Engrossing.

Nicola Upson blew me away with 'An Expert In Murder', and now with 'Two For Sorrow' she's done it again. I found the switch between past and present a little confusing at times but that could have been because of the gaps between my listening sessions. As in 'Expert', the protagonist is Josephine Tey, a fascinating character in her own right, and extremely well-drawn and researched by Upson. The mood of both periods - the first few years of the 20th century and the mid-thirties - is beautifully evoked; the atmosphere of the jail is suitably chilling - in both senses of the word. Equally chilling is the murder of one of the characters, terribly cruel and vivid, yet so well written that, squeamish as I am, I found myself pinned to the tableau that Upson has created in this scene by the sheer excellence of the writing and narration. Nicola Upson is now right up there at the top of my list of favourite crime writers.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

Why oh why ruin a Fab murder Mystery??

Up until now, I have thoroughly enjoyed the first two books and the strength of writing and the outstanding narration has been amazing!!

But now this book is going down a completely unnecessary path with Josephine and I REALLY don’t need to hear all the details!!!! When I’m thoroughly absorbed in the plot and Archie investigating! and then I’m interrupted by a whole chapter of inconsequential rubbish by the author, it’s REALLY frustrating!!

Archie, his cousins and all the other characters are fab! And this would have been 5 stars all the way if it wasn’t for the above.

So ironic that a line in this book is Josephine wondering if it’s right to take the past and turn it into a fictional story without knowing the facts!! As this is exactly what Nicola Upson has done!!

I’ve never read a Josephine Tey novel, but if someone wrote a series of books about me, when I’d passed and made the HUGE assumptions that Nicola is, I’d be turning in my grave!!

Incredibly odd way for Ms Upton to commemorate an author she claims to be a fan of!!

So sad when Ms Upton is clearly very talented and could have written a fabulous series without Josephine even featuring! I honestly don’t feel her character adds ANYTHING to this book.

Sandra Duncan is just stunning in her Narration so 5 stars incredibly deserved by her :-)

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Entertaining throughout

Beautiful weaving of the real and fiction. Such a good reading voice. Brings the characters to life

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Excellent

I have really enjoyed the glimpses into the life of one of my favourite authors even though written in a fiction manner with fact thrown in. The books are beautifully written and keep the reader engaged with the crime. The narrator Sandra Duncan is absolutely superb and one of the main reasons I have bought the books one after another instead of listening to something else in between

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

A solid series

I have enjoyed the books in this series although there’s a nagging ‘something’ that bothers me. I’ve finally come to the realisation that the best and most enjoyable characters in the book do not include Josephine Tey. Perhaps she could take a holiday and leave Archie and the cousins to to have a book of their own.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Engrossing, interesting, bit violent!

Big fan of Nicola Upson and this is a very well written and read book - although we start to get a few graphic and nasty murder scenes! Another one I had to keep listening to.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

"Where the real person went."

When Josephine Try takes her annual pilgrimage to London to research a thirty years old real case which resulted in the last judicial double hanging of two women in Holloway prison, she stays at her club only to be embroiled in another murder. The plot line of the killings, both past and present (to Josephine) was excellent, the historic detail very visually compelling and, if left at that, this well written book would have rated at least four, if not five, stars. However, the author also included a tedious and long drawn out romantic subplot which not not only lengthened the audio by several hours but made the main protagonist seem dull, dithering and ineffectual. Thank goodness for Inspector Archie Penrose.

Narration was again by Sandra Duncan with an excellent performance in which the numerous protagonists were each given individual voices and the reading was well modulated and paced. She even managed to inject character into the rather flat characters.

I had enjoyed the developing tales one and two with real life Josephine Tey as the fictional sleuth but could not recommend this, book three. The tedium of the overlong and intrusive romantic relationship distracted too much from the otherwise intriguing plot.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

wonderful

I loved it this story,. so, much I have listened to it several times over
Performance by Sandra Duncan, was splendid as ever.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Went a bit off the boil

Having enjoyed previous books I was a little disappointed in this one. The crime plot was rather spoiled by a drawn out, soul-searching love story for Josephine which I found unnecessary and, frankly, a bit tedious. It kept altering the pace in an otherwise enjoyable story.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Another hit!

Beautifully narrated, yet again, by Sandra Duncan. Would recommend. Was a little surprised by the explicit sexual references, however.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!