Very obvious mystery

The story is short and moves quickly. The story introduces multiple characters but it soon becomes obvious as to the criminal. The evidence is also lacking so luckily the criminal confesses everything or they would never have been convinced.

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A very nice listening experience.

This was a very easy listening experience. The author, characters and narrator were very good.

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Nice and Easy

Good story no explicit murder descriptions. Easy and enjoyable listening. would listen to another one in the series. Books like this are godsend too on very long motorway drives.

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1 person found this helpful

Hazel Martin mysterys a must read!

excellent storyline and storytelling well worth the time to listen. kept me interested all the way through, period details and settings brilliantly correct.

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Relaxing and entertaining novel

Good characterisation and enough twists to keep one entertained.
I would line to read the rest of the series but will hope they come into the same selection as they are too short to spend a whole credit on ... hence the 4 stars

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easy listening cosy mystery

it was a gentle and pleasant story, with a relatively well thought out mystery, nothing terribly unexpected.

For a story set in England, the author does tend to mix up American English and British English quite frequently, e.g. trash can instead of waste paper basket and a number of other words though not enough to overly jar. Also native wildlife seems to be chosen from North American Native birds (Chickadee and Bluejay) rather than British Garden birds, such as sparrows and finches.

A little more research to better represent the era and country the story is set in would elevate the story a little further, but it was pleasant enough

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2 people found this helpful

Good story- silly mistakes

This is the first Leanne Dodds book I have listened to and I did enjoy it. It was a good plot although I have to say my enjoyment was somewhat marred by some silly errors. I appreciate the author is American but if you are going to set a book in 1920's England you really must get the language right. For example the author keeps using American English words and expressions that would not have been common place in the England of the time e.g vacation instead of holiday and cookie instead of biscuit. also the phrase "run interference" is an Americanism and wouldn't be used by an English lady in the 20s.

Initially Ms Dodds has a constable take charge of the investigation. No way would a murder ever be entrusted to lowly constable not even for half a minute.

I don't want to give any spoilers but it was also disappointing that she had the heroine discuss a clue with the detective before actually discovering the clue in the next chapter!!

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Good story spoilt by the American language

Good story but I soon realised it was written by an American author who obviously does not know much about England especially in the the early 1900's . If they want to publish in England they shoukd use an English editor to avoid using words like "gotten" constantly irritating and whoever is an "estate heweller" or an "Estate auction" presumably a place to buy estate's 🤔😂 " figure it out" and other annoying Americanised English words and expressions.

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Easy listening but lacks authenticity

I was a little confused at the start as there were incongruences that kept getting in the way, terminology and historic inaccuracies that jarred and it lost credibility.

For example: American words like trash bin were used; a bedroom would have a waste paper basket. Also, the protagonist lived in a manor house with staff but had been married to a police inspector, which was highly unlikely in 1920s England (huge class difference). I thought it might have been set in the US but the narrator used an English accent. A quick search revealed the author is a modern American - nothing wrong with this! - which explained the lack of authenticity. I then let go of the mistakes and just focused on the story.

Last niggle: the protagonist is 38 but sounds like she's Miss Marple, in her 70s!

Even after all these negative comments, it was a relatively pleasant way to pass a long drive!

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Nice only because it was free, won’t spend a credit on the next one

Overall the book is pleasant and easy, suitable to keep you company if you spend many hours driving like I do.

The plot is typical of other period cozy crimes, but rather predictable.

The narrator is good, but the cat… honestly the cat was so irritating for me (and I’m a cat lover!), it ruined the listening.

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1 person found this helpful