Sherlock Holmes: Three Tales of Avarice

 By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Libby audiobook 3 hours

read by Edward Hardwicke

Published: 2006 (this version)

Genre: Detective Mystery

This audio contained "The Adventure of the Priory School," "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League," and "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle."I had read the latter two stories before. Hardwicke does an excellent job vocalizing these stories.

 

The Priory School story was weird. A baron's son has been kidnapped from his boarding school. The school master is super upset but dad wants to keep everything low key. Bicycle clues, a dead teacher, and the spoiled illegitimate son make this an unpleasant story.

"Red Headed League" was fun. I vaguely remembered the story but forgot about the bank robbery attempt. It would be maddening to try to work with Holmes when he has intel / insights that he doesn't share!

I didn't remember the "Blue Carbuncle" from the title, but I immediately recognized it from the goose! I like Holmes' deductions from the hat and the trail he traced to find where the goose had been. (Yes, I thought about "wild goose chases.") 

 

How does a precious stone get called a "carbuncle" - that sounds like a barnacle! I like that Holmes refers to it as a "forty grain weight of crystallized charcoal." He refers to its "sinister history" and recounts the crimes and deaths connected to it. (Top dictionary.com result for "carbuncle" is "A group of pus-filled bumps forming a connected area of infection under the skin.")