The Valley of Fear

By: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by: John Bolen

Only Holmes and Watson can get to the bottom of this baffling murder mystery. John Douglas is found in his study, blasted faceless by a sawed-off shotgun. There is no obvious motive or suspect. Douglas and his wife, Ivy, a rich and locally popular couple, have lived for years in the ancient, moated Birlstone Manor House. Despite Douglas' nightly ritual of raising the drawbridge, the perpetrator had somehow concealed himself, shot Douglas, and made a clean getaway.

Does the mystery have something to do with the "interesting" relationship between Cecil Baker, Douglas' only friend from his obscure past, and the surprisingly merry widow? There are plenty of clues, including a brand mark on the deceased's arm and the fact that his wedding ring is missing, but not the ring that he always wore above it.

Public Domain (P)2002 Tantor Media, Inc.

Sherlock never disappoints!

Like any book with this fascinating detective, you are led through a web of scandal that Holmes unfolds for the reader. The narrator has a good voice for this book as well.

I couldn’t finish it

The narrator was so terrible, I stopped listening to it after the fifth chapter. I couldn’t finish it. That’s what I get for not listening to the sample first. That’s what I get for downloading a free download. I really downloaded the version read by Derek Jacobi. Hopefully it will prove to be better.

Sherlock Holmes!

I liked the narrator and storyline. It was an interesting book and I enjoyed it immensely.

It’s Sherlock!

Of course the story is great but the narration is not so great. Characters were stiff. The character of mcginty was very poorly acted.

Sometimes the narrator is enough

Struggling to finish this. I have started over numerous times. The good news is the narrator and pace is pleasant; I play audible on this one instead of listening to tv. Today, I begin to listen to the story again. Like the old joke, there must be a pony in there.

Of Course It Was Good.

It's Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Of course it's good. The language is a bit dated, but the setting is 1875, so whether that's deliberate or incidental, it's appropriate. The narrator has a great number of characters to distinguish from each other by manner of speech, and he gives it a valiant go, but his "American" accents are as funny to this American as I suspect our attempts at British and Irish are to natives of those lands. In particular, the German girl seems to slide slowly into her German accent as an afterthought, as if the narrator remembered halfway through her lines that she should have one, and thought, "Oh what the heck, no one will notice." But with so many different people to do, I can't really fault him, and it in no way detracts from the storyline.

The Valley of Fear

I wanted to like this book, but the read was not done well and often pulled me out of the story. The accents were mediocre and the narrator’s pace was too fast. Perhaps had the narrator been better at his craft, the story would have been more interesting.

Part One was fairly enjoyable, but Part Two was disappointing. Without Holmes and Watson it was a dull tale. The surprise ending could not save this book.

So many other narrators to choose from!

Very disappointing narration cut this production short. The story still holds it’s historical literary place.

Pick a different version

Great story but the narrator sounds like a he is auditioning for an acting part and it winds up on bloopers track at the end of a movie. Had to find another version.

Automatic computer reader would be better

What disappointed you about The Valley of Fear?

The reader mispronounces words, and does so in a fake English accent. It was too excruciating to listen to for more than a few minutes. I am glad this was discounted. It's very disappointing; I am new to Audible and listened to the phenomenal Branagh read of Heart of Darkness and excellent Kent read of Island of Dr. Moreau and am now being surprised by some very flat, and in this case unlistenable-to, audible book. I picked up a number of others at low cost that are read by the same reader;these were cheap, and maybe he does not add the fake English accent in the other books; guess I will see.