-
Twelve Drummers Drumming
- A Mystery
- Narrated by: Steve West, Jean Gilpin
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Introducing a series utterly perfect for cozy fans of Alan Bradley, Alexander McCall Smith, and Louise Penny. The Reverend Tom "Father" Christmas, the newest vicar of Thornford Regis, an idyllic rural town in England, turns detective when one of his parishioners turns up dead in a drum, and everyone in town seems to have something to confess. Tom Christmas came to picturesque Thornford Regis with his young daughter to escape the terrible experience of losing his wife in the city. Her murder sent him packing to the bucolic and charming town, where violent crime isn't supposed to happen and the greatest sin is supposed to be nothing a member of the clergy can't handle. Then, at the town fair, a woman is found murdered. Tom soon learnsthat everyone in Thornford Regis has a secret to hide - infidelity, theft, even past murders. Twelve Drummers Drumming showcases a lovely place to live and/or die, and marks the debut of a planned twelve-book mystery series featuring the brilliant Father Christmas.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Christmas Bookshop
- A Novel
- By: Jenny Colgan
- Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life, does not appeal. Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there, either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.
-
-
Irritating and filthy language
- By AmazonPrimeCustomer2023 on 12-28-21
By: Jenny Colgan
-
Still Life
- Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
-
A rare find
- By Alex on 01-16-15
By: Louise Penny
-
The Marlow Murder Club
- Marlow Murder Club, Book 1
- By: Robert Thorogood
- Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Judith Potts is 77 years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper. One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local vicar.
-
-
An awful lot like Thursday Murder Club!
- By Margaret on 06-11-22
By: Robert Thorogood
-
Lane
- A Case For Willows And Lane, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"So I thought I might take up paragliding. You know, buy one on eBay and just jump off the cliff one morning." Emily Willows is middle-aged, widowed, wealthy, and bored. When she makes those flippant remarks to her son over coffee one Friday, she has no inkling that within a few hours she will be facing the most terrifying situation of her life.
-
-
Good, and hopefully the series will improve
- By Jonathan Berger on 08-06-18
By: Peter Grainger
-
Sherlock Holmes: The Stuff of Nightmares
- By: James Lovegrove
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the autumn of 1890, and a spate of bombings has hit London. The newspapers are full of fevered speculation about anarchists, antimonarchists and Fenians. But one man suspects an even more sinister hand behind the violence. Sherlock Holmes believes Professor Moriarty is orchestrating a nationwide campaign of terror, but to what end? At the same time, a bizarrely garbed figure has been spotted on the rooftops and in the grimy back alleys of the capital.
-
-
Steampunk Holmes
- By Bloombud on 09-01-22
By: James Lovegrove
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
-
Fun, light prequel
- By CMMV on 01-01-15
By: Rhys Bowen
-
The Christmas Bookshop
- A Novel
- By: Jenny Colgan
- Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life, does not appeal. Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there, either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.
-
-
Irritating and filthy language
- By AmazonPrimeCustomer2023 on 12-28-21
By: Jenny Colgan
-
Still Life
- Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
-
A rare find
- By Alex on 01-16-15
By: Louise Penny
-
The Marlow Murder Club
- Marlow Murder Club, Book 1
- By: Robert Thorogood
- Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Judith Potts is 77 years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper. One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local vicar.
-
-
An awful lot like Thursday Murder Club!
- By Margaret on 06-11-22
By: Robert Thorogood
-
Lane
- A Case For Willows And Lane, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"So I thought I might take up paragliding. You know, buy one on eBay and just jump off the cliff one morning." Emily Willows is middle-aged, widowed, wealthy, and bored. When she makes those flippant remarks to her son over coffee one Friday, she has no inkling that within a few hours she will be facing the most terrifying situation of her life.
