Patricia Cohen

Loved the story, did not like new narrator

Revisado: 07-05-23

I don’t know why they changed narrators for this third book of the series. Fiona Shaw (new narrator) lapses into a breathy almost whisper when she is not doing dialogue making it very difficult to hear in the car. I have to keep adjusting the volume or going back to find out what’s happening.

As far as the story goes, I like the fact that the author delves into the feelings and backstories of the main characters, although I’m sure it is more relevant for older readers (like me) who can identify with all of the things that happen as you grow age. The author really brings the characters to life.

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Decent mystery - poor narration/background color

Revisado: 04-06-23

I am midway through this book and I will listen to the end to see "whodunit" (which is why I gave the Story 3 stars) - BUT, I was very disappointed that the author really did not capture the feeling of the 1940's. He should have done his homework. As one of the other reviewers has already mentioned, he has the main character use the honorific "Ms," and zipcodes are mentioned - neither of these things were created until years later. One of the characters is described as wearing "nosebleed" heels - I have seen countless movies from the 40's and no one is wearing what I would describe as "nosebleed heels." And the main character/narrator keeps talking about hanging around with "journos" (journalists) - again I probably have seen all the old B&W movies that are set in a newspaper or involve journalists - Front Page, His Girl Friday , It Happened One Night - to name some of the most famous, and I do not recall ever hearing a reporter referred to as a "journo." I looked it up and there are negligible mentions of the term until 2019.

Finally, the narrator's performance is not evocative of the 40's either. I can't put my finger on it, but the cadence and tone are just off. Too bad, because I really enjoy a good, old-fashioned noir story. I don't think I will get any more books from this series - I'm just too annoyed neither the author nor the narrator did justice to the genre.

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Great suspenseful Three Pines mystery

Revisado: 01-02-23

I really liked all the previous Inspector Ganache books and tried to figure out the solution to the mysteries a I listened but I was always able to stop listening if I had something else to do. But by the second half of this book, I was totally hooked. This is the kind of suspense that when you pull into your garage you stay there for another 15 minutes because you can’t stop listening. Loved the story and the narrator.

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Dragged on way too long

Revisado: 01-04-22

I finished the story only because I was ironing and really bored. I lost interest in the characters midway through. August’s friends were way “too cool” and stereotypically wacky. Also did not like the narrator’s voice for Jane who was supposed to be a girl from a Chinese family. The narrator made her sound like the men in the story - the voice was way too deep, even for a character who was supposed to be more of a butch lesbian. Jane sounded more like a “bro” than the character she was supposed to be. I could not picture her at all from the voice.

I also thought it was unrealistic in this day and age with all the internet resources available that August’s mother could not find out what happened to her brother.

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Wry entertaining!

Revisado: 08-28-21

Stephen Fry is a great narrator and the anecdotes and overview of the history and manners of the Edwardians was so interesting. Great listen for a car ride as something new was always coming up so you didn’t have to listen closely all the time as you would with a novel.

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Couldn’t stop listening!

Revisado: 10-03-17

Great story - full of insight. The author really captured the complicated relationships of mothers and daughters.

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Great mystery

Revisado: 12-04-16

This story kept me guessing to the end. I couldn't turn it off which hasn't happened with a book in a long time for me.

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Boring and self-centered

Revisado: 10-03-15

Acknowledging that this is a memoir, it was incredibly self-centered. I listened to this for a book club book and we were all rolling out eyes at the author's writing.
She needed to use her editor friends more and cut this book down about 30-50%. I listened to it at 1.25 speed to get through it faster. It was too long and, bluntly, boring.

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Disappointing Yawn

Revisado: 06-18-09

The story was convoluted - I lost interest before I was half-way through. The characters were caricatures - Sexy, blond, Ivy League scientist dedicated to finding the truth even if she has to bend the rules while she rides around in her cool T-bird, etc. etc. I don't even want to deal with the childish talking computer that appears in the latter half of the story.

I am a big fan of sci-fi, thrillers, and suspense genres, so I am more than willing to suspend belief if the story is compelling, but Immunity is just ludicrous.

Also the narrator was very disappointing. The accents were amateruish and several words were mispronounced. The only reason I finished it was because I was on a long drive and I had no backup book.

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