Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Whose portrays the best Sherlock Holmes?


Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years is now available as an audiobook. A great new voice talent, Richard Di Britannia, produces one of the best “Holmes voices” I have ever heard. But, more than this, Richard’s dramatic range, and versatility, breathes new life into the five-part saga that boasts over seventy characters.

Audible, who publishes the audiobook has selected a sample. And, while not the most action-backed sample segment, it does offer the opportunity to hear Richard’s marvelous voice:

This story sample comes from the third story in the collection, The Maestro of Mysteries. It describes a meeting between Holmes and Miss Irene Adler that eventually leads to her joining in the chase for the diabolical Ciarán Malastier who haunts all five stories.

Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years audiobook is available on AMAZON.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Sherlock Holmes and the Suffragettes


Sherlock Holmes’s relationship with the ladies has always been a point of curiosity for fans. He has always shown respect for certain feminine weaknesses and, at the same time he was slow to embrace female strengths.  His lifestyle and work enabled him to walk this line. However, in Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years, he could not help but confront some formidable ladies in the streets, as the suffrage movement was in full swing in 1913.  With a major election cycle underway in the United States, I thought a post about women’s suffrage was appropriate -- particularly as the women’s vote will be so critical in the coming presidential election.


While the women’s suffrage movement in the United Kingdom began about 1872, with the formation of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage, it didn’t make the daily headlines until the early 1900’s when the movement became more militant and violent.

WWI caused a temporary halt to suffrage activity and, in 1918, the Representation of the Peoples Act granted women limited voting rights. However, it wasn’t until 1928 when all women in Britain gained full voting rights. Women in the U.S. gained the right to vote eight years earlier, in 1920.

One of the key figures in Britain’s suffrage movement was Emmeline Pankhurst, who is one of several infamous historical characters that can be found in Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years.

In the Curse of the Black Feather, Holmes and Watson meet Emmeline Pankhurst at a party where Watson has the dubious honour of escorting her to dinner.  Holmes, however, had a much more fascinating dinner partner that evening – Irene Adler, “the woman” who mysteriously reappears his life and haunts him in all five of the stories in this 345-page collection.

In Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years the reader gets all the mystery and magic of Holmes at his best, interesting real-life historical characters, and a rich and highly accurate historical background, all of which adds great depth to the stories. Available at AMAZON as soft cover, Kindle and audiobook.

Would that Holmes could take the mystery out of the U.S. Presidential Election.

Saturday, June 4, 2016

A New Voice for Sherlock Holmes


Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years will soon be available as an audiobook. A great new voice talent, Richard Di Britannia, has brought his amazing skills to bear. He not only produces one of the best “Holmes voices” I have ever heard, but shows his range and versatility as he interprets over 70 characters in the book.

Below is a sample taken from the first story in the collection -- A Bonnie Bag of Bones:

In this saga, the infamous duo is led on a not-so-merry chase into the mythical mountains of Scotland, and ultimately to the “the woman” who is tangled within a mystery that has haunted Holmes for a quarter century.

In the clip below, Watson has just arrived at Holmes’s retirement cottage in Sussex Downs after receiving a terse telegram from Holmes that chided him for a recent mythological story he published about a creature call the Grey Man of Ben Macdhui.

CLICK on the screen above to hear Richard Di Britiannia interpretation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in a post-retirement conversation.

As soon as the 10-1/2 hour audiobook is out, information and links will be posted. If you are interested in a hard copy version of this collection of stories, you can buy it on AMAZON and most other bookstores.