Category: Audiobook

A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman

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A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder (Countess of Harleigh Mystery #1)

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5
Series: Countess of Harleigh Mystery #1
Publication Date: 6/28/18
Period: Victorian – 1899 London
Number of Pages: 290

I started this series by reading the 3rd book first – because that is the one I had. I enjoyed it so much that I continued and read each subsequent book in the series as it came out. I’ve enjoyed all of them so much that I decided to go back and read the first two books in the series. I wondered if I would enjoy the first two less because I already knew where things were headed. Well, the answer is – it actually enhanced my enjoyment because of the anticipation and excitement of awaiting what would happen.

Frances Wynn, American-born Countess of Harleigh, finds herself a widow at the ripe old age of twenty-seven. While she had the misfortune to be a bit infatuated with her husband before they married, they weren’t a love match, and what he loved was her money. It now seems her brother-in-law and sister-in-law are just as grasping as Reggie was, and they are determined to keep her underfoot and control her fortune. Now that the year of mourning is over, she is determined to wrench herself, her daughter, and her fortune away from the new earl and his wife.

Almost as soon as she gets settled into her new London home, she receives word her sister and aunt are on their way from America to stay with her during the season. She’s both delighted and dismayed.

Someone has it in for Frances because almost as soon as she gets moved in, a police detective shows up on her doorstep asking questions about the death of her husband. It seems they’ve received an anonymous letter saying that the Earl of Harleigh may not have died by natural causes and they might want to look at his wife for the crime. Who could bear such animosity? Surely not her brother-in-law! Who then?

Frances has her hands full trying to juggle her sister’s three suitors, a police detective, her in-laws, and her new neighbor, George Hazelton. George is one of two other people who know the circumstances of Reggie’s death and it embarrasses Frances to come face-to-face with him. Yet, she needs his friendship and his help.

This was a fun and entertaining read. I loved the wit and humor even when the circumstances were serious. You’ll chuckle when you read the circumstances of Reggie’s death and the aftermath.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I enjoyed the voice of the narrator. Her delivery, however, was a bit choppy on occasion. The voices she used for the different characters were each distinct from the others.

I can definitely recommend this read and, should you choose to read it, I hope you will find it as entertaining as I did.

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In the Shadow of Croft Towers by Abigail Wilson

On By BarbaraIn Audiobook, Barb's Reviews, Gothic Historical, Historical Mystery, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

In the Shadow of Croft TowersBarbara’s rating: 3.4 of 5 Stars
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: 1/1/19
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: Audiobook (10 Hours) – Narrator Laura Kirman

I enjoyed the story, but I can tell you – if this had been the first book I read by this author, I probably wouldn’t have sought others. It isn’t that it wasn’t a nice mystery, it is that the heroine is TSTL. She makes some of the most convoluted, impulsive decisions, and those put others at risk as well. I love strong, resilient, independent heroines – but they also need to make intelligent, thoughtful, deliberative decisions rather than acting on impulse. I’ve now read all of the books written by this author and her heroines seem to be, for the most part, TSTL. That didn’t keep me from enjoying the mystery part of the book. I do emphasize mystery because there is little romance and no steam. For me, that isn’t a problem, but if you like a bit of steam, you need to look for books from a different publisher.

Whew! There is so much going on in this book that it will make your head spin. There is a house full of distantly related people and none of them are what they seem. Sybil Delafield arrives amidst this pack of wolves and is immediately prey to one or all of them. Can she escape unscathed? The danger goes from being held up by highwaymen to being pursued by the Prince Regent’s Dragoons. There are just too many secrets and too many people with different agendas.

Sybil Delafield had a happy life, but she’d always wondered about her parents. Since no one would reveal her parentage, she assumed she was born on the wrong side of the blanket, but still wanted to know as much as she could learn. Receiving a letter and a gift from the Earl of Stanton made her believe there was a connection to Croft Towers, so when the matriarch of Croft Towers needed a companion, Sybil immediately applied.

She arrives at Croft Towers soaked to the bone and freezing. She got indifferent welcomes from the various residents of the house and wasn’t sure what to make of them. To her, it didn’t matter because she was there to act as a companion to Mrs. Chalcroft. However, almost immediately Mrs. Chalcroft asks her to make clandestine deliveries for her. Those deliveries were at dangerous times and places, but Sybil complied with the request. I did enjoy watching her struggle with how she felt about Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Cantrell. In one story you have multiple plots/sub-plots – there is a blackmailer, a smuggler, a murderer, and a spy and it is up to you to keep it all straight as you weave through the story. We could have done without several of those plots and villains and still had a lovely story.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Laura Kirman. I’ve listened to her narrations before and the only issue I had were with the male voices. However, in this book I found the delivery to be just a bit choppy. It wasn’t anything that really jarred me out of the story, but it was noticeable. As in her previous narrations, her interpretation of a male voice is to be guttural and, in some cases, very slow – as in a US Southern drawl.

All in all, I enjoyed the story and I’m glad I got to meet Mr. Sinclair and Sybil. That said, it wouldn’t be a book I would re-read.

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