Charlie Milverton

A Modern Sherlock Holmes Story

By: Charlotte Anne Walters

Narrated by: Steve White

A modern reworking of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes story, Charles Augustus Milverton. Instead of the Victorian world of debutants and stolen love letters, we have a fallen tabloid editor capitalizing on the nation's thirst for celebrity gossip and threatening to expose a young pop star for a dalliance caught on a security camera.

On the advice of her security manager, ex-Scotland Yard detective Gareth Lestrade, Milverton's blackmail victim consults Sherlock Holmes. Irascible, difficult, eccentric but brilliant, Holmes brings the full weight of his intellect to bear on this new case despite the obstinacy of his opponent. And it all provides a very welcome distraction for his ex-flat mate John Watson, whose book about their adventures together had done little to rescue him from his midlife crisis. Or make his wife happy.

First story in a series of five modern Sherlock Holmes adventures based on original works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

©2014 Charlotte Anne Walters (P)2016 MX Publishing

A Chivalric Holmes Aids a Lady in Distress

I will confess that the original Arthur Conan Doyle, as told by Dr. Watson, "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," collected in THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, is unremembered from my tween reading of the stories of the Great Detective. It is now my habit to read the 'new' Holmes and to follow up with a reading of the 'old' Holmes. Charlotte Anne Walters has skillfully denuded Conan Doyle's narrative of its essential shaggy dog story while translating Watson's chronicle of events into the modern world of cellphones and laptops. Before writing this review, I read the original for comparison purposes.

Whether the late nineteenth century or early twenty-first, Holmes and Watson prove that chivalry is not dead. In the analog world of Holmes damning letters can prove socially ruinous. In modern London, paparazzi and security cameras replace the written word. In any era, the existence of venomous blackmailers is always the same. Their victims find themselves in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation where alerting the authorities will inevitably bring ruin.

In place of Victorian mores, Walters offers the subjugation of a woman to a viciously controlling man. He manages every detail of her life — he owns her body and soul. Can Holmes save the day?

The narrator, Steve White, was good but not great. I found myself missing some of his words. This flaw did not overly impact the story Charlotte Anne Walters wrote.

Another Holmes in the modern world story

This was better written than others I’ve read. Of course, you really must be a fan of Holmes and Watson to fully appreciate it, as the author simply gets right to the point, dumping us in medias res.

The reader did a solid job, and this is a nice “snack” of an audiobook. Try it!

modern day

A story of a rather creepy individual, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson find a way to help an old friend, Lastrade in modern day