Showing results by narrator "David Ian Davies" in All Categories

The fifth story from Doyle's Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ( The Strand magazine, 1893) reveals the roots of the detective's foray into criminology and his very first case as a young college student, when the death of his school chum's father unearths a terrible, tragic series of events upon the high seas, of plotting and murder, of betrayal - and the man's long-hidden secrets of another life.

While still grieving over his great friend's death, Watson is stunned, relieved and joyful when Holmes suddenly appears and reveals that he has escaped an untimely end in that fatal struggle with his mortal enemy, Moriarty, at Reichenbach Falls. The criminal underworld suspects this, says Holmes, and Watson is drawn anew into Holmes's plot to deceive his enemies and foil a probable attempt upon his life.

The groom loses his bride 10 minutes after the wedding and Holmes must find her.

Mac's Restaurant - nobody calls it MacFarland's - is a mystery. It is off the beaten track. It is not smart. It does not advertise. It provides nothing nearer to an orchestra than a solitary piano, yet, with all these things against it, it is a success. In theatrical circles especially it holds a position which might turn the white lights of many a supper-palace green with envy.

Whose is the face at the upstairs window, "livid, deadly yellow, and with something set and rigid about it, which was shockingly unnatural?"

The excitement, adventure, and magical sense of time and place, outraying from the heart of Robert Louis Stevenson's 18th-century pirate tale, is captured in all its glory by actor David Ian Davies in this new One Voice Recordings release. Be swept away by the story of young Jim Hawkins, caught up in his journey to the Caribbean islands upon a ship with a memorable and explosive crew, and led by the cryptic map from a Dead Man's Chest.

Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate when the body of an Italian diplomat is discovered in the River Thames, his torso horrifically mutilated. Fearing the political repercussions - the diplomat being in London to initiate talks regarding a secret naval treaty between the two nations - the Government entrust Holmes with the delicate task of uncovering the truth behind the brutal murder. Events take a shocking turn, however, when a young solicitor is found slain in the East End, his body similarly mutilated.

A doctor hires out to a whaling vessel bound for the Arctic, where the ship becomes icebound. Strange moanings are soon heard on the Polar wind, and ghostly apparitions appear out on the ice. The ship's senior officers are convinced they have something to do with the captain's mysterious past, but who can say for sure, since he appears to be slowly going insane?

Sherlock Holmes first regards the experiences related by newly arrived visitor Violet Smith with a degree of impatience and disinterest. This solitary cyclist, however, is being shadowed by a mysterious man on a bicycle as she travels to and from her new employer's home as a music teacher. As Holmes and Watson investigate, a dark, dangerous picture begins to emerge that threatens the young lady's safety and ultimately her freedom.

As Dr. Watson commits to history in his journal, "... in reviewing my notes for the year 1890, I have come across a case that, while seeming at the outset to be one of the most mundane ever brought to him, had one of the most inexplicable endings that I have been privileged to record."

A stranger comes to town, lodging high in a dilapidated old building in New York. As he prepares for sleep, eerie sights and sounds build slowly and lead to the appearance of an enormous, sorrowful ghost.

Sherlock Holmes is at it again. Mrs. Warren, a London lodging-house keeper, comes to Holmes with a curious story of a reclusive and eccentric tenant. Mrs. Warren's husband has been abducted and then quickly released again, perhaps a case of mistaken identity. Holmes decides the case is more important than it appears.

In this brief yet eloquent story, the writer recounts his trip from Europe to California visit to an old friend, during which he hears a tapping on the wall to an adjoining apartment. With regret, his friend tells the story of his coldhearted, selfish denial of his love for a young lady.

Holmes and Watson arrive at Trinity college, summoned by an message that Cambridge Varsity rugby star Godfrey Staunton has disappeared after reading a note that has left him utterly stunned.

A holiday in the country after Holmes suffers an attack of nervous exhaustion develops into a crime investigation, and then one of the detective's cases. A family retainer has been murdered, but the points of evidence seem completey awry.

This lovely narrative tells the story of the soul of a quiet man who never hurt another human being, never complained even when he was hurt or humiliated by others, as it enters the Heavenly Court of Judgment. He has lived his entire life unnoticed, without heirs of possessions, and has been buried with no one to mourn his loss. But Heaven sees him much differently.

Kidnapped from his safe California home. Thrown into a life-death struggle in the frozen Arctic wilderness. Half St. Bernard, half Shepard, Buck learns many hard lessons as a sled dog: the lesson of the lash, of the cold, of near-starvation and cruelty. And the greatest lesson he learns from his last owner, John Thorton: the power of love and loyalty. Yet always, even at the side of the human he loves, Buck feels the pull in his bones, an urge to answer his wolf ancestors as they howl to him. Can Buck resist the lure of the wolves?

The Great Detective, by prominent Sherlock Holmes Society of London member Roger Johnson, offers the Holmesian another perspective on the beloved Canon. From a surrealist perspective, we find here a different and refreshing approach. We are transported to another time through the warmth of an English public house and immediately transfixed by the fascinating voices of those who contributed to the name Sherlock Holmes. This is a must listen for all those worshipers of the great detective.

Digging into his tin box of papers one day, Holmes recounts for Dr. Watson one of his earliest cases. In it, Holmes must decipher the ancient Musgrave Ritual to solve the mysterious disappearance of schoolmate Reginald Musgrave's butler and maid, after Musgrave terminates the butler for secretly reading the text of the ceremony.

When a mysterious female visitor leaves her hat with a message at the door of Mrs. Hudson, Holmes and Watson find themselves always one or more steps behind a thief who leaves intriguing messages and challenges the great detective, again and again, to apprehend her. Though the clues are there, they leave Holmes completely baffled.