-
-
Good, and hopefully the series will improve
- By Jonathan Berger on 08-06-18
By: Peter Grainger
-
Sherlock Holmes: The Stuff of Nightmares
- By: James Lovegrove
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the autumn of 1890, and a spate of bombings has hit London. The newspapers are full of fevered speculation about anarchists, antimonarchists and Fenians. But one man suspects an even more sinister hand behind the violence. Sherlock Holmes believes Professor Moriarty is orchestrating a nationwide campaign of terror, but to what end? At the same time, a bizarrely garbed figure has been spotted on the rooftops and in the grimy back alleys of the capital.
-
-
Steampunk Holmes
- By Bloombud on 09-01-22
By: James Lovegrove
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
-
Fun, light prequel
- By CMMV on 01-01-15
By: Rhys Bowen
-
Agatha's First Case
- An Agatha Raisin Short Story
- By: M. C. Beaton
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At age 26 Agatha Raisin has already come a long way. She has clawed her way up since leaving the Birmingham slum where she was born. She's lost her Birmingham accent, run away from her drunken husband, and found a job at a public relations office as a secretary. Then her boss asks Agatha to go to the home of Sir Bryce Teller to tell him that he is soon to be arrested for the murder of his wife and that the agency no longer wants to represent him.
-
-
Lightening Fast Short Origin Story
- By Wynne on 03-19-19
By: M. C. Beaton
-
The Christmas Murder Game
- By: Alexandra Benedict
- Narrated by: Ana Clements
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lily Armitage never intended to return to Endgame House—the grand family home where her mother died twenty-one Christmases ago—until she receives a letter from her aunt, asking her to return to take part in an annual tradition: the Christmas Game. The challenge? Solve twelve clues to find twelve keys. The prize? The deeds to the manor house. Lily has no desire to win the house. But her aunt makes one more promise: The clues will also reveal who really killed Lily's mother all those years ago.
-
-
This recipe just doesn’t work.
- By Faith Horter on 12-05-23
-
Murder in an English Village
- By: Jessica Ellicott
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 1920: Flying in the face of convention, legendary American adventuress Beryl Helliwell never fails to surprise and shock. The last thing her adoring public would expect is that she craves some peace and quiet. The humdrum hamlet of Walmsley Parva in the English countryside seems just the ticket. And, honestly, until America comes to its senses and repeals Prohibition, Beryl has no intention of returning stateside and subjecting herself to bathtub gin.
-
-
Must read Historical Mystery
- By Victoria J. Mejia-Gewe on 02-20-18
By: Jessica Ellicott
-
The Clockmaker's Daughter
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor in rural Oxfordshire. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins. Over 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items.
-
-
The Clockmaker's Daughter
- By KBoat on 10-21-18
By: Kate Morton
-
Death of a Gossip & Death of a Cad
- The First Two Hamish Macbeth Mysteries
- By: M. C. Beaton
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This set includes the first two books in the Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery series set in the Scottish Highlands. Death of a Gossip: When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joined the fishing class, she wasted no time in ruffling the feathers—or was it the fins?—of those around her. Death of a Cad: When Priscilla Halburton-Smythe brings her London playwright fiancé home to Lochdubh, everybody in town is delighted…except for love-smitten Constable Hamish Macbeth. Yet his affairs of the heart will have to wait.
-
-
Hamish Macbeth is the reason!
- By Sarah on 07-26-16
By: M. C. Beaton
-
The Lake House
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living on her family’s gorgeous lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, clever, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented fourteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure ...One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest son, Theo, has vanished without a trace.
-
-
Enjoyed the writing, but oy vey, this book
- By Jennifer S on 12-28-18
By: Kate Morton
-
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
- A Novel
- By: Helen Simonson
- Narrated by: Peter Altschuler
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson's wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, Major Pettigrew is one of the most indelible characters in contemporary fiction, and from the very first page of this remarkable novel he will steal your heart.
