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Death on a Pale Horse

Sherlock Holmes on Her Majesty's Secret Service

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Death on a Pale Horse

By: Donald Thomas
Narrated by: John Telfer
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About this listen

In a momentous period of British history, Donald Thomas' latest Sherlock Holmes adventure pits the great detective and his faithful biographer, Dr. John Watson, against an international conspiracy led by a disgraced English officer.

Colonel Hunter Moran bears upon him the "Mark of the Beast"; his satanic ingenuity leaves a spectacular trail of devastation. It runs from the annihilation of a British armored column by Zulu tribesmen - armed only with shields and spears - to a life-and-death struggle on the sinking passenger steamer Comtesse de Flandre.

The heir to the French empire lies dead in the African dust. Europe is brought to the brink of war by forged dispatches, designed to enrich gun-runners and assassins. The gold fields and diamond mines of South Africa become the playground of organized crime. Only the detective genius of Holmes can prove a match for the unfolding criminality of Moran and his associates. With Watson and Mycroft at his side, Sherlock Holmes again demonstrates that although the powers of the state and the underworld may try to overpower him, they will never out-think his splendid analytical mind at the height of its powers.

©2013 Donald Thomas (P)2013 AudioGO Amateur Sleuths Detective Mystery Fiction Sherlock Holmes Africa

Critic reviews

"Master pasticher Thomas demonstrates that his gifts at creating new Holmes short stories...extend to the harder task of sustaining character, atmosphere, and plot over a full-length novel, something that Conan Doyle himself struggled with.... As with the best emulations of the originals, Thomas maintains both the proper tone and spirit, while presenting new facets of both the doctor and the detective that ring true." ( Publishers Weekly)
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This is by far the weakest of the books. Unlike the others a single story, the general concept of which is good. However, there are somewhere in the order of two hours of unnecessary filler including lengthy references to the original genre, which I would expect most people will have enjoyed before looking further afield to alternate authors. A shame, it would have been better as a shorter but more punchy story.

Too much filler

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Really enjoyed detail of writing and quality of narrator.Blended in to original Holmes literature effotlessly.

excellent detail

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Would you try another book written by Donald Thomas or narrated by John Telfer?

yes

What was most disappointing about Donald Thomas’s story?

It was a dreary account of the horrors of of bygone wars and just went on and on about it, boring and unpleasant. I didn't read the book to read a war story.

Not convincing as a Sherlock Holmes

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