So disappointing!

I haven’t finished this yet and I will, but I felt I had to add to all the other reviews and warn people to stay away from this one and just buy the book. The narration is poor which I’m so sad to say as I love Lauren as Karen in the TV show, but a good actor does not mean a good narrator. Worse than the lacklustre reading and lack of character distinction is the quality of recording and editing. There are so many places where the volume and tone change entirely for one sentence which I can only assume is a re-recording. Occasionally you find this in an audiobook but not several times per chapter. I have no idea how this got through quality control and it really impacts on the listening experience. So very disappointing!

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12 people found this helpful

Appalling narrator, excellent story.

The narrator may be a good actress, although looking nothing like the description in the novels, but could not read a menu. Slurred and sloppy speech, mispronounced words and a sense of pace and timing that does not exist. Please have this re-read by the previous excellent narrator. Read as if a book had never been read before, even to herself. I have heard wonderful narrators, this lass will never be one. She should try listening to some of the great narrators to develop a sense of how to do the job properly. If there are to be further novels in this series - please, please have the previous reader do the job so the story is paid it's due respect. I stuck with it as I am a fan of the series, but would think hard about buying another if this was to be the same narrator. I think at that point, it would be Kindle or the book!

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5 people found this helpful

Great but……

A slick and gripping story that we have come to expect from Val McDermid but the narration is dreadful.

The narrator sounds bored and the editing makes the script sound robotic and disconnected.

Listen to the book for the story and hope you can get passed the narration!!

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2 people found this helpful

Slow burner

Yes I agree that the narration could be better but I didn’t find it too off putting as I come from that part of the country. The story was a little muddled to begin with but once Karen and her ‘team’ started to unravel the ‘perfect murder’ the story fairly bowled along.
I thought that it dealt with the fear and frustrations of the pandemic and the difficulties faced in a realistic manner and of course there is the continuing stories of the familiar characters. I enjoyed it.

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1 person found this helpful

Awful narration

The story was good but the story teller spoilt it, very nasally then quiet gutted

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1 person found this helpful

Wonderfully complex plot

Love the Karen Pirie novels and this is no exception because the characters are so well drawn. Great to have stories within a story. Despite the seriousness of murder underlying the novel there is genuine black humour.

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Great story

Poor narration, tonal change when edited bits added, changes in volume, lack lustre narration, however the story is great, I persevered through the frankly awful narration almost returned the book purely because of it.

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As good as ever

I didn’t have any issue with the narrator. Excellent book. Looking forward to the next

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The fact it mentions pre Sent day nhs staff help and praise A very good story Thanks

Excellent story. A good page turner.Lovely to hear praise of nhs staff. I can highly recommend.

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Ticks all the boxes

Well written and well read from start to finish
Works as a stand alone story.

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