-
-
Charming book with an excellent narrator
- By jc on 03-05-10
By: Helen Simonson
-
A Man of Some Repute
- A Very English Mystery, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Edmondson
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Selchester Castle in 1953 sits quiet and near-empty, its corridors echoing with glories of the past. Or so it seems to intelligence officer Hugo Hawksworth, wounded on a secret mission and now reluctantly assuming an altogether less perilous role at Selchester.
-
-
Pretty good "pseudo" golden age mystery
- By Jerri C on 10-18-15
-
Holding
- A Novel
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama, but when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be those of Tommy Burke - a former lover of two different inhabitants - the village's dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated sergeant PJ Collins struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community's worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Myra on 04-01-18
By: Graham Norton
-
The Widow
- By: K. L. Slater
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My husband was not a monster. No matter what they say.... The day my husband, Michael, stepped in front of a lorry after being questioned by the police, my world fell apart. He was devoted to me and our six-year-old daughter. But they’d connected him to the disappearance of a young mother from our tiny village.
-
-
Twists & Turns!
- By tarafarah7: Tara Brown on 12-20-21
By: K. L. Slater
-
A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
-
-
series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
-
The Anatomist’s Apprentice
- The Dr. Thomas Silkstone Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Tessa Harris
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of Lord Edward Crick has unleashed a torrent of gossip through the seedy taverns and elegant ballrooms of Oxfordshire. Few mourn the dissolute young man - except his sister, the beautiful Lady Lydia Farrell. When her husband comes under suspicion of murder, she seeks expert help from Dr. Thomas Silkstone, a young anatomist from Philadelphia. Thomas arrived in England to study under its foremost surgeon, where his unconventional methods only add to his outsider status. Against his better judgment, he agrees to examine Lord Edward’s corpse.
-
-
Gruesome but Deftly Plotted
- By Sires on 03-07-12
By: Tessa Harris
Related to this topic
-
A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
-
-
series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
-
Haunted Ground
- By: Erin Hart
- Narrated by: Jennifer McMahon
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When farmers cutting turf in an Irish peat bog make a grisly discovery, the perfectly intact body of a young woman with long red hair, archaeologist Cormac O'Callaghan and pathologist Nora Gavin are thrown together by their shared scientific interest in human remains. Because of the preservative effect of the bog, it is difficult to tell whether the body has lain there for two decades, two centuries, or two millennia.
-
-
Mysteries old and mysteries new
- By Linda on 11-25-03
By: Erin Hart
-
Women of the Dunes
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Maine
- Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Libby Snow's great-great-grandmother Ellen was obsessed with the strange legend of Ulla, a Viking maiden who washed up on shore with the nearly lifeless body of her husband. Central to the mystery is an ornate chalice, and Libby, an archaeologist, finally has permission to excavate the site where Ulla is believed to have lived. But what Libby finds in the ancient dunes is a body from the Victorian era, clearly murdered...and potentially connected to Ellen.
-
-
Good story, bland narrator
- By Mary on 08-21-18
By: Sarah Maine
-
Wicked Autumn
- Booktrack Edition
- By: G. M. Malliet
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Tudor has adapted well to his post as vicar of St. Edwold's in the idyllic village of Nether Monkslip. The quiet village seems the perfect home for Max, who has fled a harrowing past as an MI5 agent. But this new-found serenity is quickly shattered when the highly vocal and unpopular president of the Women's Institute turns up dead at the Harvest Fayre. The death looks like an accident, but Max's training as a former agent kicks in, and before long he suspects foul play.
-
-
Just OK
- By Jeanne on 08-05-21
By: G. M. Malliet
-
A Great Deliverance
- Inspector Lynley, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth George
- Narrated by: Donada Peters
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an ax in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry".
