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The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
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The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
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Summary
In this charming, witty, and weird fantasy novel, Alexis Hall pays homage to Sherlock Holmes with a new twist on those renowned characters.
Upon returning to the city of Khelathra-Ven after five years fighting a war in another universe, Captain John Wyndham finds himself looking for somewhere to live, and expediency forces him to take lodgings at 221b Martyrs Walk. His new housemate is Miss Shaharazad Haas, a consulting sorceress of mercurial temperament and dark reputation.
When Miss Haas is enlisted to solve a case of blackmail against one of her former lovers, Miss Eirene Viola, Captain Wyndham finds himself drawn into a mystery that leads him from the salons of the literary set to the drowned back-alleys of Ven and even to a prison cell in lost Carcosa. Along the way he is beset by criminals, menaced by pirates, molested by vampires, almost devoured by mad gods, and called upon to punch a shark.
But the further the companions go in pursuit of the elusive blackmailer, the more impossible the case appears. Then again, in Khelathra-Ven reality is flexible, and the impossible is Miss Haas' stock-in-trade.
Critic reviews
“I really enjoyed this book. It was absolutely delightful, like a chocolate box, full of unexpected and brilliant references, sparklingly witty.” (Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library)
“The Mysterious Affair of the Letter is a witty, enjoyable, extravagantly imagined slant on the Sherlock Holmes canon. Hall nails the Holmesian aesthetic in marvelously amusing ways while taking us on an extended romp through a wild range of alternate universes with a bizarre cast of characters. Don't miss this fun, queer, clever intrigue!” (Malka Older, author of Infomocracy)
"I haven’t been so enchanted and delighted by a book in years. It’s like the literary equivalent of being wrapped in a blanket and being driven in a horse drawn carriage through a magical park filled with the most amazing things happening all around and feeling safe and loved all the way through. A sheer delight from start to finish and the most perfect blend of gentle humour, wild creativity and love for the feel of Sherlock Holmes." (Emma Newman, author of Atlas Alone)
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What listeners say about The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- LibraryDragon
- 17-01-20
Sheer delight, and outstanding narration!
I listened to this over a couple of weeks as I drove back and forth to work. I expect the other people in the traffic jams were slightly surprised and discomfited to see me laughing out loud on a regular basis. I loved this book, and Nicholas Boulton's superb narration brought clarity and gravity to this delightfully insane caper, bringing it vividly to life. Besides Captain Wyndham and Miss Haas, I grew very fond of Lawson, the long-suffering policeman. Before I finished this book, I had already downloaded two other books by this author and narrator.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- BevS
- 02-04-22
Great performance from Nicholas...🥳🥳🥳
What a brilliant audio narration from Nicholas Boulton...yet again!! He really did justice to this story [even though to me it seemed to lag slightly in the middle], and was well worth listening to. I defy anyone to actually guess who the culprit was. Nicholas' mastery of accents, nuances, humour and the spoken word itself was just marvellous.
Of course, Miss Shaharazad Haas was my favourite character...so droll, so sarcastic, so utterly fantastic. Alexis' take on the Sherlock Holmes stories was superb, and his John Watson [actually a trans character named John Wyndham] was prim, proper and completely deserving of another chance to solve mysteries with his housemate. The world building was superb, with some very weird and wonderful characters and creatures, but for me, Nicholas Boulton deserves all the plaudits for his outstanding work. 4.5 stars for the story, 5 shiny stars for the narration.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Musebeliever
- 25-04-20
Outstandingly witty and enjoyable
This is a lovely take on Sherlock Holmes with extravagant characters, twisted plotlines and delightful characters. The style is exquisite. I hope there will be another book!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- paul sparks
- 19-07-19
Absolutely outstanding 😀
Words can’t describe my utter joy when I was listening to this book, the story of what is essentially Holmes & Watson but set in universe(s) so vastly different is beautifully narrated and the world that Alexis Hall crafted is brought to life in a funny and quite endearing way, I really hope that there will be more books featuring these characters because I would be buying them immediately
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr Frazer S Braddock
- 07-03-20
Imaginative, whimsical - more please!
An excellent nod to all things Sherlock while being as far removed as one could imagine. This is a truly fantastic and fantastical book that I couldn’t (figuratively out down) - just buy it, there’s not much more to say because it’s hard to compare this book to any contemporary. The narration too by Nick Boulton is sublime. Good as the book is, I feel as a narrated book, it simply wouldn’t work without the richness of reading, accents and poise that NB brings to all his readings
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Richard
- 01-02-20
Most amusing
Well what a rediculous tale of irrational nonsense and ludicrous falsehoods. Quite marvelous I thought
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- elly gausden
- 28-07-20
Clever, rather than great
Great reader. Brilliant in fact. But the story dragged for me. It's clever in the literary references it picks up and parodies, but the story itself just went on too long.
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