I'd listen to every nation's agricultural report if Greg Wagland read it. He is the best in the business. More please!

Greg Wagland, what a gift you are in a world that seems at times to have gone mad. Thank you for this story, which I had not previously read. As always, your heartfelt narration is masterful, near perfect, delivered with wit, warmth and precision. I no longer listen to “news” in the morning, of any description, but start my day with a dose of Magpie Audio. I highly recommend it to all!!!!

A wonderful pastiche. It flowed with the same pace, language & direction. It had none of the unending jarring moments which leaped out at me from the pages of The Three Gables.

102 years after this tale was published, it enthralls as much now as it probably did at the time of its first reading. Very charming a tale of a crime that remains prevalent even in today's miscreants' minds or those in desparate financial situations. So very well brought to life by the cadence of the very talented and marvelously skilled voice of Mr. Wagland. Thank you, Mr. Wagland by bringing this story to us. This is another story I had never read or heard of before your delightful presentation. What a pure gift you are, Mr. Wagland for those of us who love stories and theatre of the mind. Blessings to you, Sir. And thank you for sharing your gifts of your skill and talents and this timeless tale of crafty human nature.

It's always a delight to listen to you. Never, ever stop. The pastiches are a great idea, we love Sherlock and Watson together in any story.

So wonderful to listen to a story with Sherlock & Watson that I hadn’t heard before. I absolutely loved it and rang very true for me as an original Sherlock Holmes story. Thank you so very much for recording it. Quite the enjoyable hour😊

you're my favorite narrator. something about your voice and acting of all the characters is magical, thank you.

Thank you! Words can’t describe how much I love to listen to this channel’s audiobooks - be it Sherlock Holmes’ stories or anything else. When time allows, mood strikes, opportunity arises - please do venture into other authors! Although there is a particular detective holding a special place in my heart, I’m very much aware of limited number of stories we can enjoy. I’m extremely grateful for every nugget of literature gold that I encounter here. At risk of repeating myself - thank you :) (side note - English is not my native language, I hope I've managed to get my point across)

A jewel cased, leather bound pre-print?!? Utter nonsense! Also, in opposition to the works of Conan Doyle I knew early, who the thief was, which I find strange... what kind of difference is that? But what a joy to listen to! Ah, the kind of language people spoke, or at least wrote, back then! Plus no one ever satisfies me as Holmes, or Watson, since I've stumbled unto Magpie Audio. Thank you for your tireless, and gorgeous work, Mr. Wagland. Hoping KZfaq finally treats you with the respect you deserve.

Starrett does wonderfully to use the same language as Doyle, while injecting smart touches of self-awareness (Holmes telling the baronet that he should know better than to have the obvious conclusion be the correct one based on all his other adventures) and loving satire (it just so happens that Holmes has written a monograph on the effects of an emotional shock on 1,200(!) different professions). Good stuff.

this is a open message to everyone who listens to this channel. I am a fervent listener of podcast in audiobooks. Mr. Greg wagland is truly THE G.O.A.T if you don't know what the goat is, look it up, I put him up against top narrators Greg is truly amazing with each character having a different and distinct voice and personality I'm writing to implore everyone who enjoys and appreciates the top-notch work he brings to everyone to go to his patron a give $1 he has 100000 subs and he never asked for money like so many others do I would love him to put out much more great content and would be very saddened if he stopped he is F ing brilliant thanks for reading this and hopefully everyone can dig deep for that dollar...FLORIDA JOE

How delightful to have a new Holmes story just when I'm under the weather! And a bibliophile's special at that. I'm only a third of the way through, but I already have my suspicions about what's happened to the volume in question...

Brilliant Greg!! Very happy to see a new one! And yes….this is waaaaaaaaay better (or at least closer to ACD) than the Lupin one!

I love listening to the sherlock Holmes audio books when I'm going to sleep it's very relaxing listening to these stories I feel like a little kid again with someone reading me a bedtime story to put me to sleep I fall asleep everytime listening to all these Sherlock Holmes stories I love the accent it's very soothing .

