35 The Missing Three-Quarter from The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905) Audiobook

The Missing Three-Quarter by Arthur Conan Doyle is perhaps the most poignant of all his short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.
It is read by Greg Wagland for (P)Magpie Audio 2015. Video copyright Magpie Audio 2015

[@douglasladowski6342]

Every reading is a treat.

[@cynthiaholland13]

You did a beautiful job with this story

[@brucejackson4219]

It must be over 60 years since I read this story for the one and only time. Without being over-judgmental, how sad [to put it mildly] that the young husband was ashamed of his beautiful [but "lower class"] new bride, putting his expectations of a fortune before her happiness: despicable behaviour and badly done! A pleasure to listen to this rendition.

[@cruisepaige]

Oh wow, so exciting to hear a Holmes story that was new to me!

[@blixten2928]

Such superlative reading! Much more fun than reading the book. Very well done, indeed!! THANKS FOR UPLOADING!!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Reading is for the birds. Clever birds.

[@blixten2928]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio True! But some stuff is better read than heard (Lovecraft, for instance). I had read all of S.H. repeatedly, and gotten bored with it. Now this audiorecording makes it come alive again. Really a PLEASURE.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

True. I've tried to read Lovecraft but I don't think my brain tunes in to it, as others do. I find it a bit impenetrable. Maybe I should give it a more concerted go?

[@blixten2928]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio It's somewhat of an acquired taste. Start with the Shadwo over Innsmouth story. Lovecraft's wonderfully awful hyperbole, paired to his acute ability to place the reader in the bus and on the road and then at specific squares, streets, houses, makes it a very distinctive experience. And after a while you get used to everything being insane, blasphemous, unnameable, horrors beyond this or any universe, etc. It actually gets fun! (Ignore his obvious and extreme racism, of course. He believes that all races can degenerate and decay, even the anglos, it's just that some are already all the way donw and others have salvages certain families... for now...)

[@blixten2928]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio Or skip it. Plenty of other excellent writers out there, from Wilkie Collins to MR James, for the detective-horror genre. The fact that Lovecraft is very trendy today despite (?) his racism might give one pause, anyway. At least Doyle didn't talk about "alien blood" and "alienage" and thick-lipped slaves and cats called "N-- man" and degenerate races and stuff like that. Sort of like Trollope's anti-semitism: a jarring note, to say the least.

[@leebrockbank5813]

Thank you for you brilliant narration

[@leoniegrosse9121]

Thank you so much! I already know it is going to be an amazing audiobook! Your recordings really are extraordinary.

[@DarthWill3]

_"The daily appearance of a brougham and pair could hardly have been overlooked in such Sleepy Hollows."_ I'm sure a certain man on horseback couldn't have easily been missed, either, though I'm sure the lack of noggin on his part would've aroused excitement. ;)

[@feralbluee]

incredible reading - how you voice the text with such subtle changes in the emotional content and create most 'poignant' moments. . . thank you so much. --¿--?--≈(((∞ ~fleur

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thanks for the fleur.

[@lauraveapi3840]

I love these stories....feels like you are getting more observant & intelligent while sleeping, which is something I am finally able to do, thanks to that perfect reader. Imagine if you married the man, and he reads to you every night 😍🤗

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Sounds exhausting! And a bit like the Arabian Nights story! Cheers Laura.

[@lauraveapi3840]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio hihi you got me there! Well girls will be girls - we dream too much.Thankfully 😊😍

[@andrewcantrill4128]

Absolutely.

[@seamusmcgoldrick3296]

love your readings. just the right amount of everything.

[@feralbluee]

haven’t listened to you for a while since i know the Sherlock cases well. but it was good to hear your voice. i do hope you made through the quarantine in good fashion. have a wonderful summer - 🌷🌼

[@patriciovalenzuela6119]

Pppp pop

[@leeknights5540]

I'm all choked up now and it's your fault Mr Wagland. Can't speak highly enough of your narration, brings ACD's tale and characters fully to life, with such nuanced, authentic and depth of interpretation, I feel I'm hearing these stories for the first time. Off to get hanky now

[@leoniegrosse9121]

Gorgeous story perfectly read!

[@mods1964]

Just finished the dying detective and enjoyed and are now looking forward to the missing three quarters. Great stuff. Dpoet

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Glad you liked. Thank you.

[@jdtreadway]

Amazing read... I'm going thru every story. Love your reading style.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Cheers J.D.

[@SuperBartles]

Well I started this story expecting it to be unimpressive. Instead I was absolutely spellbound for the entire 50 minutes. Fine reading but what a superb story... I've read all the Holmes stories 30 years ago but had no memory of this one.

[@helenswan705]

One of the most amusing tales! Apart from the ending of course

[@peterbamforth6453]

A wonderfull tale...The polite sarcasm Holmes can produce at any time is priceless. 10/10

[@fiftysomething7199]

Well done and thank you.

[@tonylawlor8833]

Great stuff Mr Wagland, great job, your voice is perfect for the era, a different time, indeed, a different English.

