Richard T. Ryan has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 2 narrators. The most-rated is Through a Glass Starkly.
The Merchant of Menace: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure
Summary
Reluctantly, Sherlock Holmes agrees to assist Inspector Lestrade who is being hounded by an obnoxious nobleman whose jewel-encrusted dagger has gone missing. However, what Holmes initially believes to be a simple theft turns out instead to be his first encounter with a master criminal, who is as ruthless as he is brilliant and whom Watson dubs "The Merchant of Menace". Soon, Holmes finds himself matching wits with a man who will steal anything - if the price is right. Moreover, this thief will go to any lengths, including blackmail and murder, to achieve his desired goal. As Holmes comes to understand his adversary, he also begins to realize he can only react to the Merchant because he has no idea where this criminal mastermind will strike next. All Holmes knows for certain is the Merchant seems to specialize in priceless, one-of-a-kind articles. Will that be enough information for the great detective to outwit his foe? From the British Museum to the Louvre to Blenheim Palace, Holmes finds himself in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Set against the backdrop of early Edwardian England, the detective and his Boswell encounter an array of luminaries from the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough to a young Winston Churchill. For fans of Conan Doyle's immortal detective, the game is always afoot. However, this time around, Holmes must try to bring to justice a villain who might well be the next Napoleon of Crime.
©2019 Richard Ryan (P)2019 MX Publishing
The Druid of Death
Summary
On the morning of the vernal equinox in 1899, Holmes is roused from his bed by Lestrade. The inspector has received a report of a girl brutally murdered at Stonehenge.
Upon arriving at the famed site, Holmes discovers the body of a young woman. On her forehead, painted in blood, is a druidic symbol. On her side, also in blood, is a message written in a strange language that neither Holmes nor Lestrade can decipher. The girl was also eviscerated and her organs placed around her body. As a final touch, branches from yew trees had been artistically arranged around the corpse.
Holmes senses a malevolent force at work, but without data, he is powerless. As the weeks pass, he slowly gathers information about the ancient druids and Celtic mythology and begins to assemble a small army of experts to assist him.
Expecting the killer to strike again on the summer solstice, Holmes and Watson travel to the Nine Ladies in Derbyshire, the site of another stone circle that harkens to druidic times. While they are holding their vigil, Lestrade and his men are off keeping watch over the stone circles at Avebury and several other locations.
The Great Detective's worst fears are realized when on the morning of the summer solstice, he learns that the body of a young man has been discovered in the eye of the White Horse of Uffington. Like the first victim, he too has been marked with a druidic symbol and his body bears a message. Aside from the symbol and the message, the only other difference appears to be that his body and organs have been surrounded by willow branches.
Realizing full well that a maniac reminiscent of the Ripper is on the loose, Holmes and Watson find themselves in a race against time as they try to locate the cult, identify the killer and prevent another tragedy.
©2018 Rich Ryan (P)2018 MX Publishing
Through a Glass Starkly
Summary
After surviving an attempt on his life in Paris, Sherlock Holmes returns to London, where the great detective is almost immediately enlisted by his brother to secure the safety of the delegates at a top-secret peace conference. With Europe a veritable powder keg in the years before World War I, Holmes understands any misstep on his part could prove fatal and possibly plunge the continent into war. However, after pledging to do his utmost for "King and Country", Holmes suddenly finds himself overwhelmed by an onslaught of cases. An old friend requests his assistance in recovering a priceless manuscript which has gone missing from the British Museum. Accused of accepting bribes from a smuggling ring, Inspector Lestrade, who has been suspended from Scotland Yard, turns to Holmes for help. Add in a beautiful newlywed who claims her husband is trying to murder her, and it is easy to see why Watson compares the tasks confronting his friend to the Labours of Hercules. From a secret pied-à-terre in the City of Lights, to the Rare Book Room in the British Museum, to the Whispering Gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral, to the waterfront along the Thames, Holmes and Watson find themselves on the trail of an elusive quarry for whom murder is merely another move in an elaborate game of cat and mouse.
©2020 Richard Ryan (P)2020 MX Publishing