-
-
good debut novel
- By Stevon on 11-11-19
By: Elizabeth George
-
Truth Will Out
- By: K C Wells
- Narrated by: Seb Yarrick
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathon de Mountford’s visit to Merrychurch village to stay with his uncle Dominic gets off to a bad start when Dominic fails to appear at the railway station. But when Jonathon finds him dead in his study, apparently as the result of a fall, everything changes. For one thing, Jonathon is the next in line to inherit the manor house. For another, he’s not so sure it was an accident, and with the help of Mike Tattersall, the owner of the village pub, Jonathon sets out to prove his theory - if he can concentrate long enough without getting distracted by the handsome Mike.
-
-
Disappointed
- By L.D. on 03-29-20
By: K C Wells
-
A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
-
-
series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
-
Haunted Ground
- By: Erin Hart
- Narrated by: Jennifer McMahon
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When farmers cutting turf in an Irish peat bog make a grisly discovery, the perfectly intact body of a young woman with long red hair, archaeologist Cormac O'Callaghan and pathologist Nora Gavin are thrown together by their shared scientific interest in human remains. Because of the preservative effect of the bog, it is difficult to tell whether the body has lain there for two decades, two centuries, or two millennia.
-
-
Mysteries old and mysteries new
- By Linda on 11-25-03
By: Erin Hart
-
Women of the Dunes
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Maine
- Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Libby Snow's great-great-grandmother Ellen was obsessed with the strange legend of Ulla, a Viking maiden who washed up on shore with the nearly lifeless body of her husband. Central to the mystery is an ornate chalice, and Libby, an archaeologist, finally has permission to excavate the site where Ulla is believed to have lived. But what Libby finds in the ancient dunes is a body from the Victorian era, clearly murdered...and potentially connected to Ellen.
-
-
Good story, bland narrator
- By Mary on 08-21-18
By: Sarah Maine
-
Wicked Autumn
- Booktrack Edition
- By: G. M. Malliet
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Tudor has adapted well to his post as vicar of St. Edwold's in the idyllic village of Nether Monkslip. The quiet village seems the perfect home for Max, who has fled a harrowing past as an MI5 agent. But this new-found serenity is quickly shattered when the highly vocal and unpopular president of the Women's Institute turns up dead at the Harvest Fayre. The death looks like an accident, but Max's training as a former agent kicks in, and before long he suspects foul play.
-
-
Just OK
- By Jeanne on 08-05-21
By: G. M. Malliet
-
A Great Deliverance
- Inspector Lynley, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth George
- Narrated by: Donada Peters
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an ax in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry".
-
-
good debut novel
- By Stevon on 11-11-19
By: Elizabeth George
-
Truth Will Out
- By: K C Wells
- Narrated by: Seb Yarrick
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathon de Mountford’s visit to Merrychurch village to stay with his uncle Dominic gets off to a bad start when Dominic fails to appear at the railway station. But when Jonathon finds him dead in his study, apparently as the result of a fall, everything changes. For one thing, Jonathon is the next in line to inherit the manor house. For another, he’s not so sure it was an accident, and with the help of Mike Tattersall, the owner of the village pub, Jonathon sets out to prove his theory - if he can concentrate long enough without getting distracted by the handsome Mike.
-
-
Disappointed
- By L.D. on 03-29-20
By: K C Wells
-
Lord James Harrington and the Winter Mystery
- By: Lynn Florkiewicz
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1957. Lord James Harrington and his wife, Beth, run a country hotel in the village of Cavendish, deep in the heart of West Sussex. James and Beth are discussing the latest Cavendish Players production, The Devil Incarnate, when their cleaner informs them that farmer Alec Grimes is missing.
-
-
I'm Officially Hooked On Lord Harrington
- By John on 12-18-17
By: Lynn Florkiewicz
-
Murder at the Mill
- A Mystery (Iris Grey Mysteries, Book 1)
- By: M. B. Shaw
- Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iris Grey rents a quaint cottage in a picture-perfect Hampshire village, looking to escape from her crumbling marriage. She is drawn to the neighboring Wetherby family and is commissioned to paint a portrait of Dominic Wetherby, a celebrated crime writer. At the Wetherby's Christmas Eve party, the mulled wine is in full flow - but so are tensions and rivalries among the guests. On Christmas Day, the youngest member of the Wetherby family, Lorcan, finds a body in the water. A tragic accident? Or a deadly crime?
