Two Tales from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The New Catacomb, The Beetle-Hunter

Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by Simon Vance

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction. Here are two of his best stories, The New Catacomb and The Beetle-Hunter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Listen & Live Audio
• Release date: May 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9781593165833

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He is the creator of the Sherlock Holmes character, writing his debut appearance in A Study in Scarlet. Doyle wrote notable books in the fantasy and science fiction genres, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels.

Reviews for Two Tales from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My introduction to Sherlock Holmes. I fell in love. So nice to have most of the stories all to hand, no waiting to find the next book. The illustrations in this are great too.

[felius_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's Sherlock Holmes! How can you go wrong. For some reason I've always preferred the short stories, and with this book you have them all at easy reach. The novels are included as well though, of course.

[liivin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved every story. A very addictive read.

[knsievert · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had a hard time figuring out a rating for this first volume, because I really disliked the first two novels (weird Mormon tangent, anyone?), felt indifferent about a few more, and loved some others (especially Hound of the Baskervilles). On average, my rating probably falls between 3.5 and 4.

[ldvoorberg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much more readable than I expected! The time period evokes Dickens, but the writing is so not Dickens.

The inconsistencies bugged me: Watson marries, then suddenly moves back with Holmes, moves out again, but no mention is ever made of his wife afterwards. Each set of stories engages a convenient spy/source for Holmes, but the gang or street kids in the first is my favourite.
Sometimes Holmes is just around when a mystery sorts itself out, sometimes he just noses into the right room or question, sometimes he gets shit lucky, sometimes he figures it out.

As short stories, they work -- read one or two an evening and you're good. Doyle obviously had a fascination with America and its wildness, as the landscape and dark characters factor in occasionally. Women are spineless and ridiculous, except for Irene Adler. I wish she had been recurring.

At least I can finally say I've read Sherlock Holmes. (But I don't advise this edition: for the page count it gives me, I'm not done justice! 8pt font, 8x11 size pages! It's like reading the Bible cover to cover.

[carceneaux_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Greatest book ever! The entire collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in chronological order in one volume. What more is there to say. Everyone should read about the greatest detective.

[rosenstern · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Conan Doyle's intellect never ceases to amaze me. Every time I pick up a Holmes' story, I am shocked. It's like watching Criminal Minds play out in the nineteenth century. Detective/ Crime novella fans these books are for you guys. Doyle knows his stuff.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Although some of these tales may be more appealing than others, there is much to enjoy in this audio version of the complete Sherlock Holmes. Whether or not you are a Holmes fan, this collection should not be missed. The extraordinary performance of Simon Vance only adds to its pleasure.

[15louisn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the complete adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a “consultant” detective, with an amazing power of deduction, and his roommate at 221B, Baker Street, Dr. John Watsons they travel across England to solve cases that has left the Police clueless. Nowadays, Sherlock Holmes is a name known to everyone. I liked this book for Sherlock’s eccentric behavior, and Watson’s cluelessness about what Sherlock thinks. Conan Doyle is a very good author, who puts himself well into the skin of Watson to tell the amazing stories of his two protagonists and how they fight crime and Sherlock’s archenemy, Moriarty.

[page.fault · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sherlock Holmes started out as Doyle's steady-money potboilers, a series of stories ground out in exchange for a paycheck. But they caught the public imagination, and Holmes' fame grew until he became the best-known fictional detective out there. Countless remakes, pastiches, parodies, and retellings later, Holmes has finally made it into a rather unique position: he is currently featured as an action hero in several TV shows and quite a few movies, and yet on the polar opposite of the snobbery spectrum, he is Literature--I even took a college course where he was included on the syllabus. With all of the revamps and remakes and recharacterizations, it's easy to forget about the original character. With all of the analysis and study of symbolism and historiography, it's easy to forget what Sherlock Holmes is really all about: a set of rattling good yarns.

Whatever your literary polarity, Sherlock Holmes is a worthwhile read. The stories themselves are fun and the writing style is surprisingly contemporary for the time period: lots of snappy and often hilarious dialogue, a humorous first person narrator, and quite a lot of action. I haven't seen--and have no intention of seeing--the various remakes of Holmes, but I'm not convinced they captured the characters. Watson also always seems to lose out in the remakes--in the books, he is a bit stolid, but certainly not a buffoon. Holmes's complex and quirky personality is perhaps one of the reasons that his stories captured the public imagination. He is not a lovelorn superhero; rather, he is a somewhat sociopathic, drug-addicted, lonely misanthrope. At the same time, he is very different from the cold and uptight Brett from the old movies--he has a completely wacky sense of humour, an obsession with disguise, and a tendency to jump into action, his trusty revolver at the ready. His personality is rather static--possibly one reason why Doyle tried so hard to make that drop off Reichenbach Falls fatal. I believe that he is the prototype for a massive collection of later detectives from Alleyn to Poirot to Qwilleran in which the detective acts as the single fixed frame for an everchanging cast of characters.

