One of the finest Sherlock Holmes short stories, from its wonderfully atmospheric opening description of a fog-girt London to the dramatic unmasking of the criminal, 'The Bruce-Partington Plans' is a Holmesian masterclass of deduction and reasoning to uncover a tale of treason, espionage and murder. It also features one of only two appearances of Holmes's brother Mycroft in the original Conan Doyle stories. Story begins at 00:01:15

Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope, aka Bitesized Audio. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to exclusive content):

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00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:15 The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
01:14:00 Credits, thanks and further listening

The music used at the beginning and end of this recording is an extract from 'Duet for Two Violins' by Luigi Boccherini, Op 5 N2 Larghetto.

About the author: Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish doctor and author, celebrated for his world-famous creation Sherlock Holmes, the consulting detective who set the standard for crime fiction into the 20th century and beyond. In addition to his Holmes stories, Conan Doyle is also remembered for his fantasy and science fiction novels and stories, including 'The Parasite' and 'The Lost World' series of novels, his historical fiction, and for numerous short stories contributed to magazines over a 40 year period. He was knighted by King Edward VII in the 1902 Coronation Honours.

From his debut in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887, in 'A Study in Scarlet', Sherlock Holmes established himself as the first, the best and the most famous of all private consulting detectives. His serialised adventures in The Strand Magazine, starting with 'A Scandal in Bohemia' in 1891, developed the character into a literary sensation and in the 20th century he was to become the most portrayed character in screen history. The enormous impact of the character of Dr Watson should also be noted: the narrator/companion figure became a staple of detective fiction in future generations. Significant and influential portrayals of the duo have included: Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce; Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock; Jeremy Brett and David Burke (later Edward Hardwicke); and most recently the contemporary take on the characters by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

'The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans' was the 42nd Sherlock Holmes story (of 60) by Conan Doyle, and first appeared in The Strand Magazine in December 1908, with illustrations by Arthur Twidle. It subsequently appeared in book form as part of the collection 'His Last Bow', published in 1917.

Recording © Bitesized Audio 2023