-
-
Iris Grey Mysteries
- By Beatrice on 12-09-18
By: M. B. Shaw
-
The Lake House
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living on her family’s gorgeous lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, clever, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented fourteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure ...One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest son, Theo, has vanished without a trace.
-
-
Enjoyed the writing, but oy vey, this book
- By Jennifer S on 12-28-18
By: Kate Morton
-
Falling Off Air
- By: Catherine Sampson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robin Ballantyne's life is finally coming together. After learning she was pregnant with twins and being abandoned by her irresponsible boyfriend, Adam, she's settling into life as a single mother. But one night, after putting the children to bed, she hears an argument and suddenly, a body falls past her window. Running outside, she finds the body of Paula Carmichael, a renowned activist.
-
-
Rich, developed and unusual
- By Hannah Coale on 02-02-05
-
A Vow of Silence
- Sister Joan Murder Mystery, Book 1
- By: Veronica Black
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ness
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The sisters at a lonely Cornish convent share a chilling secret they cannot confess...Sister Sophia is dead. Another disappears. And a mysterious last letter from a dying nun is sent to the prioress. Sister Joan has faced her own demons. Now she is sent to the convent to investigate, as well as teach the local children. There are whispers of virgin sacrifice and suicide, and the mother prioress certainly wears pink nail varnish. And who is the young man hiding in the bracken?
-
-
Very good mild mannered cozy
- By wisconsinclark on 01-15-22
By: Veronica Black
-
The Stranger House
- By: Reginald Hill
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years, the Stranger House has stood in the village of Illthwaite, offering refuge to travellers. People like Sam, a brilliant young mathematician, who believes that anything that can't be explained by maths isn't worth explaining. And Miguel, a historian running from a priests' seminary, who sees ghosts. Sam is an experienced young woman, Miguel a 26-year-old virgin.
-
-
an OK read
- By Jen Terry on 01-18-08
By: Reginald Hill
-
Blood Atonement
- By: Dan Waddell
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A body is discovered with her throat cut and her daughter believed missing. DCI Foster quickly sees parallels with the disappearance of a teenager three years earlier. With hopes fading, he calls on genealogist Nigel Barnes to piece together the links between the families of the two girls. The trail leads back to 1890, and a young couple fleeing a terrible crime in their past....
-
-
Superb
- By Madeleine on 04-13-10
By: Dan Waddell
-
The Splendour Falls
- By: Susanna Kearsley
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emily Braden has stopped believing in fairy tales and happy endings. When her fascinating but unreliable cousin Harry invites her on a holiday to explore the legendary town of Chinon, and promptly disappears - well, that's Harry for you. As Emily makes the acquaintance of Chinon and its people, she begins to uncover dark secrets beneath the charm.
-
-
Odd story with a worse narration
- By MV on 01-18-14
By: Susanna Kearsley
-
A Gentleman's Murder
- By: Christopher Huang
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 1924. Only a few years removed from the trenches of Flanders, Lieutenant Eric Peterkin has just been granted membership in the most prestigious soldiers-only club in London: the Britannia. But when a gentleman's wager ends with a member stabbed to death, the victim's last words echo in the lieutenant's head: that he would "Soon right a great wrong from the past". Eric is certain one of his fellow members is the murderer. But who?
-
-
Ignore the indiscriminate ire. It’s great!
- By Denise Dalrymple on 05-15-20
-
Aunt Dimity's Death
- By: Nancy Atherton
- Narrated by: Teri Clark Linden
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she's about to inherit a sizable estate - if she can discover the secret hidden in a treasure trove of letters in Dimity's English country cottage. What begins as a fairy tale becomes a mystery - and a ghost story - in an improbably cozy setting, as Aunt Dimity's indominable spirit leads Lori on an otherworldly quest to discover how, in this life, true love can conquer all.
