Margaret Layman

Completely Enveloping Tale

Revisado: 02-23-25

This is only the second book that I’ve listened to by Tana French, the first being the standalone Witch Elm, but I have already become a hard-core fan of this writer. She has an almost magical ability to draw the reader, or in this case, the listener, into the light and shadow of the first person (usually unreliable) narrator’s story, gradually peeling back layers, while leaving an engrossing story that we cannot wait to find out what happens next. I’m very excited to move onto the next instalment of the Dublin murder squad, this time told from the point of view of the fascinating Cassie. My only quibble was with the narration. The narrator has what he himself describes as a Home Counties accent, which is justified to some extent because although the character is Irish, he went to boarding school in England, but all the other Irish characters in the in the story have the same English accent. I don’t know if that was a decision on the part of the producers, or because the narrator, who was otherwise excellent, especially in the descriptive parts of the story, could not do Irish accents. Still, I highly recommend this book and series to anyone who loves a high quality police procedural graced with strong elements of the literary novel and psychological suspense and insight.

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Most entertaining murder cozy series

Revisado: 11-22-24

I find this series to be extremely satisfying in the murder cozy category, with its ingenious plots that often take a fun twist, and it is a fun way to explore the wonderful landscape, lore, history, and contemporary life of Yorkshire accompanied by the wonderful narration. I only have a few small quibbles with the writing: there are too many characters, some of whom are too similar to each other and an over reliance on a deus ex machina when it comes to the dénouement. The editing could also be a tad tighter.

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Listenable, but not inspired

Revisado: 09-17-24

I took up listening to Dalgleish mainly because I had run out of instalments of my favourite Noir series set in the moody and hidden corners of the British Isles, and I thought I would give this author a chance with the Misty Isle series and dark Yorkshire. While they have proved entertaining enough, with the masterful narration of Angus King in the former and that of Patmoor in the latter, unfortunately they lack the humour and well defined characters of JD Kirk, the psychological depth and beautifully rendered sense of place of Anne Cleves, and the wonderful quirkiness of MW Craven. Still, the stories move along at a crisp clip, and the main character detectives with their failings tend to grow on the reader, or in this case listener. I do think that this author could use better editing, and maybe less reliance on genre cliches, that I give great credit to the narrators of those series for their excellent renditions that smoothed out many of the glitches and elevated the material.

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A riveting read, entertaining and thought provoking

Revisado: 04-17-24

I really enjoyed listening to this book, I had a hard time stopping listening to do other things like work, et cetera. It started off with a great slow burn, building up the suspense, and the feeling of horror, without being a traditional thriller, horror, story, or romance, although it had elements of all those genres, and at the same time, portrayed the insidious and continuing history of racial and social injustice in our country without being preachy. The author has great descriptive powers and created such a vivid and believable world that the reader, or the listener feels that they are actually in the story, the characters were beautifully portrayed, with the help of two excellent narrators, and the Brooklyn neighbourhood itself becomes a character. The only weak points for me were a rather over long and detailed sex scene that seemed a bit hackneyed (standard romance fare) although the sex itself was not gratuitous at all, I just felt it didn’t need that much clinical detail, And the ending, well satisfying, in some way, did kind of tax my willing suspension of disbelief. I would love to see this book brought to the screen as a movie or a limited series.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 01-24-24

I was so intrigued by the blurb describing the book, that I didn’t bother listening to the sample…big mistake! A short way into it, I found my nerves jangled by the the narrator’s extremely nasal voice and inability to give life to the characters. Nonetheless, I plowed on, because I had spent a credit on it and it was serviceable enough to listen to while commuting on BART and I stubbornly felt like I wanted to know how it would end, trite as that ending might be, so I listened to bitter end.

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Love it as much as Shetland

Revisado: 01-23-24

I am very excited to have another Ann Cleeves series to delve into, feeling some bereft when I gobbled up the final instalment of Shetland. I was not disappointed, and I can’t wait to continue using the adventures of Vera. The story was engrossing, and the characters were well rounded and interesting. I feel like every time I listen to one of Cleeves’s books, I learn something new. Also, I have nothing but good to say about the wonderful narration, which really gave each character, a distinct personality.

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Really needs a narrator

Revisado: 10-02-23

While I immensely enjoy the Hamish Macbeth cozies, I am not sure why they change the narrator to Shaun Grindell, who inexplicably seems to be an Australian. While his performance has improved somewhat since the first one he did, his cadence tends to be rather plodding and tedious. His renditions of the dialogue are somewhat better, and, as an American, I cannot really comment on the accuracy of his Scottish accents, I can say that his attempts at American and Canadian accents are appalling. A female Canadian character in a previous book, sounded more like Scarlet O’Hara. Then any Canadian I have ever met. I am also not highly convinced by his English accents, either. Also, the editing is poorly done, which I cannot blame on Shaun. I will continue to listen to the Hamish Macbeth series, nonetheless, because I am addicted, and also they are freebies.

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Fun, but please work out the production glitches!

Revisado: 09-05-23

As a big fan of DS Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw, (not to mention narrator John Banks, who is quickly ascending in my pantheon of best Audible narrators), I very much enjoyed this side romp, especially as I will have to wait a while for the next novel in the series. While I found the ending satisfying and the storytelling entertaining, it was slightly predictable, which was why I took star off the story rating. I also took a star off the overall rating to reflect my disappointment that the editing problems that have plagued this this excellent series have not been resolved. JW Craven, John Banks, and Poe & Co. deserve better attention to the production of the series.

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Hooked after just two books

Revisado: 08-15-23

After devouring the first two volumes of Detective Sargent Washington Poe’s Cumbrian adventures, I will have to ask JD Kirk and Angus King to make room for MW Craven and John Banks in my pantheon of perfect author/narrator pairings on Audible. This series has it all: compelling characters, especially in the flawed yet likeable maverick Poe, and his brilliant, socially awkward best friend Tilly Bradshaw, clever entertaining plots (that keep the reader on tenterhooks), perfect pacing that still allows for a rich tapestry of detail, and a profound sense of place in the wild beauty of Cumbria and its storied Lake Country. John Banks has a wonderful voice, and he effortlessly switches between speakers in dialogue, giving each character, including the female characters, a believable and unique voice. My only gripe was with the production…the beginnings of chapters seemed to be have been oddly choppy, the only reason I did not remove a star from my overall rating was because of the excellence of the writing and narration, and it didn’t seem fair to punish Craven and Banks for the bad editing. I hope to see this error corrected in future instalments.

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Hoon should be a side character

Revisado: 07-25-23

I ended up listening to this because I had finished all of the DCI Logan books available, and I was missing the magical combination of JD Kirk and narrator extraordinaire Angus King. While I did get some enjoyment out of it, especially from Hoon’s inventive cursing, I only found my suspicions confirmed: that like many eccentric characters, Kramer in Seinfeld comes to mind, Hoon is entertaining in small doses, such as his cameo appearances in the DCI Logan universe. I felt that he is just too over the top to carry an entire book, and I found that his turbocharged Scottish version of machismo, and his constant antics as he rushed headfirst from one improbable situation into even more improbable situations not only sorely stretched my willing suspension of disbelief, but also got kind of exhausting. I think I will just wait for the next Logan book to come out on Audible, or perhaps another adventure of Heather Filson, instead of continuing listening to the Hoon series. Also, too much mayhem and gore.

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