Review: And Then You Dye

Title: And Then You Dye
Author: Monica Ferris
Narrator: Susan Boyce

Publisher: AudioGO
Publication Date: December 4, 2012
Lenth: 7 hrs 30 min (unabridged)

Series: A Needlecraft Mystery, # 16
Setting: Excelsior, Minnesota

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

And Then You Dye is the latest installment in a series of cozy mysteries featuring Betsy Devonshire. Betsy runs a needlework shop in Excelsior, Minnesota. However, the work in her shop often gets interrupted by Betsy's sleuthing habits. This time she is asked to find the murderer of Hailey Brent. Hailey spun and dyed wool which Betsy sold in her shop ... until Hailey is found shot in her house.

This is the first book by Monica Ferris that I read. It took me some time to get into the story and the narrator. While the story itself does not depend on knowing the first books in the series, I would probably have had an easier time in getting into the story had I known the first parts. I'm certain that most of the characters appearing here were introduced earlier in the series, which would have given them more depth and background.
Considering this I was surprised at how fast I was drawn into the story. I might have needed two or three chapters, but after that I was really beginning to enjoy this cozy mystery. Betsy has a nice way of dealing with the case. She might ask around to get information, but she doesn't pry or overstep the border between legal and illegal actions. In spite of her sleuthing she recognizes the police as being the responsible body for apprehending the murderer. She rather sees herself as a person helping the police in gathering evidence and information that the police might not be able to get in their official capacity. This makes her a very amiable sleuth.

The mystery itself was well-written, with appropriate hints dropped in the right places. While I actually guessed right as to who might be the murderer, I wasn't quite certain until the person was revealed. It has been a while since I read a mystery where I found the hints so well-placed in the story. Not too obvious but still there.
Some small side-stories (like Godwin and his friend Rafael and their excursion into the world of coin collecting) provided a nice background to the story to give it life. Even though these parts did not actually belong to the mystery, I didn't find them superfluous and enjoyed them just as much as the rest of the book.

Susan Boyce does a decent job on her narration. For the first few chapters I needed some time to get accustomed to her voice. One reason for this might be that before And Then You Dye I listened to an audiobook narrated by a male narrator and for some reason I always find it easier to listen to a male voice than a female one. However, Susan Boyce's voice soon felt comfortable to my ears and her narrating a book won't keep me from listening to it in the future.

All in all this is a nice cozy mystery and I'll probably get the first fifteen books in the series as well (not all at once, but whenever I feel the need for some cozy entertainment), starting with the first.

Review: Dark Magic

Author: James Swain
Title: Dark Magic
Narrator: Stephen R. Thorne
Publisher: AudioGO
Length: 10 hrs 48 min (unabridged)
Publication date: Dec. 1, 2012
Setting: Contemporary New York
Genre: Thriller/Suspense, Paranormal

Rating: 4 of 5 stars


Peter Warlock is a well-known magician. His magic show regularly draws a large audience into his theatre, including his own fan club. What nobody knows is that Peter really has supernatural powers. Together with a group of six friends Peter holds weekly seances. During those meetings they communicate with the spirits and try to discover what the future holds in store. Peter's life in particular is getting chaotic when one day he sees something dreadful during one of the weekly seances: thousands of people dying, without apparent reason, in Times Square. Peter tries to figure out what will happen and how to stop it, but what can he alone accomplish? Should he contact the police to warn them? This would mean breaking one of the psychics' most elemental rules: Never reveal your powers to outsiders, especially not to officials.

This story gripped me from the start. Especially with a new author and/or new narrator I usually take some time to getting used to them. Not with Dark Magic. Stephen R. Thorne has a very nice voice that I enjoyed immensely listening to. It immediately formed a mental image of Peter in my mind that never left me during the book. I'll certainly not hesitate when I see another book narrated by Stephen R. Thorne.

Apart from the great narrator I also enjoyed the story itself. It is vividly and compellingly told without losing itself in side-plots. Instead it follows a red thread. Enough background to give you a mental image of the events/places/people but not so much that you lose focus of the story over it. Just as I like it.

