Faced with the ups and downs of today’s uncertain world, I’ve been teleporting myself back into the 19th century. There I delight in the company of Charlotte, Enola, Mary, and Sherlock—all characters in mystery adaptations of the Holmes canon that divert, entertain, and fortify me. Come join in the fun. Do hurry, for the game is afoot!

As Edgar Award-winning author Laurie R. King’s Holmes/Russell books reveal, after 221B Baker Street, Holmes met and married an extraordinary young woman named Mary Russell. With eighteen books thus far, listeners can revel at length in their adventurous partnership. Golden Voice narrator Jenny Sterlin’s many Earphones Awards began with the couple’s accidental meeting on the Sussex Downs in the oh-so-good Book 1, THE BEEKEEPER’S APPRENTICE.  Sterlin shared an Earphones Award with co-narrator Susan Lyons in one of my favorites, Book 14, THE MURDER OF MARY RUSSELL, about housekeeper Mrs. Hudson’s shocking past.

The newest book, THE LANTERN’S DANCE, finds Russell and Holmes both evading and pursuing danger in the French countryside. Amy Scanlon, who has taken over from Sterlin, captivates with her own Earphones Award-winning performance. And there’s more! Book 19, THE KNAVE OF DIAMONDS, will be published on June 10.  Nancy Springer’s celebrated young adult series about Enola Holmes, Sherlock’s independent kid sister, has also been voiced by two excellent narrators. The late Katherine Kellgren, an AudioFile Golden Voice, got Enola’s escapades off to a terrific start in THE CASE OF THE MISSING MARQUESS, in which Enola must discover why her mother has disappeared. Kellgren’s Enola, spirited, aristocratic, and sometimes wistful, touches the heart while entertaining. 

Tamaryn Payne, who became the series narrator with Book 7, ENOLA HOLMES AND THE BLACK BAROUCHE, keeps those qualities and adds her own facility with regional accents. In Book 9, ENOLA HOLMES AND THE ELEGANT ESCAPADE, our heroine must rescue Lady Cecily Alastair from her family and from London’s mean streets. Payne’s appreciation of Enola’s wit and enthusiastic personality add to the listening pleasure.

The full-cast productions of Charles Kindinger’s audio-only reimagining of Holmes and his nemesis Moriarty are full of vibrant acting and atmospheric sound effects—all guaranteed to spirit you far away. MORIARTY: THE DEVIL’S GAME, presented as a 10-episode podcast, sets the scene. Moriarty, a misunderstood genius who says that he’s been framed for murder, breaks out of jail with his Scottish comrade. Played by Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, they’re quickly in conflict with Holmes and Watson, played by Phil LaMarr and Adam Godley. Book 2, MORIARTY: THE SILENT ORDER, brings back the stellar cast and adds the inimitable Dame Helen Mirren as master criminal Lady Milverton. Moriarty and Holmes actually join forces this time as they face Lady M. Much breathless excitement ensues. May it long continue.

Finally, I want to celebrate Golden Voice narrator Kate Reading’s stellar performance of Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock novels. I am so addicted to them that I have started to listen all over again. Reading won an Earphones Award for Book 1, A STUDY IN SCARLET WOMEN, which set up Thomas’s clever premise—namely, that Sherlock, an ailing and reclusive genius detective and brother of Charlotte Holmes, is actually the invention of brilliant Charlotte, who solves crimes while purportedly acting for him. Listen to me discuss A STUDY IN SCARLET WOMEN on an episode of AudioFile's podcast. Reading has won numerous Earphones Awards for her crisp and sensitive delivery of Thomas’s excellent writing, as well as her nuanced portrayal of a large cast of recurring characters, including Mrs. Watson, a retired courtesan and Charlotte’s benefactress; Charlotte’s love interest, Lord Ingram; Scotland Yard Inspector Treadles; and Charlotte’s impossible parents. In the most recent book, A RUSE OF SHADOWS, we find Charlotte herself suspected of murder. As our reviewer said, ‘Disguises are plentiful, mistaken identity is common, and dastardly villains abound.’ Oh, such fun. I recommend that you begin with Book 1 and savor the ensuing deliciousness.

All right now, onward into these new versions of the past. Here’s to encountering each other soon in foggy London Town.