Elayne62

I have now listened to all 4 of the Inspector Hobbes books and they are EXCELLANT. TIM CAMPBELL IS A BRILLIANT NARRATOR, I hope there will be more books in this series and if there is please DO NOT CHANGE THE NARRATOR....😆😆😆

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1 person found this helpful

Hobbes is great, Andy is tedious.

Hobbes is a great character. The protagonist, Andy, is tedious, entitled, petty & passively misogynistic. His semi-redemption at the end is unlikely but a great relief. Tim Campbell’s narration is 95% great. He is particularly good at Hobbes, and giving each character a unique voice. It’s true his occasional odd pronunciation jars a bit but it wasn’t a deal breaker. The setting & supernatural elements are great fun and I want to find out more. If I can get past spending so much time with Andy. A female character who does something other than housework or villainy would be nice.

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Enjoyable yarn

I really liked this book. Hobbs is such a character. A strange fun filled tale

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amusing story

The story was entertaining enough, but I felt the narrator was a little stilted, with an accent that was plummy event when doing "common" voices...

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Odd Pronunciations Put Me Off...Couldn't Finish

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The story itself is great, as is the writing and the characters. Initially I really liked the narrator too but then I noticed his odd pronunciations on certain words, 'thot' instead of 'thought' was the worst one, it came up a lot and once I had noticed it, it was like a little annoying poke each time, then other words like 'brek-fest' 'reck-ed' (record) just as two examples. It really spoiled it for me and I stopped listening, going to buy the physical book instead so I can finish the story!

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10 people found this helpful

great writing

I love this author too. very refreshing to detective stories. please write more Wilkie Martin :)
and this narrator is fantastic! perfect match

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superb

loved it. superb story line... narration... characters... humour... and twists. highly recommend it. reading the next in the series now.

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Interesting start to a new series

Although I found the character ‘Andy’ a little annoying, the story and the possible future information about the different characters has me already downloading the next book in the series. Just hoping Andy, if he’s still around, matures a little - you can’t keep blaming your parents!

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A surprising delight of flight & fantasy

Well the sample didn't really give much away, barely piqueing my curiosity but I was looking for something along the vein of recent reads & decided to give it a spin. Definitely a spin worth spinning on 😉 Well read, despite a limited range compared to other single narrators I've heard, but delightful to hear nonetheless.

The story, though not gripping, kept my interest wholly focused & I was reluctant to switch off when employment got in the way....or dinner, sleep, talking to the family 😀 It's a cleverly written story, though seems to have been written in a way that would translate perfectly to television but this is not a criticism as such - plenty of witty one liners along the vein of 'Airplane - The Movie' with "...Yes I am serious and don't call me Shirley...".

Subtle, engaging & delivered very well, a delight to hear, a good escape into a fantastical slightly otherworldly present day and well worth sticking with throughout.

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I loved every minute.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable listen, filled with humour and brilliantly descriptive comedic scenes that had me laughing from the first chapter. The main protagonists are just so likeable- Andy is a fallable and somewhat hapless man whose intelligence and self awareness however, prevent him from becoming farcical. There is more than a little resemblance to the wonderful Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole in him, and as funny as his exploits are, his character has real warmth and sensitivity, and I felt genuine compassion for him. Hobbes is superb; a wonderful balance of human and unhuman characteristics . This huge man is a formidable and savvy police inspector with some inexplicable and alarming behaviours underpinned by a strong moral code and genuine tenderness and compassion. My life is much in need of Inspector Hobbes. Mrs Goodfellow is an eccentric housekeeper who superbly defies the conventions of old age . She looks after her "boys" with an enviable vigour but never descends into tweeness- largely in part because of her gruesome collection of teeth.
It's a beautifully written book, Wilkie Martin's prose flows easily, sweeping the listener along with it. It is never clichéd or hackneyed, offering unusual similies that contributed to my vivid mental picture of the book's events.
A few reviews spoke of disliking the narration and I know that preference for a narrator is a very personal thing, but I was so impressed by Tim Campbell. His beautiful and resonant voice was pitched perfectly, and he did a fantastic job of giving the characters life. Again, I had no issue with his pronunciation at all and found his cut glass English accent a delight.
I am thrilled to have discovered these books and intend downloading the three successive novels this weekend. If you are a fan of Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant books, I think this will appeal to you. But even if you are not, I would still suggest you give this entertaining book a go.

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