Bill Bryson reading The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

        

The Thunderbolt Kid written and read by Bill Bryson

The Thunderbolt Kid
Bill Bryson
Duration:   7 hours, 39 minutes
Publisher: Books on Tape
Narrator Bill Bryson

Subject(s): Biography & Autobiography

Humor (Nonfiction)

Bill Bryson, Narrator and Author

Bill Bryson is not only an outstanding and talented writer he is an excellent narrator. He has a great way of adding inflection to the words that really showcase the meaning. He's outstanding in expressing the thought and content in his own unique way. Such a pleasure listening to him. There are many narrators that could take some tips just listening to him. They read, Bill Bryson expresses. The Thunderbolt Kid  is so funny. You can't help but laugh at his tales of what the world and life was like for him in the 50's. Bryson doesn't pull any punches and worry about being very pc. It sounds like he not only had a pretty good childhood but had a lot of fun too. The tale about his mother and the cottage cheese is very funny. "Mom, I would say each night, laying a piece of bread over the offending mound on my plate. Rather as one covers a roadside accident victim with a blanket. You know, I really do hate cottage cheese. Do you dear
, she would say with a look of sympathetic perplexity. Why? It looks like the stuff that comes out of Uncle Dee's throat. Everyone present including my father would nod solemnly". This goes on for awhile and is hilarious. He has described Uncle Dee and the cottage cheese which was sad and funny at the same time. Where he gets some of the obscure information he uses like story about Ruthy's Lounge and her ability to use her bosom to carry a drink tray. The story about the police busting up a prostitution house, took the police 3 hours to find the girls behind a hidden wall. And when he does find these articles or stories how does he even glom onto them as something to use in a book. You won't be disappointed with any of Bill Bryson's books. You might be a little disappointed if you read the books and don't listen to them because you can't possibly get all the feeling, inflection and essence of the story that you will have if you listen to Bill Bryson reading them.

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I see that some people are copying the pictures on my site. This is fine, but please do not use them to sell on another site or on any other media. You can use them for your own personal use. Please ask me if you're not sure. There is a link to most of them at the bottom of the page that will take you to Flickr where you can use them. I haven't checked what abilities Flickr gives you so you'll have to check it out yourself. I have improved the look/color of many of the pictures and added text. Please use your editing program to remove my text before you use them. Above all, I have put links to my sources that you can visit and either buy the subscription to www.vintagerio.com which is very reasonably priced or visit Liam at www.fromoldbooks.com. Dover also has a good amount of very usable and copy write free pictures you can use.
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Thanks

Jennie

Karen White Narrating The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison AllenNarrator Karen White 

                                                                     

Karen White Narrator

The Peach Keeper
Sarah Addison Allen
Narrator: Karen White
13 hours 11 minutes
Listen & Live Audio


                                                                 
Karen White reads like a person possessed. In a single word there are two very different tones occasionally there are three tones. One is a whisper, one is a deep guttural masculine tone and sometimes there is sucking in of air that gives a vowel or part of a word a strange sound. Each sentence is fraught with up and down changes of voice. If she would read in the tone that sounds closer to her natural voice her reading would be very nice.  In On Folly Beach by Lyssa Browne she reads in a steady tone that is not wispy, or have the drops to masculine tones. Possibly this is closer to her normal voice. Her rendition of On Folly Beach, she does well on characterizations for each person. Reading Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra Horowitz she reads at a steady pace, but has that gasp on intake of air. Some words again, are raspy sounding and some are a deep masculine tone on half a word then rising in pitch then a gasp. Since she is not using the falsetto voice she uses in The Peach Keeper, it is possible to focus on the story and not the distracting, reading. I suggest you listen to excerpts before shelling out your money on a book Karen White is narrating. Some books are acceptable and you can enjoy the book without distraction. She does good characterizations.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen,  Lots of interconnecting between people in the past with current time people. There is some mystery when the remains of a body are discovered while renovating an old house. It is a good book that moves along at a good pace. The characters are fleshed out and interesting. If you like this type of book then you'll like The Peach Keeper. I personally don't like stories that are so convoluted. There has to be better ways to connect events from the past than giving almost an entire new book to them just to get to the point of the main people in the story.

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death Book 1. By M. C. Beaton. Davina Porter Narrator

Agatha Raisin and The Quiche of Death

Book 1

M. C. Beaton

Narrator: Davina Porter
Audio Book

6 hours 26 minutes 

Narrator Davina Porter

 Davina Porter is a one man show. Every character has their own distinctive voice.In the Agatha Raisin series you know exactly who is speaking. Agatha Raisin, is shallow, man crazy, and self absorbed,  and has intermittent bouts of self doubt. Davina Porter captures the personality of Agatha with her expressive and melodic voice. You might almost forget that you're listening to an audio book and not laying on the sofa listening to a play on the t.v. Both her series "Death of A" and the "Agatha Raisin" are easy to read cozy mysteries. I love them all.

