A melanchony mystery

Would you listen to Mr Holmes again? Why?

Possibly. Maybe after watching the film.

Any additional comments?

Spoilers. This is actually 3 stories in one; Holmes, now in retirement & with faculties failing, recounts an adventure from his Baker Street days with an unhappy ending; he visits Japan just after WWII at the invitation of someone who believes Holmes has a connection with his estranged father; his housekeeper's son has a fatal accident. All of these tales are told in a reflective way, from the viewpoint of old age; none of them are really mysteries, all are melancholy in tone. It is a long way from being the worst post Conan-Doyle Holmes book, but there is something slightly unsatisfactory about the whole.

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Extreme whimsy at its most whimsical

I'm not entirely sure if this about loss, getting old or what happened to the father. it's just sort of.. well dull really.

You could have put any detective double act in this, it isn't really specific to Holmes has none of his slight of hand or wonderful insight. it's just a whimsical story about a man getting old who used to solve puzzles.

whimsical/out of ten.

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Not good

What did you like best about Mr Holmes? What did you like least?

I liked the idea that Holmes is suffering from dementia and his fragmented mind is illustrated by a fragmented narrative, but the story is very repetitive and the other characters aren't interesting or likeable enough to grip you, unfortunately. The author really went some way into making Sherlock Holmes as unlikeable as possible, his age emphasising all his worst traits.

Would you ever listen to anything by Mitch Cullin again?

Probably not. There were some interesting tidbits, especially about Japan, Hiroshima, and bees, which showed the efforts of his research, but as a narrative this was one long yawn-fest, I'm very sorry to say. Initially, with all the glass armonica business and the grief-stricken Edwardian couple, I was intrigued (and I feel the novel would have been far more interesting had it stuck to this idea of an old, unsolved case), but that storyline soon trailed off and ultimately felt tacked on to a novel which seemed more interested in the follies of memory and ageing - and unsympathetically so.

What didn’t you like about Simon Jones’s performance?

He nearly sent me to sleep a few times as there was so little range to his delivery. All quite monotonous.

Did Mr Holmes inspire you to do anything?

I had been eager to read the Conan Doyle stories, but sadly I now feel I need a good break from Sherlock Holmes for a while!

Any additional comments?

I can only imagine the film makes a lot of changes to this source material, otherwise it would surely be very boring and disjointed.

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4 people found this helpful

Disappointed

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

no, not the Sherlock Holmes I have come to know and love.

What could Mitch Cullin have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

unfortunately not a lot. possibly cut out the ridiculous travels for a 93 year old.

Have you listened to any of Simon Jones’s other performances? How does this one compare?

no, but I would not mind listening to him again.

Was Mr Holmes worth the listening time?

no, I did try to keep going but gave up after an hour or so.

Any additional comments?

I found the story lines boring and trying to imagine Holmes going to Japan at his age in the 1950's difficult to believe. the original stories by Conan Doyle cannot be beaten for me.

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fantastic story

wonderful narration and a beautiful story that is heartbreaking and yet so compelling. i was hookedupon this well crafted story from start to finish.

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1 person found this helpful

enjoyed it

I think I would like to see the movie now. This is a book I imagine myself listening to again.

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Very confused

Throughout the whole story I was confused. I felt the story was dis-jointed and I could grasp the point. Although I listened to end end, I did so in the hope that at some point everything would become clear but unfortunately it didn't.

The narration was good but I must say I am disappointed.

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Rambling and disappointing

I was initially gripped by this book, which promised to be an unusual take on the Sherlock Holmes saga. The language is very like Conan Doyle's but sadly the stories (such as they are) have very little of the intrigue and excitement of the real Sherlock Holmes stories. There are three 'scenarios' in the book - I wouldn't grace them with the word 'story', and the author provides long rambling descriptions which for the most part don't seem to go anywhere. I persevered for a long time, hoping that everything would come together. Sadly, now near the end of the book, it appears that they do not.
The reader makes the best of a bad job.

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7 people found this helpful

One mystery: How did this get published?

What disappointed you about A Slight Trick of the Mind?

Everything bar the narration, which was pretty good. Ridiculous, paper-thin 'plots' in which the author seems to have latched on to something unusual (the glass armonica, death by wasp sting) and spun unconvincing and rather desperate stories around them, liberally padded with inconsequential and boring nonsense. And really, a ninety three year old man travelling to Japan and back, seemingly overland? That would have been a serious undertaking for a much younger man in the fifties. Even when Holmes demonstrates his powers to his Japanese host he explains the process, instead of just suprising his audience with the conclusions for effect as Conan Doyle had him do. Managed to get half way through then gave up in disgust.

Would you ever listen to anything by Mitch Cullin again?

No.

Have you listened to any of Simon Jones’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No, but he made a good fist of it given the poor material he had to work with.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from A Slight Trick of the Mind?

Chapters One to Twenty Two.

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Awful

What would have made A Slight Trick of the Mind better?

A plausible plot would have helped.

What was most disappointing about Mitch Cullin’s story?

I am not a Sherlock Holmes fan and that is probably for the best, as this has none of the skillful prose or complexity of character you would expect. It is thin on plot, filled with inconsistency and inane. A waste of time and money.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

It made me question how such a feeble excuse for a story ever got published.

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5 people found this helpful