In “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons”, someone is destroying small busts of Napoleon Bonaparte. At first merely a nuisance, vandalism quickly turns to murder after one of the statue owners finds a dead man on his doorstep beside a smashed statue. Reasoning his way back to the source of the statues, Holmes determines that there is more to this case than just antipathy towards the great French leader. Can Holmes and Watson solve the mystery before the bust buster strikes again?
In “The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton”, Holmes is hired by a lady who is being harassed by Milverton, a notorious blackmailer who has ruined many people and caused many more grief. Though he is determined to stop him, Milverton is very crafty and Holmes is unable to find the evidence necessary to put him away. Finally, Holmes and Watson decide on a daring plan to retrieve their client’s incriminating letters. While there, they witness a crime that forces Holmes and Watson to make a momentous choice.
In “The Adventure of Black Peter”, a ship captain is found dead, stabbed through with a harpoon. Police inspector Stanley Hopkins, who is being mentored by Sherlock Holmes brings the case to Holmes and Dr. Watson. An abusive man, the captain had many enemies, widening the suspect list. The investigation finds Holmes & company on a stakeout, on a case that involves a chance meetings on the high seas, and stolen securities.
In “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist”, a young woman explains to Holmes that an unknown man has been following her by bicycle on her weekly trips from the house where she works to the railroad station. Having met two friends of her recently-deceased uncle, one of the men, Carruthers, hires her as a governess and later proposes to her. The young woman being already engaged, declines. The other man, Woodley, disturbs her with rude behavior and romantic advances. Holmes connects the clues and arrives in time to solve the mystery of the unknown cyclist and to save Smith after she is kidnapped by Woodley.
In “The Adventure of the Norwood Builder”, a young lawyer asks Holmes to clear him of the charge murdering a rich man soon after preparing the man’s will. Inspector Lestrade is convinced of the young attorney’s guilt and believes he has finally bested Holmes, but by the use of forensic science and a bogus house fire, Holmes is able to exonerate the young lawyer while proving he was set-up.
In “The Adventure of the Empty House”, Sherlock Holmes reappears in London after a 3-year absence, shocking Dr. Watson who believed his good friend had been killed in a confrontation with Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. Holmes is compelled to outwit the “second most dangerous man in London” who has a good reason to hope for Holmes’ demise. From the 1905 collection “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 13 mysteries that were originally published in the Strand Magazine and Collier's in Great Britain and the United States. Published in 1905, the book was the first Holmes collection since 1893, when Holmes died in a confrontation with his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty in The Final Problem. The success of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” published in 1901–1902, and set before Holmes' death, created great pressure on Doyle to revive his famous character. This collection was followed by two more short novels and a final collection called “The Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes”.
Here in one recording are both of L. Frank Baum's Santa Claus stories: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, and A Kidnapped Santa Claus. In The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Baum gives us a glimpse into the magical history that surrounds the life story of Santa Claus. In A Kidnapped Santa Claus, we find out what happens when Santa is kidnapped shortly before Christmas.
Robinson Crusoe is the classic tale about one man's lust for adventure. Crusoe leaves his parents and hometown for the open sea in the year 1651. But the ocean can be unforgiving and Crusoe, unfortunately, learns this the hard way. Through a series of wild events he ends up shipwrecked on a shore in South America, being forced to salvage what he can in order to survive. Overcoming his despair, Crusoe begins a new life on this island searching for meaning and eventually finding redemption. This tale of adventure into the unknown during a time of exploration will find listeners on the edge of their seat as Crusoe encounters multiple shipwrecks, pirates, and even cannibals on his wild journey.
In The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sherlock Holmes and Watson come to the aid of Helen Stoner, who has reason to fear her life is being threatened by her abusive stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott. Her sister, who died two years before, spoke of a “speckled band” right before she died in mysterious circumstances. To solve the mystery of the “speckled band”, Holmes and Watson stake out Miss Stoner’s room and make a momentous discovery. The eighth of the twelve stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Doyle considered it the best of the Holmes stories.