In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birth, AudioFile spoke with narrators of his Sherlock Holmes stories. Sherlock Holmes is a perennial favorite, and the audio format offers a vast number of listening choices, with new releases appearing regularly. — 2009

Talking recently with Washington, DC, actor Ralph Cosham, we solved an audiobook mystery. Ralph, a narrator with dozens of fine performances of British classics including THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS and THE TIME MACHINE, also records as Geoffrey Howard, whose long audiography of titles includes Simon Brett mysteries, C.S. Forester adventures, and works by C.S. Lewis. Ralph, as Cosham or Howard, has performed more than 100 audiobooks while keeping an active stage career in regional theater. Changing careers from British journalist to actor in the 1970s, Ralph has been recording for nearly 15 years. His performance of Colm Tóibín’s THE MASTER, a novel of Henry James’s life, gets special attention in our review—“without a false note.” Ralph also mentions two recent favorites—TALES OF THE ALHAMBRA and, upcoming, THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL.

Ralph Cosham, photo by Grover Gardner

Ralph Cosham

Listen as Ralph Cosham speaks about his "affinity for Dr. Watson" as a storyteller and gives us a taste of his reading of THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

Listen - Time: 6:26