Seeing the notification of this upload I immediately started to suspect Greg of secretly monitoring my browser history, because this pastiche is definitely one of my most favorite! Thank you for making Thursdays great again 👏🏾❤️🔥🇳🇱

This reads like a very loving fanfiction of the works of ACD. Well matched in tone and inspired by the canonical stories.

You’ve done it once again Mr Greg! What a wonderful story! One of the best non ACD stories I’ve heard so far! It’s always a good day when you post :) I hope you do more non ACD stories in the future!

Thank you Greg, it's always nice to find a new story to enlighten the imagination!

Splendid! Greg, agree wholeheartedly that Starret’s pastiche of Doyle here performed perfectly by you is amazing. Thank you for locating and performing it in your inimitable fashion! I loved the deep pathos you encapsulated juxtaposed to Holmes logical expressions

Waking up at 6:30AM because of my noisy neighbor: bad. Waking up early to find a new Magpie story waiting for me: good. So it all balances out. Thanks for a nice surprise!

Love listening to your audiobooks while I am working 😊 Your voice is perfect for Sherlock. Thank you for sharing your great work 👍

This was wonderful! Thank you Greg!

Thank you Greg . simple and to the point.and with Hugh respect and appreciation.

So excited for a new story!!!

A wonderful reading (as ever) of one of the very best non-canonical stories.

Greg, my favorite Holmes hands down!

Aaaahhhhh! Just wonderful! Thank you again, Mr. Wagland for sharing your gift of storytelling and characterizations. A pure delight😊

Exciting! Looking forward to listening to you perform this for us.

Thank you Greg! I really enjoy your stories keeping me company. I hope you are well. Thank you for reading these for us. (You knew me as Charles Tree)

Once again you made my day. It is a special day when a new story from you pops up in my feed, Tank you so much for a bedtime treat! 🥰😍😘❣️❣️❣️

It was excellent I really enjoyed it. Thanks

Excited to see this venture into pastiche territory. I heartily recommend those by Nicholas Meyer as well.

What a fun story! Thanks for all your hard work and delightful content!

Although the story is a bit beneath Doyle, it is beautifully embellished and with you as the characters, is as close at it will ever get.

What a glorious voice!

Ah, what a lovely present! Literally... happy birthday to me! Thank you, for another totally absorbing reading of another unique story!

When I saw this I clicked on it so quickly now I'm in for the treat. Thanks, Greg you are truly the best.

Thank you, great reading of a very good pastiche.

Thank you for this! Hopefully you'll do more of the worthy ones, such as from Adrian Doyle's Exploits of Sherlock Holmes.

An elegant read of a decidedly inelegant pastiche of elements of genuine ACD stories.

A truly delightful pastiche *Thank You Greg*

Very enjoyable. Thank you!

Perfect listening for a rainy day. Loving this channel.

This was delicious to hear; a story that sounded much like Sir Doyle (because the author lifted lines and situations from ACD) and teetered, here and there, into straight faced parody. Very enjoyable!

Great listening on any cold New England night.

This one was fun. A terrific narration. Thank you, again Greg.

a quality story, Sir Arthur would appove !

So many pastiches are heavy handed. This is wonderfully understated.

Delightful in both writing and performance.

This is by waaaaay the best of the pastiches

This is like variations on Sherlock Holmes. Ideas from Beryl Coronet, Priory School, Yellow Face, Charles Augustus Milverton, The Naval Treaty, Boscombe Valley Mystery, Silver Blaze, Solitary cyclist and a bit of a Case of Identity and the Red Circle creeping in at the end. It's extremely clever.

Wooohooooo!! 🎉Greg! So happy right now! Thank you!

Sir, your reading is clinical perfection.......your talent makes it so pleasant for listeners.... .....many sincere thanks to you for such dilligent recording and. Sharing of a superb reading. Of. A story............. these stories are more than suitable for the purposes of audio books....... Again ....many sincere thanks indeed vin

Reminds me how good SACD was. 'Linen tape measure" some details distract so your mind drifts from the story thinking about a linen tape measure. SACD never drew the readers attention away. from the story.

Superb reading in every detail ☺️☺️☺️ and thankyou for posting.

It was a great story! Very Holmesian!

