The Affair of the Christmas Jewel

By: Barry Roberts

Narrated by: David Ian Davies

Flagged down by Inspector LaStrade of Scotland Yard as they walk through the icy winter streets, Holmes and Watson are transported to the home of the aristocratic Lady Whitebread. Once there, she tells them her traditional holiday centerpiece has vanished in the midst of the Christmas dinner - right under the very noses of her guests. The decoration? An enormous work of the jeweler's art centered upon a three inch round emerald called...the Christmas Jewel.©2002 Barry Roberts (P)2009 One Voice Recordings

Critic reviews

"The most incredible one-person audio you have heard. Has to be heard to be believed. David Ian Davies creates theatre in a book." (Charles Prepolec, one of the most respected Sherlockians)

A Great Listen for the holidays

Stumbled upon this one while looking for a short and sweet audio. This fit the bill and I love a good Sherlock mystery for sure.

The epic duo is flagged down by an Inspector who needs help with an aristocratic mystery. Lady Whitebread was hosting a party for the holiday. Her jewel that was donning the holiday table was snatched in front of everyone and she needs help finding it and figuring out who did it at her party.

This was short and fun. A nice little mystery of whodunit and where the jewel is. For sure recommend this if you want an Xmas mystery. It's only about 30 mins long.

Ooooo Lady Whitebread...your name is lame BUT I adored you. Thanks to her and her smart actions she made the job for Sherlock a hair easier. Still a lot of people who had motive and opportunity to steal the priceless jewel.

The narrator was fun. His voice for Lady Whitebread was scary good. It didn't even sound like him. Bravo sir!

In the end, this filled the need I needed. I wanted a quick and fun xmas story. Even better that it was with our epic duo. 5 stars.

Good short tale

Good story, predictable, but a good listen. Some of the acoustics were weird, like when one of the characters sounded like she was speaking in a tin tunnel, but not too distracting. However, overall, a fun Holmes like tale.

Narration Great, Story Average

What did you like best about The Affair of the Christmas Jewel? What did you like least?

I very much like the narration of David Ian Davies. The contrast between his voices for Watson & Holmes has always stood out for me. In a bit of a side note, he is able to do high pitched voices without losing the clarity of the words.

What was most disappointing about Barry Roberts’s story?

The story had a good premise but it was way too easy to spot the culprit, even early on.

What about David Ian Davies’s performance did you like?

See answer to first question.

Could you see The Affair of the Christmas Jewel being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No.

Ok story, poor narration

The story was OK but wasn't one of the best Sherlock adventures I've read. The narrator sounded like he was talking in can, and his voices were not that different. Probably petty, but I got tired of hearing about "Lady White Bread" too. Still, it is a quick story to listen to at Christmas.

A fun new Sherlock Holmes story

It's always nice to find another Sherlock Homes story. The characters fit well with the original ones unlike some newer tv versions. I think Homes fans want more Homes not a different one. I hope Mr Roberts will write some more for us.

Mr Davies narration was over the top, giving each character a different voice, which is quite a talent! Some of the narrators just read without expression; I get nervous and quit listening. With different voices and styles for each character it grabs your attention even without visuals. This is why radio shows were quite popular in their day.

Holmes short stories are always entertaining.

Lovely short Christmas story; quite enjoyable. So pleased to have found it during the holiday season.

brilliant but pace was too fast

I enjoyed all the accents and voices! I wish we could redo the recording and slow it down by 25%. well done!

Entertaining

Enjoyed this story, narration was great, I could visualize the jewel and listened to it a couple of times.

A Tidy Little Tale

Barry Robert's wrote a short, too short in my opinion, entry in the post-Canon collection of Sherlock Holmes pastiches. The story was neat and tidy, but will never rival the original Christmas jewel robbery story known as "The Blue Carbuncle."

I wish that the author had fleshed this story out a bit more for it moves too rapidly for my taste. However, I can find no fault in it.

David Ian Davies once again shines as he reads all parts quite convincingly, which is difficult since he plays several characters seamlessly.

A nice little story and one I am pleased to recommend.

Enjoy Sherlock at Christmas!

A brief yet entertaining tale with the spirit of the season. Everyone needs a second chance in life—some more than once. Love covers a multitude of sins. 🎅🏻❤️