-
-
great book, lousy reader
- By Bill on 04-27-13
By: Nancy Atherton
-
The Best Man to Die
- An Inspector Wexford Mystery
- By: Ruth Rendell
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who could have suspected that the exciting stag party for the groom would be the prelude to the murder of his close friend Charlie Hatton? And Charlie's death was only the first in a string of puzzling murders involving small-time gangsters, cheating husbands, and loose women. Now Chief Inspector Wexford and his assistant join forces with the groom to track down a killer....
-
-
Classic who-dunnit
- By Kathi on 02-24-13
By: Ruth Rendell
-
A Feast of Carrion
- By: Keith McCarthy
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
St Benjamin's Medical School is the greatest of its kind, any death occurring within its walls would have created ripples within the academic world, but the death of Nikki Exner is far from being ordinary. Raped, and then grotesquely executed, her theatrical murder horrifies everyone. John Eisenmenger, a former forensic pathologist, finds himself dragged unwillingly into the case. Teaming up with solicitor Helena Flemming, Eisenmenger sets out to discover what really did happen to Nikki Exner.
-
-
excellent book
- By Yves on 06-27-09
By: Keith McCarthy
What listeners say about Twelve Drummers Drumming
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John S.
- 12-31-11
Main problem: just too long
I had thought that the first Maisie Dobbs novel seemed dragged out at 10 hours of series setup, with the mystery plot secondary, but this book being 50% longer suffered even more. I didn't find the village setting particularly "charming", nor the characters particularly likeable or interesting. Father Christmas himself seemed slightly on the dopey side, and his daughter a tad precocious. Apparently, Tom had agreed to raise her as a Jew, with the aunt taking on that role after the wife's murder; I would've liked to have heard a bit more on this. As a plus, he does mentioned being taunted at school for having a lesbian couple as parents (his aunt and her partner). A not-so-plus: late in the book Tom asserts medical knowledge, crying "I was married to a doctor!" I wasn't buying that physician spouses generally discuss their work in that much detail. Moreover, I found the author's assertion that "informal" euthanasia is a common practice among British doctors rather a brash statement.
I'm neither sorry, nor regretful, about having dropped a credit on this one. If Benison can tighten things up next time, there's a future for a Christmas series. Tom's audio voice struck me as a bit posh for a kid who went to state school, though he is an Oxbridge grad (like almost all characters in British books it seems). The housekeeper's "voice" consists entirely of daily letters to her mother, which, although a bit "telling" rather than "showing" worked out okay ... except for the device where she often strikes through words (she's not entirely sure of) to use a simpler one; that might look okay in print, but on audio it grated a bit.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- connie
- 12-26-11
intelligent cozy with series promise
For once the publisher's summary gets this right: I think fans of Penny and McCall Smith would enjoy this character- and setting- driven Brit cozy -- though it's not quite up to the humorous musing of McCall Smith or to Penny's prose -- but it's also only the first in the series. Despite the comparisons, it didn't play as derivative - more of a re-mix, re-set: Throw in an English village instead of Quebec and add elements of the cozy subgenre, Anglican sleuth.
I liked the narration - West is very "vicar like" in his languorous delivery of Father Christmas' observations and deductions, and there are hints that there is much still to learn of the Reverend in later installments. Gilpin - her sections are briefer- provides the counterpoint (kind of stereotypical) traditional housekeeper's voice. The "stereotype" might extend to the setting -- but it is a cozy -- and the variety is in the village characters, moving about among the usual elements (a May fair, the "Colonel," etc) with their 21st century secrets.
Readers of Alan Bradley will need to weigh in on whether the 9 year old Christmas daughter's perspective resembles his Flavia .
