Sherlock Holmes audiobooks in order
Fry recorded the entire canon with personal introductions to each volume. Free public-domain recordings also exist, of very variable quality.
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Arthur Conan DoyleNarrated by Stephen Fry (the complete set) · 9 books, including 5 short-story collectionsPhoto: Walter Benington · Public domain · cropped, via Wikimedia CommonsWhich order should you listen in?
Publication order below. In practice the collections can be listened to in any order — only A Study in Scarlet (the meeting) and The Final Problem / The Empty House really need their place.
On screen: Endless, From the silent era. Every series here that has been adapted for the screen →
Sherlock Holmes in publication order
- 1
A Study in Scarlet (1887)Sold as several recordings: which to buy - 2
The Sign of the Four (1890)Sold as several recordings: which to buy - 3
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)Sold as several recordings: which to buy - 4
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)Sold as several recordings: which to buy - 5
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)Sold as several recordings: which to buy - 6
The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)Sold as several recordings: which to buy - 7
The Valley of Fear (1915)Sold on Audible UK inside a collection - 8
His Last Bow (1917)Sold on Audible UK inside a collection - 9
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)Sold on Audible UK inside a collection
Watch out for the graded readers
1 of these books is also sold as a graded reader — the text rewritten to a controlled vocabulary for people learning English, listed under the book’s own title and costing the same single credit as the novel. It runs 47 mins, which reads like an ordinary abridgement in a list of results.
On Audible the line under the title says what it is, so read that line, not just the title, before you buy. They are perfectly good products for the audience they are written for. They are just not the novel.
| Book | Level under the title on Audible | Narrator | Length on Audible |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | CEFR level A1+ (ELT Graded Reader) | Karen Kovacs | 47 mins |
It is on Audible too — found in a sweep of Audiobooks.com on 10 September 2026, then looked up title by title on Audible, where the listing was last read on 11 September 2026. It is listed there under the plain novel title and web address — only the line beneath the title says what it is. How to spot one →
Which recording should you buy?
6 books in this series are sold as more than one recording. Each comparison says which to buy and why:
- The Hound of the Baskervilles15 recordings compared
- A Study in Scarlet12 recordings compared
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes14 recordings compared
- The Sign of the Four18 recordings compared
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes9 recordings compared
- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes13 recordings compared