The Valley of Fear: Starring Clive Merrison & Michael Williams (BBC Radio Collection)

The story is of a brutal murder in a mansion house in the English countryside. There's not much sense-making evidence to work on so Holmes and Watson go down to investigate along with Scotland Yard and the local police. Sure enough, Holmes solves the case rather quickly and all is revealed. But it's here that Conan Doyle uses the same split narrative he used in A Study in Scarlet. The story jumps far back in time and details the long, sinister plot leading up to the murder in the mansion. It's a good story and quite addictive. But I'm afraid I saw the plot twist coming (though it's an imaginative surprise) and only because there were no small revalations at any point, therefor I knew I big 'un was coming and deduced the logical conclusion.

And is it just me or is there a major anachronism in the story? Holmes speaks of Moriarty as if he is still alive. But didn't he chuck him of the Reichenbach falls and watch him fall to his death? Unless this story is set before then. And who is this mysterious Porlock? It was never cleared up. Perhaps in a future story eh?


Classic Doyle   July 13, 2003
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

The last of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, and one of the two best. It contains more detection in its first section than The Hound of the Baskervilles, with Holmes (off-stage for much of The Hound) actively investigating the murder at Birlstone, and drawing his ever-fascinating deductions from raincoats and dumb-bells; indeed it is the only pure detective story among the four, with the reader given every opportunity to solve the crime. Although the solution is justly famous, it is but a variation on “The Norwood Builder,” at much greater length. The second half of the tale concerns the doings of the Pinkerton agent Birdy Edwardes in the eponymous Valley, terrorised by the Freemasons, a gripping and powerful account which is perhaps of greater interest than the detection.


Good but not as a Holmes story   July 20, 2002
 2 out of 5 found this review helpful

This book is very interesting reading but it is not very good as a Sherlock Holmes story. The book is written in the same format as "A Study in Scarlet". The first part is about Holmes and Watson invesetigating a crime and the second part tells the story of the people involved in the crime. Part II is very good. It is one of the best stories that I have ever read. However, the part with Holmes is weak and Part II completely overshadows it. Overall, it is a good book and I would recommend reading it, but just don't expect a good Sherlock Holmes story.