Classic Detective Stories

by Edward Hardwicke (Narrator), Colin Dexter, Edgar Wallace

A gem of a collection perfect for anybody who likes to guess at 'whodunnit', this compilation includes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Wallace, among other great writers. A perfect combination of stories read by Edward Hardwicke, there is something here to keep everyone in gripping and thrilling suspense.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Short Stories, Anthologies, Crime, Classics

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1935

Reviews

[James Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wonderful collection of short stories are good-old-fashioned “The Butler did it!” type crimes. Here is Sherlock, Morse, Father Brown, Bulldog Drummond, and Morris Claw. It couldn’t get better.
The vocabulary is marvellous too. After reading this, I’m left with the feeling that much of the English language is lost today. Smartphones, Snapchat, Twitter, Messenger, Facebook, etc., demand a simpler (illiterate?) form of communication.
Sorry, I’m digressing. Yes, I enjoyed these stories, and surprisingly, I’ve read none of them before (that I can remember!).

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Audio recording was very hard to follow

[Adia]

RTC

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

"When a woman is bad, she is usually very bad indeed."
Edgar Wallace, The Green Mamba

"I do not like thee Dr Fell.
The reason why I cannot tell.
But this one thing I know full well,
I do not like thee Dr Fell."
Muriel Spark, Chimes

** read by Edward Hardwicke
app 4.5 hrs

It took me a few minutes to place the voice of the reader as Edward Hardwicke who co-starred as Dr Watson with Jeremy Brett in the Sherlock Holmes series.
In reading the description of the collection, I thought these would be stories of some contemporaries of Doyle and Wallace. In fact, it's a collection of 8 stories by 7 authors featuring detectives.

[Lilia Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

What it needed to be

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this short story collection as an audiobook and while the stories are of mixed quality I enjoyed it.

The stories in this collection are:
The Green Mamba - Edgar Wallace
The Poetical Policeman - Edgar Wallace
The Dying Detective - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Burglar - Colin Dexter
The Man in the Passage - G. K. Chesterton
The Assassins' Club - Nicholas Blake
The Case of the Tragedies in the Greek Room - Sax Rohmer
Chimes - Muriel Spark

I had only read Muriel Spark and Arthur Conan Doyle before and it was nice to get a taste of some other writers. While I know that I shouldn't judge an author on a short story my impressions were that I wouldn't go out of my way to ready anything by Edgar Wallace or G. K. Chesterton in the future.

I've watched quite a lot of the Inspector Morse TV series and previously hadn't been drawn to reading Colin Dexter's books, but from this short story I liked his writing. I would also check out more of Sax Rohmer's books, because while the plot didn't do much for me, I enjoyed how the story was told.

This was a good collection: perfect for listening to while you're walking somewhere or pottering around the house as there's nothing too deep to pay attention to.

[Pat Beard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uneven, as you would expect in a collection. Some were outstanding and others I barely made it through. This was in audio and there was one in particular that I replayed the same section about 5 times because my mind kept wandering off the story.

[Dale Rosenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun assortment of old time detective short stories that I got out of the library in audiobook to keep me occupied while packing. It was definitely diverting but some of these would have been better to have read in a book.

[Ranjanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listed to this audio book. Liked all but one and only because i don't think that story was suitable for narrating. Because of no dialogue it was hard to concentrate on the story.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Clever and entertaining short stories by several of the greats

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK stories, except for the Rohmer which is ridiculously contrived. Reader is good and loud, though, so suitable for listening on walks or outdoors in general.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag of stories, but Hardwick is a wonderful reader!

[HF]

Audiobook via Libby App

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

These were hard to stay with except Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, which was a great read.

[Shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Edgar Wallace stories were fun and the Muriel Spark one RULED. The Nicholas Blake was just really weird (a dude who’s obsessed with smells and can see the last thing dead people saw?)

[Sully Augustine · Rating 3 out of 5]

audio - Some were pretty good but, like pretty much everything, the writing of fiction has improved from the days of florid prose designed to fill evenings lit by candles.

[Randa Mcnair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had really hoped to hear more Sherlock Holmes stories. Not very intriguing tales.

[Julia O'Connell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this somewhat randomly while looking for audiobooks to listen to on my commute. I actually haven't read much detective fiction before, so this was a great place to start. This book contains a pretty good selection from a variety of authors. Most of the stories were pretty predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. My favorites were: "The Assassins Club" by Nicholas Blake and "The Case of the Tragedies in the Greek Room" by Sax Rohmer.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a fun collection of random detective stories. Some where a lot of fun - the first two, especially. Of course I love Conan Doyle. I didn't much care for Blake. If you like the mystery genre, this is a nice compilation of short stories.

[Leslie Ferrari · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice little collection.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were better than others. However, this does serve as a good introduction to these wonderful authors.

[Hermes Abercrombie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been created by a simple person or by a really detective? I like this book but it's some confusing

[Madison Caballero · Rating 5 out of 5]

bright!
very good book!
Excellent!
I love !
Very good!!!
I recommend it!

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection although short, seven authors.

[Braham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classes detective stories GK Chesterton, Edgar Wallace, and Arthur Conan Doyle together in one book. Stories are read by Edgar Hardwicke.

[Juan Skalari · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great story and it recommended an incredible plot

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting listen for the history, but I think not the best of authors included.

[jhon bravo · Rating 5 out of 5]

is a very entertaining book and recommend

[Efrain Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book with very good and well narrated stories, like me