Dylan

This series has lost its magic.

Revisado: 11-28-24

I was really hoping for an improvement after The Proof of the Pudding. It was dull and offered little to the series.
As we have had some not so great entries before, it appeared as if the author had pulled it out the bag by redeeming herself with the next book.
In all honesty, the last time I was able to feel the magic of the series was The Last Mrs. Summers.
I return, because as another has noted, it's still worth a listen/read. But sadly, I have not revisited the last 3 books for a repeat listen.
I genuinely feel Georgie needs a great outing next time, and to bring back some much loved characters. Or to send her off into the sunset and retire her.
It does pain me to say this, as I still listen to all the other stories a lot up until The Last Mrs. Summers. But every good thing has a beginning and an end.

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Entertaining as Ever!

Revisado: 11-07-24

This series does get better and more relaxed with each passing book. Whilst the mystery was not as solid as the last book (in my opinion), I do feel that getting to know the main characters a bit more was what was truly enjoyable here.
I look forward to the next book.
As always, Barbara Rosenblat took the staring role as an amazing narrator!

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Great Improvement From Book 1

Revisado: 07-19-24

A great combo of story and narrator. Such an easy book to slide into.
I love the fact that whilst there is one overall mystery, there are enough woven in side mysteries to give the story more substance.
I feel that book 2 got into the groove a lot easier than the 1st. Looking forward to the next story.

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Series is losing steam again ...

Revisado: 11-23-23

After Love and Death Among the Cheetahs, which for me was a low point in the series, I felt that the next 2 chapters got better.
Sadly, as with Peril in Paris, I feel this entry is very lacklustre in character and mystery.
Sometimes, I feel as if the author has written so many entries into the series that she forgets what has happened. And whilst understandable, it is very frustrating for the listener. A good example here is that we have had a character named Tubby Halliday before in Queen of Hearts. And now we have a different Tubby Halliday here.
For me, personally, I feel the pregnancy storyline should have waited a lot longer for Georgie. Sometimes, the joy of the story with Georgie was her trials and tribulations. It made her relatable in a sea of unrelatable characters.
As always, I have continued to enjoy Jasmine Blackborow's performance. Even with lacklustre source material, her performance shines.
I really hope Rhys Bowen bounces back to form in the next entry. Otherwise, it may be time to send her off with a nice ending.
I say this as an avid fan of the series for the past 8 years! If I enjoy the story I revisit multiple times. The last entry I have only revisited once. I suspect this one will be the same too. Very different to the 1st 10 stories which I have listened to multiple times over!

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Fun Return for Round 3

Revisado: 11-17-23

Whilst I love that the mystery hits the ground running, I did find overall there was some steam lost.
However the enjoyable characters, great narration make for easy listening.

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Enjoyable Characters

Revisado: 10-10-23

Back for round 2. Overall, very fun and it is great good continuation from the 1st book.

Personally, I do not feel the detective jobs were as solid as the 1st. But I did like the countryside setting, I did like seeing the return of a certain character (beyond Maud and Daisy).

I do feel that this is turning into a very enjoyable series. I see I have 1 book to go, but I do hope that Lydia Travers continues to write the series.

As with the last book, Helen McAlpine is an outstanding narrator. A winning performance!

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Stellar Performance by Helen McAlpine

Revisado: 09-28-23

I was looking for something to fill my days after having listened to the Royal Spyness series repetitively. Definitely, needed some new books that I could see myself revisiting again and again.
Really it was the sample that convinced me to purchase this book. I am always a sucker for a narrator that puts real effort into completing the storytelling. Helen McAlpine rounded off the characters with warmth, emotional depth, humour and individuality.

I find the characters of Maud and Daisy very likeable and they work well as a duo. Is the story overly complex and deep? No, it does what it says on the box - a light cosy mystery. I did like that multiple mysteries were woven into this story, rather than dragging one very simple mystery out over 9 hours (which is what a lot of other similar genre books do)

Ultimately, I will be back for more. I am hoping for a long journey with this series.

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This is where it all started …

Revisado: 12-09-22

Many many years ago I remember watching the 1st episode of Midsomer Murders which was The Killings at Badgers Drift.
I loved the intro by John Nettles as I think we always take it for granted that tv/movie versions of the books remain faithful.
I feel that the books are both different and the same as what we see on TV and for good measure too. If I was listening to a carbon copy of what I saw on TV in 90 mins I would have felt cheated.
I love that John Hopkins is the narrator. I loved him in Midsomer as Dan Scott and always felt his stint on the show was cut much too short. So it’s like having a little bit of TV in the audiobook.
Overall I will listen to this again and will complete the audiobooks as they come out.

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Overall Improvement

Revisado: 09-02-20

After the dud that was Love and Death Among the Cheetahs I am happy to say Georgie is back on track.
There was one or two glimpses of a Georgie that I didn't like - but overall I feel she was a more empathetic, less of a ... well frankly a bit of a snob. I feel Rhys might be listening to her readers (or in this case listeners)
There were a couple of items I did not like in this book though - I feel the "investigation" was a little fruitless. I also feel sometimes we could get to the murder a little faster and work though the details after. Rhys has a great talent for story telling but when the murder feels like it is midway through the book it doesn't help. And lastly, her use of repetition (I say this again and again) needs to be toned down. I am all for a shorter story without that.
I did like the characters in this book outside the usual crowd. Though I did miss Georgie's mum (sometimes she brings that bit of glam we need. Belinda is great but she can only carry the story so far.)
I would like to see another adventure after this one set at home. And I would love to see another book where characters make a return - would like Coco Chanel who I loved.
Onto the next entry - I look forward to it.
And whilst I know we all miss Katherine Kellgren I do feel that Jasmine Blackborow is a worthy successor. I loved both her previous performances. I know some people didn't. But she worked hard in this book and I liked it!

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Comedy and Murder

Revisado: 05-22-20

I love Agatha Raisin as a character both in audiobook format and TV. Penelope Keith really shines as Agatha. Whilst I enjoy the audiobooks, I do much prefer the Radio Drama version. It's always just really fun to get a bit more out of the other characters.

These are really great stories for a long drive/or my guilty pleasure a soak in the tub.

The stories are really well executed when comparing them to the unabridged audiobooks. I just only wish there was more of these out there :(

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