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The Valley of Fear Audiobook
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(3.00) - 6,608 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are investigating a mysterious murder. John Douglas, a wealthy man with a mysterious and unknown past, is the victim. Suspicions of committing the murder fall on, among others, a friend of the house, the victim's spouse, a mysterious avenger... The details of Douglas's death are revealed in the second part of this intriguing novel. Its plot takes us from England to the United States, to the titular Valley of Fear, a place of dreadful crimes committed by members of a Masonic association inspired by the genius of evil, Professor Moriarty.
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"ACD's last novel (novella?) isn't as masterful as The Hound of the Baskervilles but it's still classic Doyle. It reminded me a lot of The Sign of Four, exept the Mormons are now replaced with the Scowrers. I'm probably repeating myself from earlier reviews of ACD's novels, but Doyle is a born writer of short fiction and his novels just don't carry the same force, and seem like watered-down/diluted versions of his better stories. That being said, I love Sherlock Holmes."
— Rob (4 out of 5 stars)
The Valley of Fear Listener Reviews
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" Yet another fantastic addition to the greatest mystery book series of all time. "
— John, 2/17/2014 -
" Quite similar to A Study in Scarlet. "
— Abasi, 2/12/2014 -
" Adoro la serie de Arthur Conan Doyle... si te gusta Dr. House, puede que te gusten todos los libros de sherlock holmes "
— Marco, 1/21/2014 -
" Has more references in common with a study in scarlet-a secret past,mysterious man, vengeance for years everything follows the first edition but its quite interesting too the man who wanted to kill has been killed forms the most interesting part a good entertainer "
— Shree, 1/19/2014 -
" The first half was really super super fun! The second half was the back story, which was still good, but there was no Sherlock Holmes, which is the best part of reading a Sherlock Holmes novel. "
— Brandon, 1/18/2014 -
" It will be unwise to be an evaluator for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his incredible creation of the great intellectual character Mr Sherlok Holmes....but i think the mystry could have been more mysterious.... "
— Arnav, 1/12/2014 -
" I read this because I was looking into the role of the Pinkerton agency in the coal regions of Pennsylvania in the 1800's. "
— Bradford, 1/10/2014 -
" The tone and sense of adventure is not on a par with Hound of the Baskervilles, but the actual mystery, and the twist in the elaborate backstory, is cleverer, I think. "
— carl, 12/27/2013 -
" This was the strangest of all the Sherlock Holmes stories. The first part was a perfect Holmes story. The second part wasn't Holmes at all. "
— Harrison, 12/3/2013 -
" Would like to have seen more of Sherlock but a good mystery. "
— Deanne, 11/20/2013 -
" The whole case is solved in the first half of the book and the second half is more of an explanation/back story for why the murder happened. I didn't like that so much, it took me a while to get through and finish it. I enjoy the way "Watson" writes better. "
— Janette, 5/31/2013 -
" one of my favorite in SH.i liked the second part of the story the most.fantastically written the novel gives good entertainment. "
— grindelwald33, 5/19/2013 -
" My first Holmes novel. I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to reading the rest :) "
— Leah, 5/16/2013 -
" The best book I have read. "
— Neil, 2/13/2013 -
" Gets docked a star because (SPOILER) it has another long side-trip to the United States, just as the first novel does. Stick to England, Doyle! The first half of the book is fine, as is the epilogue, but I wouldn't recommend this novel to anyone who has already read A Study in Scarlet. "
— Matt, 1/21/2013 -
" The murder of a wealthy landowner in an English country manor is traced back to the actions of a Pinkerton detective in a crime-ridden American mining town. This, in my opinion, is one of the best of the Sherlock Holmes stories. "
— Harry, 9/18/2012 -
" My favorite Sherlock mystery after The Hound of the Baskervilles. "
— Tanu, 4/11/2012 -
" Not as good as Hound of Baskervilles, but still good. I didn't like how this one kind of abruptly ended in a way. "
— Colleen, 4/1/2012 -
" Great fast paced read. I haven't read any Sherlock since elementary school and I still love these tales all the same. This is a great read for any fan of mysteries and detective tales. "
— Vicki-shawn, 12/21/2011 -
" Though this book has a good plot, this is a pretty week Holmes story, as the great detective only appears at the beginning and end, with the majority of the story tells of how the protagonists came to Britain. "
— James, 10/27/2011 -
" Twist ending I never saw coming! I did find it slightly odd the way that the story was split into the Holmes story and the Douglas story but once I hit the end, it was better. Another amazing story by Doyle. "
— Mollie, 5/19/2011 -
" Quite similar to A Study in Scarlet. "
— Abasi, 3/17/2011 -
" Not my favorite Sherlock Holmes novel--the plot dragged, the characters took an agonizingly long time to make up their minds, and the whole thing was pretty much just flat-out boring. Did have an interesting twist at the end, though. "
— Braden, 3/11/2011 -
" I love mysteries! I enjoyed this one. There's nobody like Sherlock! "
— Kathy, 2/28/2011 -
" Not what I was expecting, which was two stories - the crime and the victim's history. I didn't care about the history, and the case was wrapped up too quickly. It doesn't help when you figure out "whodunnit" before the end, too. Meh. "
— Ann, 2/14/2011 -
" Among my favorite stories of Sherlock Holmes. Was very tempted to rate it 5 stars. "
— Paul, 2/10/2011 -
" I think someone didn't want to write a whole Sherlock Holmes book and halfway through it becomes a totally different story. Not bad though! "
— Caitlin, 1/14/2011
About Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was born of Irish parentage in Scotland. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but he also had a passion for storytelling. His first book introduced that prototype of the modern detective in fiction, Sherlock Holmes. Despite the immense popularity Holmes gained throughout the world, Doyle was not overly fond of the character and preferred to write other stories. Eventually popular demand won out and he continued to satisfy readers with the adventures of the legendary sleuth. He also wrote historical romances and made two essays into pseudoscientific fantasy: The Lost World and The Poison Belt.