the story in both instances, I’m not a fan of the repetition. And the whole story takes place in Holmes’ sitting room, which just isn’t terribly interesting.
I listed to an audiobook and the narration was okay overall, but sometimes I got a bit confused who was speaking. The reader had an accent that fit the story, but took a little while for me to get used to.
Overall, this is not one of my favorites of the Holmes stories, but it’s short and there’s a little bit at the end that redeems the story somewhat.
About Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was an Irish-Scots writer and physician, most noted for creating the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and writing stories about him which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.
He is also known for writing the fictional adventures of a second character he invented, Professor Challenger, and for popularising the mystery of the Mary Celeste. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.
[…] The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle […]
I have noticed the same thing with Doyle. He will come up with a mystery and story, then later on, write it again as a different story, but done up a little bit better.