[@kwyzi]

Thank you

[@stuglenn1112]

I love Sherlock Holmes and have read all of the cannon many times. Sometimes you will find a hole in the story and The Missing Three-Quarter is a prime example. He was hiding his marriage from his uncle and didn't want any publicity. At the end Holmes promises discretion. Yet he missed a huge game, surely the public would demand an explanation for his absence.

[@maggiedowns5241]

great reading.love it.

[@markswanson1564]

“The fiend was not dead, but sleeping- and the sleep was a light one.” [ACD on Holmes’ cocaine addiction recovery] Often we are so taken with the hero’s super-human, crime-solving powers that we readers fail to deduce the author’s talent in describing Holmes’ (and our own) all-too-human frailties.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Great line!

[@008fiona]

fab work, thank you

[@thurayya8905]

"Godfrey is a good lad, a staunch lad. Nothing would induce him to give his old uncle away. I'll have the plate moved round to the bank in the morning." Thank you, Arthur Conan Doyle, for giving me such a good laugh over a century later.

[@RosesAreForever1871]

Pompy, what a lovely name for a dog!

[@arnepianocanada]

Beautifully written and presented.

[@kenharris2024]

GREAT JOB!!

[@BenAndJeffsAudiobooks]

Utterly brilliant voice talent

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Ha! Ta very much!

[@just_another32]

I shall never understand the dislikes! Professor Moriaty (?) bots?

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

I think they must be or...

[@michaelwalker2475]

Very good Story.. hello from Devonport Tasmania.... get your map out.. even we love Sherlock.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Cheers Michael

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

I looked at a map. Squeaking Point sounds like fun!

[@michaelwalker2475]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio 200 years ago pigs were bred there. It was going to be the port of Devonport. But the water wasn't deep enough. Keep up your good work... Mick

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

That explains it. Oink. Cheers Mick

[@iamcoachmichaelmcbride]

Outstanding! Simply Outstanding!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thank you, Coach! It's a great story - rather underrated.

[@jdtreadway]

LOL. The title comes out as "The Missing Three Quarter Audiobook.... good chuckle

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Ha!

[@susanhepburn6040]

A story I have never come across before - thank you very much, even though it was very sad.

[@ethoeradicator4162]

loved it

[@jimlarson8203]

Thanks!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thank you!

[@colleenreilly8940]

I enjoy your reading voices so much you make SH come to life Do you read other series of stories or books? ❤️👵🏻

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Have a look on audible website

[@michelegallagher9184]

More more more!!!

[@blackpoolrock101]

Why do they keep referring to a football match, when all the references point to Rugby?

[@philipinchina]

Well done Oxford. We always win.

[@karljunge]

super sad ending.

[@jasonfreeman2863]

Great as always! At what age does one’s hair “grizzle”? It seems to be Doyle’s barometer for advancing age.

[@annakilifa331]

...well, it's graying hair. It depends a bit on the person at what age their hair starts graying, but yes, over all it is a sign of advancing age. Though there are people who start graying in their teens. That's just not extremely common.

[@juneroberts5305]

I was completely grey at age 29. My mother at age 20. Luck of the genetic draw is the only thing that determines when one starts going grey.

[@debbielangton8371]

Wen a plane goes over a certain channel on tv ya can hear the pilot😂😂

[@gratefulobserver7742]

Please narrate some other authors. A pleasure to listen to!

[@mckavitt13]

V much enjoyed. Thank you, Greg, for your wonderful accents & different voices for each character, in this one v deftly performed as to the sportsman enquiring. Question: May I assume you are reading from the Project Gutenberg editions? I ask because the spellings & hence many of the pronunciations & even words are Americanised in usage. Learned instead of learnt, leash instead of lead, leaped instead of leapt & so on, which I find regrettable, as Americans always understood British English, through exposure to British literature & film... until deprived of these, sometime in the early 80s. There are of course 100% British editions of Conan Doyle’s works, i.e., as he penned them, but perhaps not available online, more’s the pity. PS: Google just corrected my more’s to moore’s!!! To give you only one example of American know-not-how. 😉

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

I have no recollection. I have used Gutenberg and other paper versions. The variations don’t strike me as being problematic. Leash / lead - it doesn’t bother me.

[@mckavitt13]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio Are you British? If you are, I am surprised... because in British usage it has always been called lead. We Americans should be aware of the differences... as they are considerable, significant & of interest. We were aware before our most regrettable global media takeover. PS. Every British author published in the US today is "edited" to make Americans more comfortable in their complaisant belief that anything different is wrong. Can they not make the adjustment as I did as a little child? Should Harry Potter have been "translated" into American English... if we were not so v ignorant that even kids' parents couldn't help them today as mine did me? "Look it up" worked every time.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Yes, I'm British, English. And I would usually say lead. If I come across leash it doesn't ruffle me. Sometimes I don't notice. I often notice the spellings - color, colour, etc. That sometimes grates. I agree with you that Harry Potter should not require adaptation. But then beef in America is ground down to the most digestible consistency. I feel sorrier for the francophone countries having to deal with 'le weekend' etc. Dumb and dumber. See Gibbons.