Plotwise, the stories may not be brilliant, but they are a lot of fun. They also precede the times when detective stories necessarily required a murder--almost all of the stories function without dead-body-driven action. Holmes' adventures range from a mysteriously disappearing league apparently set up to benefit redheads to a treasure hunt for a hidden chamber to a run-in with the KKK to frolics with supernaturally glowing hounds.

If you're reading for fun, I suggest The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a set of some of the earlier short stories. Holmes' adventures technically begin with the novel, A Study in Scarlet, but I think Holmes functions better in his short stories--more wackiness and variety. Adventures also contains the famous run-in with Irene Adler. If you're searching for Moriarty--who, by the way, is only even mentioned in a handful of stories--then he's in Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, which also contains the story "Silver Blaze," where Holmes utters his famous line about the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. (But the dog did nothing in the night-time! Yes, that was the curious incident.) If you're reading for historical analysis, take a look at The Valley of Fear, which is nominally a Holmes story, but is really about violent secret societies in the US--interesting from a historiographical perspective.

So if you are interested in the history of mystery, or you're a fan of one of the various Sherlock enterprises, from the new show to House, take a look at the original. You'll enjoy it.

[catherine_gv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's SOO GOOD. I had read two Sherlock Holmes stories while a kid and recently, I decided to read them ALL.. I love Sherlock Holmes SO MUCH :D! It just draws me in! :D

[tadad_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The novels and short stories are of somewhat uneven quality but, come on, there's a reason why Doyle was forced by the reading public to resurrect Holmes from death...it's a lot of fun!

[reading_fox · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

All the short stories and the novels together in one book. Reading the short stories its quickly apparent that Holmes is not that clever in most of them. He often intreprets on or two "facts" and the remainder of the story is a long and often dull narrative from the other person involved. It is of course all told from Watson's POV, but even he can't add much levity to the situation. The novels are better, and some of the short stories much better than others.

[dgbnumber1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Engrossing. I like the fact that these are short and they're engrossing.

[kalessinastarno · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More like a 4.5 stars.
I really like the stories, but in some points I'm too modern for them. The conviction that the looks of people and their features say something about their character is foreign to me and somehow weird.

[lycomayflower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Sign of Four: I'm afraid that this entry in the Holmes canon left me fairly cold, apart from the moments between Watson and Mary Morstan, which were rather nice (if a bit twee), and Holmes's deduction regarding Watson's pocket watch, which is brilliant (and the origin of the scene in Sherlock with John's cell phone, obviously). 26 Jan 2012A Study in Scarlet: The first Sherlock Holmes story, which I was inspired to read by my recent rewatch of the brilliant first series of the BBC show Sherlock. I think I may have read the first part of ASiS before but never finished, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if I had, as the story veers off into a flashback which sets up the conclusion of the mystery but takes us away from England, Watson, and Sherlock. Even though I figured out why we were flashing back pretty quick and the flashback works reasonably well, I found it fairly off-putting. It seems an odd move, to set up one's main characters, to lay out the mystery, to have the detective declare the case solved and himself open to questions, and then move into a completely different time, a completely different setting, a completely different cast of characters (at least at first). It rather steals the thing from Sherlock, too. I'm conscious of this being an after-the-fact, not-entirely-fair-to-the-story-itself complaint; because I know who Sherlock Holmes is, because I've seen film versions, because he's entered the public consciousness, and particularly because I've come to the story directly from a retelling I really liked, I'm waiting to see magic--and I don't want to spend twenty-five of seventy pages of the story without Sherlock on the page. But even acknowledging that, I still wonder what Doyle's thinking was here.But ASiS does quite successfully make me want to read more Sherlock stories (I've read shockingly few--The Hound of the Baskervilles for sure at some point in the teenagerish years and a few of the shorter stories, perhaps right after Sherlock first aired here last year). And reading this story so soon after watching the Sherlock episode "A Study in Pink" illustrates how masterfully that show has adapted and updated the original material. I mean, I could tell that just watching it, but obviously actually looking at the original material shines a slightly different light on the thing. There were a few moments where I was tempted to watch the episode again with the book in my lap and make notes. It's that good. I haven't felt like that about an adaptation since The Lord of the Rings. (If you've been paying goodly attention over the years, you know that cleverly-done retellings button-smash the nerd-scholar bits of my brain but hard.) So while I don't think I'll be tearing through all 1122 pages of my copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes immediately, I don't think I'll be putting it back on the shelf just yet either. I may need to dip in again soon. 27 Dec 2011

[jmeisen_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While it is handy to have the entire Canon in one volume, this edition contains a plethora of errors, as well as failing to correct the awkwardness that ensued when Doyle moved "The Cardboard Box." If you can manage it, spring for the 12-volume Oxford edition -- also unlike this volume, the Oxford books are a convenient size for carrying and reading.