Ms. Porter,  exactly expresses the bold and obnoxious Agatha Raisin and smoothly changes to the voice of Mrs.Bloxby the vicars wife. Without a hitch she flows right into Agatha's love interest James Lacey giving him a touch of masculine rasping and peevish disposition that he always expresses when around Agatha. What a pleasure it is to listen to Davina Porter. Davina Porter also reads under the name of Nadia May. She's fabulous no matter what name she uses.



Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death is the 1st. book in this series. Cantankerous Agatha  retired early from her advertising agency. Agatha always dreamed of moving to the Cotswolds and living a quiet a peaceful life in her retirement years. She buys a cottage in Carsely and sets out to be accepted and make friends. The Quiche of Death is the beginning of her adventures or misadventures in pursuing her dreams. Agatha is so outspoken and aggressive and will stop at nothing to win or be ahead of the pack that she is forever finding herself in one scrape after another.

When she finds out the next big event in Carsely is a baking contest she asks her friend and ex-employee Roy to bring a quiche with him from a posh London bakery when he comes to visit. She thinks she is sure to win the baking contest with it. Instead it turns into a murder. Our victim is the  judge for the event, Cummings-Browne. When he falls over dead after eating Agatha's swanky quiche everyone thinks it was just some bizarre accident. Not Agatha, whose tenuous reputation is on the line, she has to discover who the murder is, or be accused herself.

The Quiche of Death

Somehow, you can't help liking Agatha and feeling some sympathy for her. You will find yourself laughing out loud fairly often with the quips and wisecracks. I own and love the entire series. Easily one of the funniest cozy mysteries out there. Beaton in a few well chosen words sets a quick visual picture. She manages to pack a wallop of meaning, information, and atmosphere, giving even secondary characters a voice of an easily imagined person. She uses weather to round out the ambiance and set the time of year.

The Agatha Raisin series has been re-recorded with narrator Penelope Keith, who also does a fine narration. I've had my collection for a number of years so I do not know if the ones done by Davina Porter are still available. I personally prefer Porters rendition but I'm sure you will enjoy Ms. Keith's version just as well. For me Agatha Raisin is always going to be Davina Porter. A true superstar in the field of narrators.

Author M. C. Beaton

Chit chat about where to get audiobooks

Audio Book Swap

Many of you who come here to read narrator reviews may wonder where you can get a good selection of audio books. Your public library could be your biggest source if they have Overdrive or Netlibrary. Of course they will no doubt have a good selection on CD's if you prefer to listen to your books that way. I feel fortunate that my library has both Netlibrary and Overdrive. Log into your library account and look for the tab that says databases or internet.
If your searching for a specific book from the regular library database it will have an icon indicating that it is available as a downloadable book. Sign into either with your library card number and download the software you need. The instructions are much clearer now than when I started using it a few years ago. They are compatible now with many more devices than when they started out. There are hundreds of Epub books that you can read if  you want to do that too.
I prefer Overdrive for it's easy to use interface. It has an excellent bookmarking ability. You can easily burn, or transfer your book from within it's window or you can listen to it on your computer.
I like Netlibrary because you don't have to wait to check out a book. If they have it you can download it right away, whereas on Overdrive you may end up having to wait for it to become available. It will show how many people are on the waiting list. The selection of books at either is dependent on what your library provides. There are some free sites also like librivox except the books are not read by professional narrators. I have listened to a few books from them and heard some excellent readers. What I don't like is between every single chapter, they repeat the librivox ad and information. I've even had a few readers giving kudos to some friend that graduated from college. That is really annoying. Personally I think at the beginning of the book is sufficient. It can be disturbing to have it breaking the flow of the story so often.

Ree Drummond reading The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

                                                                     

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

  
Ree Drummond, narrating her book, The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Ree does a fine job reading her own book. Drummond has a good flow when reading. She doesn't pause too long between sentences there are no gaps between words. Her voice is pleasant and she has a good balance on emotionally charged parts. I enjoyed listening to her very much.

Her book The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels was a good listen. A down to earth gal telling it all. She shares details of her life that some people might blush at telling. It is a great love story and there is no mistaking that Ree and her cowboy are still very much in love. The story covers some of her life before she met the Marlboro man, how they met and fell in love, which is a very intense and romantic tale. Seems, like true love still is around. If you haven't found it yet, read book and maybe pick up some tips.
If you have not visited her site www.thepioneerwoman.com I recommend that you do. She has some very good things on it. I love her photography section and she has such great photo contest. On her cooking page she has tons of fantastic recipes and you'll be dying to try them all. You'll be very hungry reading it. Another page is for Homeschooling and there are so many clever learning tools on it. Honestly I love Ree's blog as there are so many different topics and she is funny and clever. I also enjoy the hotel room pictures that she posts of every hotel she stays at when on vacation or touring to promote her books. Wholesome may be out of vogue for some people but I'd say from the popularity she enjoys, there are many who still live and breathe the concept.

