Showing results by narrator "Peter Egan" in All Categories

Dining alone in an elegant Parisian brasserie, accountant Daniel Mercier can hardly believe his eyes when President François Mitterrand sits down to eat at the table next to him. After the presidential party has gone, Daniel discovers that Mitterrand’s black felt hat has been left behind. After a few moments’ soul-searching, Daniel decides to keep the hat as a souvenir of an extraordinary evening. It’s a perfect fit, and as he leaves the restaurant Daniel begins to feel somehow...different.

It is strange to consider that, although The Hound Of The Baskervilles is Conan Doyle’s most popular novel, his hero is absent for much of the time. Notice how he sets up an atmosphere of supernatural horror right from the start through Dr Mortimer’s reading of the ancient curse, and how he then presents as assortment of bizarre clues – in particular, the riddle of the missing boots – which Holmes will have to unravel.

It is the 1980s, and Stamford Holmes is still living in the shadow of his famous grandfather. Languidly living on Sherlock's fortune, he reluctantly agrees to do some work as a consulting detective - if only to provide 'Doctor' Watson with material for the Sunday papers. Watson, on the other hand, brings all the bumbling enthusiasm he can muster to their new cases, forever aping and quoting both their grandfathers - and wielding a magnifying glass.