[elliots89 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Whilst reading these stories you can see why they became such classics. Arthur Conan Doyle really sets the scene wonderfully, with each story making the reader speculate as to how the crime was committed. In Sherlock, Doyle created a fascinating character which is why he has stood the test of time with many an adaptation.

[tarklovishki · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am one of the many that decided to take on this mammoth of a book after watching the BBC series Sherlock.

Sherlock Holmes is Arthur Conan Doyle's famous creation - a creation we all know the author would later come to despise.

Sherlock Holmes is blunt, crass and just plain rude, but because is a genius the people who come to him for help really just have to put up with it. He's an addict; several times in the book, in different stories, we see him taking cocaine much to the chagrin of his friend John Watson.

One of my main gripes about this book though is Mary. She just disappears without warning halfway through! Only when I finished the book and researched what happened to Mary Morstan did I realise she had an off-screen death that prompted John to move back in with Sherlock. And then we don't even see John upset by this. His wife just died and he's all "Meh" about it.

Ah, true love in the Victorian Era. How quaint.

[lightparade · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful, wonderful. But only two stars, because the teeny-tiny typeface and the vast number of pages render it practically unreadable. Time to start preparing for my retirement and buying up some Folio editions.

[lauraodom-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just spent the last three weeks reading the complete works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle relating to his famous character, Sherlock Holmes. Three. Weeks. It occurred to me that non-readers or not-very-fast readers may feel as I did when they read a regular novel… am I ever going to be finished with this book? But it was definitely worth the three weeks of my time to have read the 4 novels and 56 short stories contained within. In fact, it made me kind of sad to finish the last story… to know that there is no more of the original tales of Sherlock and Dr. Watson out there for me to read.

It was so refreshing to be back in my element of classic literature, not worrying about coming across f-bombs and other forms of vulgarity in the pages. The writing is witty and smart, the characters fascinating, and the stories engaging. They make you think. Toward the end of the 56 short stories, I must admit that the beginnings of the stories all seemed the same, but I suppose that must be forgiven, since some of them at least were originally released as part of a regular magazine publication, and were in need of supplying a slight background for the new reader. Overall, I would characterize the stories as creatively brilliant.

I must admit, I love all things Sherlock Holmes, and it’s surprising to me that I hadn’t read more of the original stories before now. I think I remember reading a short story or two in middle school, but other than that, I had read none of these original works. My husband and I enjoy watching deductive reasoning shows. We watched and enjoyed both recent Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr. We loved the first two seasons of the BBC series “Sherlock” and are anxiously awaiting the third series. I must admit, as I was reading the book, the actors from this series were who I pictured most, even though we’ve also began watching the newest spin on the Sherlock stories, the CBS series “Elementary” (Also good – I love Watson as a woman).

As usual, however, the old standby of the book being better than the movie still applies. Nothing engages the mind quite like a book, and this one (or ones, as it’s a compilation) is definitely mind-engaging and well worth the read. 5 of 5 stars.

[ladyblakney · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Why do I like Sherlock Holmes? Let me quote Dr. Watson: These stories "give the prefrence to those cases which derive their interest not so much from the brutality of the crime as from the ingenuity and dramatic quality of the solution." This make a welcome change from the many blood thirsty books and movies out there. Yet many of the Holmes stories are thrillers. Perfect reading for a dark and stormy night.

[razinha-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

There are a two reasons this took me 2.5 years to read. One is that it is nine books bundled - four novels and five collections, though I only get "credit" for one.The other is that Doyle waned tedious so much! Oh My Flying Spaghetti Monster! The repetition was aggravating; the hat/rabbit pulling of unknown to the reader "clues" maddening; the plodding narratives numbing.For me, Holmes is the rare case (accidental pun not intended) of interpretations being orders of magnitude better than the book(s). Even Guy Ritchie's pugilistic Homes in lieu of intellect is better than Doyle's.This is my assessment. Fans can and will cry foul all they want.I'll sum this complete collection in one word: soporific.

