Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 3


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(3.7 stars; 53 reviews)

In the six volumes of the Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Julian Hawthorne presents us thrilling and mysterious short stories from all corners of the world. Some of the stories appeared in this collection for the first time translated into English, and many of them come from unexpected sources, such as the letters of Pliny the Younger, or a Tibetan manuscript. In the third volume, we find stories written by English and Irish authors. (Summary by Leni) (11 hr 14 min)

Chapters

The Golden Ingot 37:55 Read by Katie Riley
The Bohemian, part 1 28:57 Read by John Kooz
The Bohemian, part 2 31:53 Read by John Kooz
A Terrible Night 19:16 Read by John Kooz
My Wife's Tempter 33:49 Read by Katie Riley
The Incantation, part 1 40:45 Read by Demi Fair
The Incantation, part 2 44:41 Read by Demi Fair
The Avenger, part 1 34:33 Read by Crln Yldz Ksr
The Avenger, part 2 35:59 Read by Crln Yldz Ksr
The Avenger, part 3 38:32 Read by Crln Yldz Ksr
The Avenger, part 4 24:56 Read by Crln Yldz Ksr
Melmoth the Wanderer, part 1 44:07 Read by Matthew Reece
Melmoth the Wanderer, part 2 44:05 Read by Matthew Reece
A Mystery with a Moral 23:27 Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet
On Being Found Out 19:35 Read by Rhonda Federman
The Pipe 43:44 Read by drewpiston
The Puzzle 42:13 Read by Vsilverlining
The Great Valdez Sapphire 50:17 Read by Katie Riley
Without the Wedding Garment 11:15 Read by Kalynda
Mr. Twistleton's Typewriter 24:49 Read by summerdaze

Reviews

Various Styles All Worthy


(5 stars)

The Librivox Project 'Mission' & Volunteer Readers' deserve an honorable place in literary station. Keeping the written classics in this format hopefully ensures their preservation for future generations. The Readers' in this series have various styles. While some use imitation voices, others use changing tones and inflections to make the story come 'to life' for the listener. Obviously, this is a 'talent' in which each might not be equally adept. I do recommend this series, as it is personally preferred to the other volumes in this group.

I didn't get into this book


(3 stars)

There was one reader who read several stories and they were unlistenable, too many mic taps. Of the stories I could listen to, the readers were very good, but the stories were blah IMHO. It seemed like the authors were trying too hard to tell a mysterious and emotional story at the same time. I found them annoying rather than entertaining. I don't think it's a bad book, just not a good one, it is just so-so.


(3 stars)

why does the program stop after some sections. I have adjusted the "sleep" mode to give hours of play time. yet the program continues to stop and I have to press the arrow head to continue playing the next section. The program did not use to do this. it would continue to play until pressed to stop.

mostly entertaining


(3 stars)

the stories were mostly mildly entertaining some good readers however, one of them stuttered stumbled and lipsmacked his way through the text as if there was no punctuation. He was obviously sight reading and then began the ridiculous attempt at voice acting. Oh Dear.

Good stories if you're into it.


(5 stars)

If you like mystery stories, these are for you. Enjoy!

A mixed bag, but some stories are worth listening to


(3 stars)

As in volume 1, the adjectives "mystery" and "detective" are kind of a stretch for some of these stories. The stories in the beginning and the end are pretty good, but the collection does meander off course in the middle. Probably the most disruptive thing is one reader who is very difficult to listen to because of poor audio quality, assorted mouth sounds, heavy breathing, and random long pauses midsentence. (And vocally it's considered good practice for men to not do women's voices in falsetto because it is difficult to understand and possibly painful to the ears through headphones!) Although I do appreciate the attempt to add dramatic interest by using character voices, a regular-voiced reading focusing on the content as well as clear enunciation and pronunciation, with pauses and emphasis where appropriate, is almost always better (unless, of course, you're über-talented like Mil Nicholson). However, aside from this one misguided exception, the readers are quite good overall.

A mixed bag, but some stories are worth listening to


(3 stars)

As in volume 1, the adjectives "mystery" and "detective" are kind of a stretch for some of these stories. The stories in the beginning and the end are pretty good, but the collection does meander off course in the middle. Probably the most disruptive thing is one reader who is very difficult to listen to because of poor audio quality, assorted mouth sounds, heavy breathing, and random long pauses midsentence. (And vocally it's considered good practice for men to not do women's voices in falsetto because it is difficult to understand and possibly painful to the ears through headphones!) Although I do appreciate the attempt to add dramatic interest by using character voices, a regular-voiced reading focusing on the content as well as clear enunciation and pronunciation, with pauses and emphasis where appropriate, is almost always better (unless, of course, you're über-talented like Mil Nicholson). However, aside from this one misguided exception, the readers are quite good overall.