[@mckavitt13]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audioThanks for your sympathetic answer. I live in France &, believe me, they gladly renounce their own language to be like the "cool" Americans, unconscious of the irony of borrowing words from an English vocabulary largely derived from their own (French). The USA is dumbing down sans cesse on a global level. It began there, tho'. How sad is that?

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Did it really begin in the USA? I suspect the forces of 'dumbing down' and the opposite (?) exist everywhere and at all times, sans frontières. Is that accent right? Dunno.

[@francescaemc2]

grazie!!!

[@NicolasDifroscia-jc8sn]

Nice ❤

[@debbielangton8371]

Mr Merryweather 🙌🙏

[@debbielangton8371]

Mmm it could be underground cable still 🤔🤔👻👻

[@debbielangton8371]

Its not my fault I have super sonic hearing 🤣🤣

[@NickDiFroscia]

Back to reality ❣️

[@debbielangton8371]

Ive grew up with these names😂😂

[@NickDiFroscia-s4y]

Back to reality ❣️.

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

So disappointed that the story wasn't about pocket change.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Ha!

[@upster1967au]

Please say "Room" not Rum 😅😂 great stories, awesome narration ❤

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Captain Morgan’s Room. ;-)

[@NickDiFroscia]

I know Silverton has

[@debbielangton8371]

Hostage by is grandad 🤔🤔

[@debbielangton8371]

Mr overton 🤣🤣🙌🕳️i was born overton road 😂 Google changed it to claydon road🤔🤔👻👻

[@kishalagi]

Who is the suspect

[@debbielangton8371]

Who changed bailey 💰💸😂

[@debbielangton8371]

Merrydale 🏫 school 😊😊🤫

[@robertviencek507]

😄

[@dumbgenius1232]

I want to read about Sherlock on weed

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Get some then

[@debbielangton8371]

Cable tv😂

[@NickDiFroscia]

Cocaine is not my favorite.i. enjoyed a lot worse Dr Watson 😅

[@rustyhook69]

🎉❤🎉

[@annwebster4303]

I have been listening to your stories for the past couple of months. It is amazing to me how you can read and change characters so effortlessly! So very impressive! Thank you for all of your time and efforts in bringing S. H. to life in my mind.

[@babybooandherhumandeb3188]

Thank you

[@carolgriffin8290]

I Enjoy the book's please keep them coming can't get enough of them

[@NedFlanderina]

I love listening to your Sherlock Holmes readings and do so very frequently. I only wish you’d also make them available on a separate website since KZbin keeps giving you a hard time.

[@MerjemBejtić]

i don't know if anyone's said this to you before, but your voice when speaking like Sherlock sounds a bit like the late jeremy brett, and he was the best holmes in my opinion.. btw thanks a lot for these, the best stories and perfectly read!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

He was the best. I guess I can't get his performance out of my head. cheers Merjem.

[@maddysharma2908]

❤ from india!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Hello Maddy! Thank you!

[@paulgarland3140]

Absolutely superb!!

[@kirstydougan601]

Amazing work do mor

[@sockmonkey22]

Spoiler alert… Yeah! A doggy!❤️

[@jessicaellina3878]

Haha! Yes, and for once not a half starved monstrous brute ready to tear one,s throat out!😂

[@robroberts1473]

Mr Holmes where have you lived! Lol

[@NickDiFroscia]

He is so much a gentleman. When you listen to the grammar that's associated with the story. It's so fasnting to learn proper English.❤

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Absolutely!

[@xSUZUKI]

If the doctor was such a good friend how come he charged him 15 guineas ?

[@debbielangton8371]

It got charged 🤣 1977😂

[@debbielangton8371]

Mr Hawkins 😅 weres he

[@xSUZUKI]

Sorry 13 guineas

[@debbielangton8371]

Ehhhh

[@debbielangton8371]

Godfrey mm on the money 💰💸

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Say what, Debbie?

[@olefredrikskjegstad5972]

I find this story pretty sad and affecting. To me it comes across like a story about prejudice, with the ultimate tragedy being that this man was forced to keep his wife a secret, and thus couldn’t even go to be with her at her deathbed without seeming to mysteriously disappear. Very bleak in that way.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Bleak yes! But very human in lots of ways! Cheers OFS

[@berrybuena]

This one made me sad. 😔

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Yes. It's a shame there aren't more in this vein.

[@stevequizodlibumpbumpbump3575]

Defrauded his uncle. All of the principals were in the wrong.

[@mijiyoon5575]

👍👍👍🌹💖

[@gemmacastrillon2301]

VISTO 1/9\20

[@skankhunt1624]

good listen. missing a sex scene in my opinion though

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Possibly. In a parallel universe. Thanks Skank!

[@sharmisthaiyer3632]

Sex scene?????? Haven't you ever read Sherlock Holmes before??

[@jamesmason8052]

The closest you’ll get to a sex scene is possibly the climax you get from listening to Sherlock Holmes