[renz0808 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

These stories are such classics. This is the first time I have ever read all of the stories myself. I knew most of the basic details and had seen some of the mini-series but the books are much better. I love trying to solve the case along with Holmes and Watson and I am always amazed by the ability of Holmes to take a minute detail and shape it into a character development. Not only are the mysteries spectacular but the adventures are exciting and the period details descriptions of clothing, modes of transportation and a simple thing like lunch make the book a true classic. It is easy to see why Sherlock Holmes is considered the greatest detective of all time.

[little_girl_blue · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent stories. If you enjoy mystery, then Doyle's Holmes is a must. Be transported back to London in the days of horse and buggy. Superior style and prose, plus masterful characterization, and plots that will have you up reading past your bedtime!

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I purchased a gorgeous copy of the Complete Sherlock Holmes which included some nicely done vintage illustrations along with the most AMAZING narration performed by Simon Vance. I didn't read the entire book all at once, but savored the stories, interspersing them with other books. What a joy! I can see why Sherlock Holmes has become part of our culture with movies, TV shows, and the dozens of newly released mystery books that include him as a character. My biggest surprise was reading some of the novellas and seeing Arthur Conan Doyle's skill in describing a scene, or characters outside of the typical London mysteries. Great experience!

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a massive omnibus so I will be reviewing the bits as I finish them. (I have read one or two of the short story collections before - everything else should be fairly new.)

A Study in Scarlet:

I knew the bones of the mystery already - it's been riffed on so many times it's impossible not to. But I was struck by first, how charming the introduction of Our Heroes is, and secondly how wacky the random Western stuck in the middle seemed. I would have found it more charming if I had any patience right now for sinister Mormons and the caricatured portrayals thereof.

The Sign of the Four:

Similarly, this mystery is centered around discovering what happened in far-off exotic places that came home to roost. It feels more slight than A Study in Scarlet and there's a degree of period-standard racism than makes me flinch, but Watson and Holmes remain entertaining.

The Hound of the Baskervilles:

A pure English countryside mystery. Holmes is really kind of a dick to Watson, but one can't argue too much with success, and of course Watson doesn't. Definitely one of those where the reader really can't jump ahead too much, because the solution is dependent on clues we just don't get until the end. I don't mind that too much, but I know it infuriates some people.

The Valley of Fear:

Again a local mystery bracketed around an Exciting Adventure in Foreign Parts. I find this device baffling, although the interstitial story was much better than the previous two examples. Introduces Moriarty in a distant sort of way.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes:

The short stories begin! This and the following volume I had read previously. I can definitely see why Holmes and Watson are such resilient characters - their relationship is delightful. The actual stories are pleasantly short, and I was satisfied that while I couldn't actually solve the mystery most of the time (the reader doesn't get enough info) I could usually see the shape of it, which made me anticipate the reveal more than I would have otherwise.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes:

Just as entertaining as the Adventures. The Final Problem was one I'd heard so much about that it seemed like I must have read it, but it was nice to actually do so. The stories don't stick in my head much - they're fairly slight - but fun and worth the read.

His Last Bow:

A few interesting variations - a story written in the third person, one written from Holmes' perspective - but otherwise more of the same.

The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes:

The joy does seem to have gone out by this point. Fairly rote, although reading for homoeroticism remains a delight.

Incidental note: This is a huge cheap edition that I picked up for a song. Wouldn't recommend it - heavy, unwieldy, and unlovely.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes, with a sympathetic introduction by Christopher Morley and without some of the sillier notes in some other editions. It is Holmes, all Homes, and nothing but Holmes. When I was young, my mother won a mystery quiz competition run by the Toledo (Ohio) Blade newspaper for which the prize was one mystery book. My brother and I asked her to request this, and she did. Before this, I had had a book with a selection of Holmes stories, and I may have seen a few others elsewhere,but I had not had access to the entire set. For many years, this was the Holmes volume for our family.

[tjwilson_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I would have left Sherlock Holmes on better grounds if I had read a selected collections book instead of the entirety of the works. There are some great concoctions in here, but I think, in this case, the inspirations that followed are much better realizations than, sadly, the original.

[heptonj · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One cannot get away from the fact that Holmes is a true classic which captivates the attention every time it is read (one never tires of these stories). I can't help but feel that if I lived in the right era I would have been right alongside those who objected to the detectives 'death' and insisted he be re-animated! I have seen many different film/TV adaptations and read untold books on Sherlock Holmes and his very appropriate down-to-earth side-kick Dr. Watson and hope to continue for many years. These stories will never enter obscurity.