This is not a Christmas novel, despite the title, but it is cozy reading for such a holiday. While I'm not breathlessly waiting for the next book in the series, I will keep downloading.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Horace
- 01-15-17
Christmas on the trail.
A fun, cozy listen. It needs more cats though. A long relaxed mystery that reads much like Dick Francis on Xanax. Not many action scenes and a complex plot that does not come off as contrived or overworked. With a lovely narration, it is a great overall work and should scratch your itch for mystery.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- mary
- 01-03-13
Sad story but interesting characters
It was a bit long and a lot of internal monologue by Father Christmas. I am Catholic so found some of the attitude of the Anglican priest disturbing especially confession and the sex life of a priest. I really didn't need to hear the thoughts of a priest lusting for women. I also found it almost comical at how easily life is for a priest to marry a Jewish woman and now raise a Jewish girl. Real life is not that simple.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 12-31-11
Main problem: just too long
I had thought that the first Maisie Dobbs novel seemed dragged out at 10 hours of series setup, with the mystery plot secondary, but this book being 50% longer suffered even more. I didn't find the village setting particularly "charming", nor the characters particularly likeable or interesting. Father Christmas himself seemed slightly on the dopey side, and his daughter a tad precocious. Apparently, Tom had agreed to raise her as a Jew, with the aunt taking on that role after the wife's murder; I would've liked to have heard a bit more on this. As a plus, he does mentioned being taunted at school for having a lesbian couple as parents (his aunt and her partner). A not-so-plus: late in the book Tom asserts medical knowledge, crying "I was married to a doctor!" I wasn't buying that physician spouses generally discuss their work in that much detail. Moreover, I found the author's assertion that "informal" euthanasia is a common practice among British doctors rather a brash statement.
I'm neither sorry, nor regretful, about having dropped a credit on this one. If Benison can tighten things up next time, there's a future for a Christmas series. Tom's audio voice struck me as a bit posh for a kid who went to state school, though he is an Oxbridge grad (like almost all characters in British books it seems). The housekeeper's "voice" consists entirely of daily letters to her mother, which, although a bit "telling" rather than "showing" worked out okay ... except for the device where she often strikes through words (she's not entirely sure of) to use a simpler one; that might look okay in print, but on audio it grated a bit.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sara
- 11-02-14
One Random Vignette After Another
To me one aspect of a good book is that there is a directional drive that pulls you along as if you are in a boat following a current set out by the author. This sense of directionality and flow of a story line are missing in this mystery. Instead, the book is made up of a series of events loosely strung together by endless verbage. Some of these vignettes are engaging but the story as a whole is disjointed and carelessly thrown together. Things don't follow in a way that makes any sense. It's as if the author wrote a pile of word pictures and then just shuffled them together and called it a book.
If you add all of this to the questionable narration, then the whole experience is pretty darned awful. Keep in mind that it is 15 hours of awful to boot. The falsetto voice used frequently by the narrator was too much for me to stand. The voices became so mixed up that it was almost impossible for me to tell who was talking and what was going on most of the time. After hours of this I no longer cared.
I wanted to like this book but it was a disappointment. It just wasn't for me and I can't recommend it to others either.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christy Carson
- 06-13-15
language
Was a great story, but language turned bad. Because of this, won't get rest.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cynthia
- 09-12-21
Entirely unlikable and bad tempered characters.
Far too many characters, none of whom were engaging or interesting. I spent most of the book trying to figure out how people were related.
Everyone is stereotypical and lack the tiniest smidge of charm although there is plenty of crude language, which is startling as most of the book is in or around a church.
Finally, the story is non existent; maybe finding it is the solution to the mystery.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Barbara L.
- 11-23-23
The story was way too long 14 hours should have been 6
Boring not very good story telling no mystery. Not very interesting main character. The daughter's affectation was tiresome. I think it is clear I did not like this book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!