In another review I read that the characters are flat and the way the psychics are portrayed is cliché. I wholeheartedly disagree with this statement. I liked the way Peter and his psychic friends are portrayed. This might be because I didn't read many similar books lately and found this take on things, even if it is traditional, very enjoyable. This is a kind of "magic" that I could actually believe to exist. Also the characters were well-developed in my opinion. Peter certainly has his strengths and weaknesses. I also didn't have any problems in picturing the secondary characters and liked many of them; even the FBI agent.

The only problem I had with this book was at the end (last two chapters). I would have prefered some things dealt with in a different way. I won't give any particulars here because that would be a bit too spoilery. However, the end didn't really diminish my enjoyment of the book in the whole. Just my personal preference. The end certainly leaves the possibility for a continuation in which those aspects might be covered again.

All in all I really enjoyed this audiobook. After doing a bit of research I realized that another book featuring Peter Warlock will appear this summer and I'll probably read (or listen to) that as well. Of course I would be all the more willing to get that if an audiobook narrated by Stephen R. Thorne was produced again.

Review: Désirée - The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love

Title: Désirée - The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love
Author: Annemarie Selinko
Narrator: Nicole Quinn

Publisher: BlueBarnProductions (according to audible entry; however, the disclaimer at the end of the audiobook gives the impression that this audiobook was actually self-published by the narrator)
Length: 26 hours (unabridged)

Genre: Historical Novel
Setting: 19th century France with small portions of the book set in other countries, eg Sweden
Style: Epilostary (told in Désirée's diary entries)

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

As the title suggests, this book tells the story of Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary, who later becomes Désirée Bernadotte and Queen of Sweden. She was born into a family of silk merchants and never had high aspirations. It was a coincidence that Désirée (who was then still known as Eugénie) met Joseph Bonaparte, the elder brother of Napoléon Bonaparte. She invited the brothers to her home for a dinner. Her family was indignant at Désirée's behavior. Napoléon was already a distinguished general, but the Bonapartes were a poor family of Corsican immigrants. Thus the Carlys did not want to have anything to do with them. But Napoléon's charme managed to capture the family and soon both brothers were regular guests at the Clary's. Désirée's sister Julie married Joseph and Désirée got engaged to Napoléon.
But destiny would not have Désirée as Napoléon's wife. Before the marriage Napoléon left for Paris in order to convince the political leaders of France of his plans for France. In Paris Napoléon also meets Joséphine de Beauharnais. While Désirée had a large dowry, Josephine has influence in Paris. Thus Napoléon dissolves his engagement with Désirée and marries Josephine instead. At first Désirée is devastated, but soon she finds a new love as well in General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. Jean-Baptiste even becomes one of the Marshalls of France under Emperor Napoléon.

This novel details Désirées life from her teenage years until her fifties. It is presented in the form of Désirée's diary entries. I'm always a bit ambivalent about books written as a diary, because this can go terribly wrong. However, in this case it seems to have been the perfect choice. Désirée writes entries whenever something decisive happened in her life. This gives a vivid picture of the time and Désirée's life without getting boring with too much detail (a problem quite a few historical novels have). It is easy to empthise with Désirée and I enjoyed her story very much. I can easily understand why this books belongs in the category of bestsellers.

The audiobook production lives up the the story. The narrator, Nicole Quinn, has a calm voice that is is pleasant to listen to. However, I had one problem with the audiobook: There were quite a few sudden volume changes. This is especially bad when one listens in the car or with headphones.

All in all this is a very enjoyable novel and I'll probably listen to the audiobook again some time and might even look for other books by Selinko. I'm torn between four and five stars in this case but tend towards four.

Review: Bound for Eternity

Bound for Eternity by Sarah Wisseman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Bound for Eternity by Sarah Wisseman and narrated by Priscilla Holbrook, published by Iambik Audio in 2012 is one of the shorter audiobooks I have listened to in the recent past with only 6 ½ hours.
It is the second part of a series of mystery novels whose protagonist is Lisa Donahue (the first book in the series, The Dead Sea Codex, isn't available as an audiobook; but I've seen it available for Kindle, so I might get that). In Bound for Eternity Lisa is curator at a museum for historical/archaeological artefacts. Normal work routine is interrupted when one of the museum employee’s is found dead in the building. As things progress it becomes more and more obvious that one of the other employee’s must be the murderer. While trying to plan the next exhibit Lisa notices that some artefacts are not where they are supposed to be and even begins to suspect that some of the items might be forgeries. Are both incidents connected?