The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham

 

 

By: Merryn Allingham

Narrated by: Charlie Norfolk

(A Flora Steele Mystery, Book 1)

In the quiet little town of Abbymead you will find a bookshop, the “All’s Well”.  The proprietor Flora Steel has inherited the place from her beloved late Aunt Violet.  While Flora does her best to keep the shop running, a dead body found between the stacks has dire effects on business, as well as, of course, the poor young chap lying there dead. Flora senses something is not right with the sudden death and enlists the help of the village recluse and crime author Jack Carrington to delve deeper into the mystery in the hopes of getting business back on track.

The story moves along at a decent pace and keeps you interested.  You get a good look at the determination of Flora and for those that like a bit of romance mixed into the mystery there is that as well.  There are a few avenues for suspects and motives so the reader has a few theories they can follow.  The book does have a nice English cozy feel.

The narrator does a nice job overall.  The character voices can be distinguished but not greatly so.  The articulation and speed are on point.

I would give this book four stars as I would recommend it to others looking for a nice cozy read that sets the stage for the series.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

By: Colin Heintze

Narrated by: Nigel Peever

 

Ingerval is a land where funerals are joyous occasions to be celebrated and nobles return as the “undying”.  At least that is what is supposed to happen.  For one King, that is not the case; and his youngest son, Syphax, sets out to discover why. Syphax is a fair man, but not one that likes politics and the power it can bring like his other brothers do.  Nonetheless, he is called to the palace after hearing that his father is dying, which ends up putting him smack dab into a tumultuous battle not only in the literal sense, but also metaphysically. 

While I admit it took a bit to figure out where things were headed, as the story unfolds you get a much better grip on the characters and the tale being told.  It is a unique one that I quite enjoyed.  It is worth hanging in there to find out more. The characters grow on you and begin to take you in to their realm.  As any good story should, you end up rooting for the good guys and disliking the bad guys proving you have an emotional connection to the story.

The narrator does an excellent job giving you an old world feel which ties in perfectly with the account of Syphax and his experiences. The narrator also does a nice job of changing voices to help you discern different characters.  I did enjoy having the background sounds and music, but at times it drowned out the narration and so was a bit distracting. Also, at the beginning at least, the audio sounds a bit hollow. 

I would give this book four stars as I would recommend it to others for the distinctive story line and superb narration, even though there were some issues with the audio and background accompaniments as previously noted.