An Old Person's Book

I didn't realise I'd bought a book for octogenarians. It's peppered with lots of digs at "young people" by the annoying and bitter protagonist, who is a massive know-it-all... and not in a good detective way. Having a rude lead character makes it hard to like them, even if the rudeness is intended. The Dorset setting at Christmas was a strong point and the overall story was gripping enough to keep me interested, but I was hoping for something that the reader could solve along with the story, but there didn't seem to be enough clues for this.

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2 people found this helpful

ENJOYABLE!

Really enjoyed this! Loved the protagonist especially as it was a feisty 80 yr old.
The pace, the narration and the plot were great and i loved every minute of it.

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lovely Christmas story

Lovely characters, amazing story .Loved it.More Edie's stories please.Loved the perfect ending.Merry Christmas Edie.Great Murder mystery.

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the characters and story

reader brilliant brought the characters to life just as I imagine then in my head

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Lack of research

If you’re going to write a book involving teaching, it’s a good idea to research it. The idea that anyone could be qualified to teach: Art, History, English and Maths at secondary level is just ridiculous!

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Passable

Enjoyable but a bit lacking.. expected so much more. Main character is not really likable and very stubborn. Which makes it harder to get really into. Plot was a bit all over the place and when we finally got to the conclusion i just didn’t find it very believable. All of this for the killer to be… how to say this, just not convincing. Motive not good enough and also not matching the characters narrative.

However i did like most of the characters. They felt original and unique. So i had hoped a bit more of a plot twist from a closer acquaintance.

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Love!

What a great story! A feisty & sassy main character! I’d love her to be my aunt!

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Easy listening

The storyline was good and free flowing made easier by the narrative I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this book described by the narrator. Will definitely be recommending this book if not purchasing for my sister as a little treat which this Christmas storyline was.

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An intelligent page turner

Loved the puzzles. Highly original. Can't seem to submit this review however. An infuriating puzzle I can't seem to solve!

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An average story with irritating characters

It's hard to like a story when you don't like the main protagonist. She is meant to be a difficult person, but for me, it just created a barrier I couldn't get over.

The story seemed to meander in many places. Interesting enough to listen to, but I wished it would get to the point sometimes.

What I didn't like is that there were no real clues as to who the murderer might be until almost the end. The important backstory was never hinted at until things came to a head. It's unfair on the reader/listener. The book description say "Only by fitting all the pieces together will Edie be able to stop a killer – and finally lay her past to rest" --- so as the reader, you're expecting to hear about something that happened in the past. All we hear about the past is that there were tragic deaths, which obviously have nothing to do with the murders. It's only with a few chapters to go that you hear what happened. So that's annoying.

The book description in general is misleading:
"When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene"
No, they don't fit together. It's clear that there are many missing pieces.

"Edie contacts her nephew, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan, and together they work to solve the clues. "

They don't work together. In fact, he keeps telling her not to get involved because it could jeopardise his career.

"Sean fears that Edie might be in danger and shuts her out of the investigation."

No, Edie fears that Sean is in danger, and she shuts him out.


Another of the problems is that we don't hear enough about the pieces of the puzzle to build a mental picture in our head. We don't get any description at all for some pieces.

It's nice that there were LGBTQ+ characters without that being their defining trait.

The narrator was passable, but nothing more. She really has no talent for accents. It took me a while to realise she was trying to do a Welsh accent, and the neighbour can best be described as "vaguely foreign". There were several occasions when I could hear "mouth noises", like licking lips or excess saliva. I find this annoying.

Looking at the author's other books, they're all Christmas themed -- which is to say Christmas is in the title. This also has Christmas in the title, although it really has little to do with Christmas at all. Perhaps she sees herself as the cosy mystery equivalent of a Hallmark Christmas movie. She's not.

Would I listen to another book written by Alexandra Benedict? Probably not. Perhaps if it was free. But I wouldn't pay.
Would I listen to another book narrated by Sandra Duncan? Probably not.

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3 people found this helpful