The Forgotten Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Based on the Original Radio Plays by Anthony Boucher and Denis Green [Paperback]

H. Paul Jeffers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2005

Adapted from the original Sherlock Holmes radio broadcasts featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and penned by the talented Anthony Boucher, these new pastiches by H. Paul Jeffers are sure to thrill all lovers of the Holmes canon.

When radio broadcasts of Boucher's stories aired in the 1940s, Doyle fans were ecstatic. 221 A Baker Street Associates, with their discovery of the archive of these long-lost broadcasts, herewith presents the second volume of forgotten adventures featuring the Great Detective and his loyal companion, in tales certain to keep readers guessing until the final solution.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Those familiar with the classic 1940s Rathbone-Bruce radio series won't find a lot to like in this superfluous collection of adaptations by Jeffers (The Adventure of the Stalwart Companions, which teamed Sherlock Holmes with Teddy Roosevelt). Even without reading the scripts that Jeffers worked from, Sherlockians can readily see where he has padded the short radio plays, as in the first tale, "In Flanders Fields," which lifts passages from "His Last Bow" and other canonical adventures. He later repeatedly resorts to catalogues, such as a list of "memorable dogs encountered in Holmes's cases" (which, incidentally, doesn't rank the Hound of the Baskervilles in its top three). A better pasticheur, like a Denis Smith or a Barrie Roberts, would have taken the opportunity to flesh out the personalities of the beloved Baker Street duo, either via added scenes or insightful observations from Watson as narrator.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (September 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786715871
• ISBN-13: 978-0786715879
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,251,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Back to the days of OTR!, January 10, 2006

By 

Darkendale "Raven" (VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Forgotten Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Based on the Original Radio Plays by Anthony Boucher and Denis Green (Paperback)

This book is not bad at all, and entirely true to the OTR shows, some of which I have on cassette tape. The one star ding is for the fact that the show did not really come up to the "Canon" in my humble opinion. Dr. Watson was portrayed too often as a bungling idiot, which he was not, of course. Otherwise the plots are great, the stories exciting, and quite well-written as well. Quoth the Raven...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite as good as hoped for., January 11, 2006

By 

Dr. Fred R. Eichelman "arous" (Salem,, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Forgotten Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Based on the Original Radio Plays by Anthony Boucher and Denis Green (Paperback)

Given the record of H. Paul Jeffers, 75 books listed on Amazon alone, and the brilliance of Anthony Boucher and Denis Green I expected this to be a mind blowing reading experience. Though I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes fiction, I bought this on the basis of the name of Anthony Boucher. The best part of the book was the introductory and foreward background given to the old radio shows covering the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This is where many of us my age were first introduced to the great detective. The book covers thirteen stories written by Boucher who planned the plot lines and another excellent writer, Denis Green who wrote the dialogue. Jeffers turns the scripts into short stories that average 20 pages each. He does not do as good a job that other writers have in turning scripts into short stories or novels. I measure this kind of writing by the standards set by James Blish who turned the classic Star Trek scripts into brilliant short stories. Jeffers fleshes some of the scripts out just right, but for the most part he spends too much time with Watson nattering on about past cases, sometimes repeating cases needlessly. I can't recall if Watson did this on the radio, but it is not necessary in such a short series of stories. The forward and introduction make this a worthwhile buy for those who loved the radio show and are Sherlock Holmes fans. The rest of the book may be a let down to some long time fans. It is a shame that Jeffers didn't use less scripts and really flesh them out to novelette size.