Mystery! Mystery! For Children

Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Auguste Dupin



""Master storyteller Jim Weiss skillfully adapts classic literature, transforming it into an absorbing auditory experience. Two key factors are his unerring selection of the details that flesh out characters, evoke settings and advance the plot, and his ability to assume distinctive voices for the side range of individuals in these stories. Here he works his wiles on three absorbing mysteries by renowned authors: Edgar Allan Poe's The Purloined Letter, G.K.Chesterton's The Blue Cross, and Arthur Conan Doyle's The Red-Headed League. Middle-grade listeners, as well as adults, may be so intrigued that they seek out these writers on library shelves.""

-Parents' Choice


""Three classic mystery stories are told for young people by veteran storyteller Jim Weiss. Each selection is prefaced by an introduction that elucidates its contribution to literature. Edgar Allen Poe's ""The Purloined Letter"" pits sleuth Auguste Dupin against Pierre Darce, the Minister of Fine Arts, who is blackmailing the Empress of France with a letter he stole. G.K. Chesterton's ""The Blue Cross"" find little Father Brown outwitting the large-sized master criminal, Flambeau. And that best known of all detectives, Sherlock Holmes, cracks the case of ""The Red-Headed League"" the longest of the three selections. No sound effects mar the flawless oral dramatization of these retold tales. All language changes retain the style of the original stories. Whether speaking a Frenchman or British subject, male or female, Jim Weiss' rich voice is totally convincing and engrossing. A thoroughly delightful way to introduce the mystery genre to children, or to refresh the memories of more seasoned listeners. Grades 4-6""

-School Library Journal (1994)