Thanks for your super work. Blessings to all

Oooo, thank you Mr, Wagland,

The random details make it clear that this was historical fiction. I'm enjoying it. Just up to the opening, but it already reminds me of the Beryl Coronet.

Many thanks. Perfect voice acting

Lovely, just lovely.

Greg Wagland always the best voice. Thank you so much Sir. Cheers

GREAT reading, pal.

Loved it, thanks, from the Caribbean

Superb reading. Thank you.

Superb edition!

Excellent, fella, thank you! 😀♥️

Very good adaptation of the Conan Doyle style!

Incredible book. Incredible narration

Dear Greg, a great upload as always, as noticed you move towards pastiches and other established works in wich sherlock holmes appears. May I suggest reading the Dupin trilogy by Edgar Allan Poe, one of my favourite detective works and it greatly inspired Doyle. I would love to listen to your adaptation of it, and perhaps more Poe short stories, Marlzel's Chess Player and The Balloon-Hoax, two anthologies made up from his newspaper articles in wich Poe reasons and reveals the hoaxes.

An excellent tale and reading thank you.

Brilliant! As always

Excellent! Both the story and the reading first rate!

Dear Greg, Thank you so much for your Sherlock Holmes uploads! Holmes is tied with L from Death Note as my favorite character because of your videos :) (I have a type it seems haha) I have a question that I think you're uniquely qualified to help with, if you have time. I'm researching for an essay about SH, and I'm wondering: do you consider Holmes to be a flat character or round character? Some people online say he's flat, and others (fewer) say he's round, all with equal confidence. Having listened to all but 1 of the original SH canon (Not finished with Valley of Fear yet) on your channel, I want to argue that he's somewhat round. Holmes is a complex person. He upholds the law yet breaks it sometimes to accomplish his missions, he has both a rational (detective work) and dreamy (music) mind, he dislikes when people applaud him for his work yet has a performative, narcissistic streak and enjoys praise, he scoffs at deep social relationships yet cares for Watson). It seems like the more of his stories I read, the more round he seems. To someone who read only a handful of stories or who only know Holmes from second-hand exposure, he would feel more flat. It's hard to find someone else who's read almost all the 62 original Holmes stories, so your opinion would be invaluable. :) I'm curious: do you agree with this assessment? Do you think SH is round or flat?

Very well read and story.

A great story, many thanks.

... at last ! One more treat ! 🙂🙏🏼🖖🏼

Greg Wagland is wonderful . Thank you very much! Please send me websites that feature additional audio stories by Greg Wagland and other men. Thank you very much!!

Excellent, as always.

Thank you. I Iove being read to by you.

Your nigel bruce and basil rathbone good! And that says a lot!

Nice surprise to see this .thanks for another wonderful reading .

... Of books! 😂👍 The timing is perfect. I have the feeling you also "pastiched" your Holmes reading style! 😁

Ahh, he made the same entrance as Thornycroft Huxtable, PhD!

Awesome reading!

More pastiches please!

Wonderful tail well read. Thank you.

That was fun. Thanks. 👍🏼

Well read by Greg, as always. The pastiche is morally doubtful in a way that Conan Doyle's authentic works never are. The fate of Miles, for example is left out of account, since this is 1920 and Miles, a mere underling, is to the author a cipher, a moral zero. To take such a view, as an author, is an offence against caritas-- and Conan Doyle was innocent of such authorial crime. As James Joyce notes: "The crucial question about any work of art is from how deep a life it springs."

Sounds a lot like the originals. In my experience, that is a rare thing.

I know this is a useless and silly comment, but the word pastiche always puts me in the mood for my favourite flavour of ice cream. If I weren't already in bed I'd run across to the shop and get a pint.

A delightfully "aproxamation". Much thanks. 46:52

Been quite busy. Just catching up. Thank you as always, Greg. Mahe Ohna ✌️ Favour to you and ALL

It started with my obsession with Sherlocks audio stories and now i am addicted to Mr. Greg's voice.

Gosh, its a bit over the top, isnt it! I like the nod to "the curious case of the dog in the nighttime".

Happy Christmas Greg! 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Great ❤

Excellent narrative .

👏 Bravo Sir!

Fantastic!