My rating: 3 of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐
Duration: 6 hrs 13 mins.
The Cotswolds Werewolf and Other Stories of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of stories inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s greatest characters. The first 9 chapters (8 book chapters, but 9 ‘audible’ chapters) contain the main story, The Cotswolds Werewolf, with an assortment of shorter tales following it.
As someone who lives in the town where ACD is said to have created his famous detective, I love a good Sherlock story, and have heard many reinventions at our annual HolmesFest. Yet I am always nervous that they will not be true enough to such familiar characters, and will pale in comparison with the originals. This collection allayed my fears within the first few chapters, as it was a fairly convincing Holmes and Watson mystery with a nicely paced plot and enough twists, turns, and gothic horror to feel reasonably authentic. It borrowed a lot of imagery from The Hound of the Baskervilles, but not so much that it felt like it was a ‘rip off’.
Nigel Peever's narration was also excellent. He was engaging throughout and his lively characterisation made the story a pleasure to listen to. My favourite thing about the whole book was the voice he chose for his portrayal of Holmes, as he sounded like Tom Baker. The image of a Doctor-Who-era Baker as Sherlock Holmes enriched it greatly, and brought an element of fun to a great production.
The only element I felt was distracting was the overuse of the echoey sound effect that was applied to far more of the audio than it really needed to be, as it did pull me out of the story at times, but that is a relatively minor complaint, all things considered.
I’m looking forward to hearing more from Peter K. Andersson, especially in conjunction with the same narrator. They made a great team, and I’d really recommend it to anyone who loves Sherlock Holmes and longs for a few new adventures from our favourite, flawed detective and his loyal aide.
*I received this audiobook free of charge in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
(To buy this book, listen to a sample, or add it to your wishlist!)
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