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Preview
  • The Sign of the Four

  • The Sherlock Holmes Series, Book 2
  • By: Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Narrated by: Marnye Young
  • Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (63 ratings)

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The Sign of the Four

By: Arthur Conan Doyle
Narrated by: Marnye Young
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Summary

First published in 1890, The Sign of the Four is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s second book starring legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The story is complex, involving a secret between four ex-cons from India and a hidden treasure. More complex than the first Holmes novel, The Sign of the Four also introduces the detective’s drug habit and leaves breadcrumbs for the listener that lead toward the final resolution.

Each year following the strange disappearance of her father, Miss Morstan has received a present of a rare and lustrous pearl. Now, on the day she is summoned to meet her anonymous benefactor, she consults Holmes and Watson.

Public Domain (P)2020 Silverton Agency
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What listeners say about The Sign of the Four

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
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Great Story

I never liked Sherlock Holmes mystery's until I turned 40, now I can't get enough.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story awful reading

The reader’s voice was totally inappropriate for Watson’s narrative and ridiculous when attempting different accents.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narration Is Testing My Patience

I love the Sherlock books but this narration is making it a chore to listen to. I've listened to books narrated by this woman before and enjoyed them but in this instance she is not the right person for the job. IMO it needs to be narrated by a man, and an English man at that. Why they thought it would be a good idea to have an American woman narrate the story is beyond me.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

couldn't get past ch 1

Narrator's accent & delivery make it a difficult listen. The narration abd all voices are the same. Ends of wordds drawn out in an irritating fashion. Some pronunciation incoorect!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Dreadful narration

Could not get past the first chapter due to the narrator's awful attempt at accents. Sherlock was voiced as whingey and petulant, detracting from the story. Purchased an alternative audiobook with a different narrator and loved it. Surprised that given the book is written from the perspective of Watson, a female voice was the choice to narrate - attempts at making her voice masculine to fit the characters, ruins the mental imagery of the listener.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Terrible accents

A typical, decent Sherlock Holmes story but a terrible narrator whose attempts at British and Irish accents were offensively bad.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good story- enjoyed the performance

A good story and well performed by the narrator. Enjoyed it a lot! More to come.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

classic ACD but bemused by narrator

The story is as charming and involving as ever, and for me the narration mostly added to this. Except— the American narrator butchers regional British accents to a comical degree, which is very distracting and verges on offensive.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, terrible narration

I quickly got over the idea of a woman’s voice narrating predominantly-male characters (please don’t think that gender has any place in this criticism) but the narration was terrible. Bizarre choice of voice/tone for the main characters, absolute carnage when it comes to any regional/national accent and ludicrous pronunciation of place names in London. It sounded like a lampoon - Will Ferrel wishes he could have played the character this comically. When I looked up the narrator, I was confused why anyone would choose an American to put on a bad ‘English’ accent and then attempt something that is so quintessentially British. Totally distracting.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Dull

This was hard work. I listened to it because it’s a GCSE text but I found it tedious and dull. I have read Doyle before, including Sherlock Holmes, but I suspect these stories just aren’t for me and this book confirmed it. I find Sherlock smug and unlikeable, and I don’t like the saccharine representation of women. The narrator I’m afraid struggled to keep the variety of accents consistent so that the weak performance was a distraction. Not for me I’m afraid.

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