The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Ian Edginton, illustrated by INJ Culbard

Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story The Valley of Fear is translated into a graphic novel excellently by Ian Edginton and the artwork of INJ Culbard.  Culbard's style is stark, graphic and dark, echoing the ligne claire style of strong lines and clear colours Herge used for Tintin.  The Valley of Fear is a twisting tale of secrets and terror, claustrophobically contained within the moat bound country house of Birlstone Manor and the mysterious murder of the rich country gentleman John Douglas, a tangle of threads leading back to secret societies and goldrush America.  A good adaptation.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - AUDIO read by Derek Jacobi


A fabulous collection of the 13 stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle after he brought Sherlock Holmes back from the dead, read wonderfully by Derek Jacobi.  Holmes' mind and observational skills are just incredible, it's like cryptic crosswords in that once you know how he has unravelled the mysteries you can see how he did it, but I'm fairly sure I'm like most people who couldn't have worked it out on their own.  The wealth of period detail is fascinating, a world where the fastest form of transport is a train and personal transport is limited to train, foot and bicycle, communication to telegraph, letter and hand carried note.  The motivations of criminal intent have not changed, greed, coercion and desperation, but the motivators are different and are intriguing such as primogeniture and social and gender stratification in a very unequal society.

As the other reviews have said, the spindle is a bit hard to handle, but I liked having it all together like that.  Really enjoyable.