Rambling disconnected

Liking the series and the lead characters less and less with each book. Judge Knott quite pompous and has little to no insight on her own bad behaviors. Reading through to see how this all wraps up but this was a hot mess.

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As down home and home spun as it gets

A teen is killed in a single car accident ...but was it an accident? Or was it murder?

Rather than being a story where the book centers around the mystery, this book is a sweet tale which centers around the lives of Deborah and Dwight, there families and town as they prepare for Christmas. The mystery is woven into there story not the other way around. This book is not hard hitting suspense but more like finding a soft fluffy kitten in your christmas stocking on Christmas morning.

At the same time, I must say the narration was off putting. It's the speed and the deliberate cadence with which she reads the book. The lilting almost sing song affect, the frequent pauses for emphasis where there shouldn't be any and the leisurely turtle like speed at which she reads the story.

Although I liked the story, the narration was just extremely tedious.

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Everyday Life and a Mystery

This is the first book of this series I have read. The "mystery" part of the story is revealed gradually. That annoyed me at first, and I wondered if the book had been classified incorrectly. However once the mystery began to unfold I became more engrossed in the entire story. Be aware that this book spends alot of time describing the every day lives of the main characters and their families. Once I got used to the style, I appreciated and enjoyed it. In fact I liked it so much I have purchased another, earlier book in the series.

I found the main characters to be likable and interesting. I live in the northern U.S. The rural southern location of this story was interesting and appealing to me. Part of that appeal may have been due to the fact that temperatures here were well below zero during the days I was listening to this book!

Narrator C.J. Critt is very good. Her diction is clear. She does a good job differentuating character voices.

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1 person found this helpful

Plot twists, misdirection and surprises layer the story.

Enjoyed listening to the story building but was left loosing my immediate investment into the story to check if the app was still playing due to the excessive pauses between chapters. A few chapter pauses had me reaching g and checking that my phone was still playing…distracting it was,

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One of the worst I've heard on Audible so far

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator!

Would you be willing to try another book from Margaret Maron? Why or why not?

Probably not. I found myself groaning a good deal more than anything else.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Let me count the ways...accent, tone of voice, just overall poor reading.

Was Christmas Mourning worth the listening time?

No.

Any additional comments?

I've read several of the books in this series, and I find them to be uneven in how good they are. I love some of the books--and feel the author has interesting knowledge that she weaves in. But sometimes there is too much "filler" for story. Although the actual mystery aspects are usually very good, they are not tops on my list because I never know what to expect. Had thought I might feel differently if I heard one read (and I might have, with a different narrator.)

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5 people found this helpful

I Love Judge Knott

Would you listen to Christmas Mourning again? Why?

I will probably listen to this audio book several more times.

Any additional comments?

I like the series and the characters. While the earlier novels in this series were more "gritty" in my opinion, Margaret Maron has made Deborah and her family plausible.

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2 people found this helpful

Always learn so much from each book

Have learned so much from the Judge Deborah Knott series! From the opening intro of chapters, the preacher/pragmatist, professions, family and friends, law, teaching,…….

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Couldn't get through this

I had this on my wish list for several months and finally decided to give it a try. Sorry I did, I could never get hooked into the story. The narrator's cadence was off-putting. I found myself learning how she would pronounce words and her phraseology then it started getting on my nerves. This is the first book I have put down barely one-half in. I will stick to Michael Connelly.

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10 people found this helpful

Mildly entertaining; narration detracts

Any additional comments?

The story itself is mildly entertaining. This is lightweight fiction, very down-home, everybody's cousin and relative in a small town. It starts off slow and gets a bit more interesting as the book progresses.

Of course, we all have different tastes in narrators. This narrator (C.J. Critt) doesn't work for me on many levels. She reads FAR too slow for me. The pauses after every sentence, after every phrase drove me a bit mad. The pause between chapters was long enough that I kept thinking there was something wrong with my iPod. She injects a lot of drama into every word, even when it is background description or a casual conversation, considerably more than is called for in my opinion. The singsong emphasis really got on my nerves after awhile. I'm not that keen on her interpretations of men's voices.

It may work for you - just make sure you listen to a sample first, which is a wonderful feature of Audible. Sadly, I listened to the sample but accidentally put the book in my cart with several others and ended up purchasing it before I realized what I had done!

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1 person found this helpful

I really tried...

What disappointed you about Christmas Mourning?

There's too much extraneous 'stuff'' and not enough real story in this book. I found the narrator slightly annoying at first and then more so as the book went on. I got half way through and just couldn't finish.

What could Margaret Maron have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

More meat stronger main characters

Would you be willing to try another one of C.J. Critt’s performances?

no

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