AGAINST THE BROTHERHOOD

[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with SHERLOCK'S SECRET LIFE and THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES III.] -- Some audio Sherlockiana for fans of the old detective: AGAINST THE BROTHERHOOD is an epistolary pastiche in which Holmes's older brother, Mycroft, figures as main character. More gothic than the Conan Doyle stories, the novel is narrated in an appropriately Victorian style by Simon Prebble. Another pastiche, SHERLOCK'S SECRET LIFE is a buoyant, humorous romance involving Holmes and a lovely amnesiac. The play has been rather awkwardly adapted for audio, with actors still projecting to the balcony and a decrepit-sounding Karl Malden describing the action. David Timson beautifully reads the four canonical stories in Naxos's ADVENTURES. Y.R. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 01]