Narrator Stephanie Brush I Went to Vassar For This? by Naomi Neale

I Went to Vassar for This?
Naomi Neale
Narrator: Stephanie Brush
9 hours 32 minutes
Books In Motion

Stephanie Brush, (photo from Books In Motion)

Stephanie Brush,  reads clearly, enunciates well, does characterizations exceedingly well and reads text skillfully. She also has a good amount of pauses when appropriate. Her voice is clear and strong. I really like her ability to have a distinctive voice for each character.

BUT, throughout the book she does not keep an even pace. Some of the time she reads real fast then other parts she reads slow and some of the times she reads at a normal pace. With that said, what keeps her from being an outstanding reader is sentences end sounding like a question.

She has a bad habit of forcing out the last couple words of a sentences with a hard loud puff of air. She is very loud when she's breathing . As her pace picks up she begins to sound breathless. I start feeling like I am suffocating and need to gasp for air. I have a number of books read by Stephanie Brush and often wish she would quit breathing like a drowning man and forcing out words with so much emphasis.

It's kind of hard to explain but you can listen to an audio clip from your library or from www.audible.com and you'll immediately hear what I'm talking about. The worst is her rendition of a man laughing or chuckling. It is truly horrible. It's a shame really because otherwise her voice would be very nice, she does terrific with male characters. I'm sure if we were face to face I'd be needing either a respirator or a Kleenex.

The Book, I Went to Vassar for This?  Is about Kathy Voorhees, who works in advertising. She loses her job from botching an ad campaign for a retro food company. She takes home her boxed up personal items and a few months supply of t.v. dinners. She, in the typical Cathy Voorhees manner, just throws a retro t.v. dinner in the microwave without removing the aluminum foil causing the microwave to explode. The door flies off and hits her on the head.

When she comes around, she is not in her own apartment. She thinks she's been abducted by Hank Cabot and his friends for some kinky sex plot. Eventually she realizes that she is in 1959, living with two room-mates Tilly and Miranda. they think she is their roommate Cathy Voight. Their Cathy was thrown forward in time to Kathy Voorhees apartment and life. It's too bad Ms. Neale did not spend some time developing Cathy Voights experiences in 21st century. From the little that is mentioned of her she is not any nicer than Kathy Voorhees. Kathy Voorhees blurts out things without thinking, most often things that are rude, hurtful and condescending. She is vulgar and says things that would be at least to me, in the 21st century sound crude.

In chapter 4. she says to Hank " If you want your testicles to remain intact you'd better get the hell out of here" later Hank refers to her testicle comment. Something, a 50's man would not be likely to say without blushing. A 50's man would have been more repulsed by her, especially a nice well bred guy like Hank.
Without the political agendas it would have been a better book. More fun events and scenarios of adapting to another era instead of a difficult, and unpleasant person on a crusade to right social injustices.

An everyday conversation turns into a rant on sexual inequities. A party turns into a 60's style sit in protest and she loses Cherry a black woman her job and has the gall to say "don't demean yourself for me" when Cherry is doing her job, taking away Kathy's tray in a cafeteria and cleaning up. To say that in any era would be rude, condescending and patronizing.

In chapter 2. she says she didn't have a  brother but later in chapter 4 she tells Hank  "When were kids my  brother use to collect comics about Mighty Morphs and". She only mentions her sister one time in the beginning of the book. She had nothing nice to say about her sister. The concept of the story is excellent, and most of the book is enjoyable. I love time travel scenarios and this could have been a good one, if Ms.Neale had not used Kathy Vorhees, for her personal political, social, agendas. I wonder if anyone bothered to edit this book before it was published. Nonetheless the book is worth reading/listening too, the supporting characters were good and much of the story is fun and a light read.

Narrator Rosemary Leach reading Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced

Agatha Christie audio book award

I really enjoyed listening to Rosemary Leach reading A Murder is Announced. She has a great voice. I had no trouble following who was speaking as she transitions between characters very smoothly, very equable and natural sounding. Wonderful range of tones and emotion and she pulls off the male characters nicely. Very expressive, not afraid to give lots of personality to each character. In fact her her narration is so outstanding that you can easily envision the story in your minds eye.

I realize this is book 4 in the Miss Marple Series. Unfortunately the libraries are slow to add Agatha Christie audio books. The story was a rather fun story where someone publishes an advertisement for what sounds like an open invitation to a murder mystery party.

Susan Ericksen, Jill Kargman, The Ex-Mrs Hedgefund

The Ex Mrs. Hedgefund
Jill Kargman
Narrator: Susan Ericksen
9 hours 9 min
Brilliance Audio

Jill Kargman Author

Susan Ericksen Narrator

Susan Ericksen has a nice strong voice and does transitions between characters nicely. I enjoy listening to her because she has a steady reading pace, has a variety of tones and emphasizes certain words and phrases pleasingly. She enunciates the words distinctively. The book was OK, but my credulity was stretched somewhat. I'll just say that when someone close to you has a half brother I doubt there is a chance you'd not know it. The story basically is just a cheating husband, divorce and remarriage. Not much new here.There were some funny one liners.

Cassandra Campbell, narrating Predator by Terri Blackstone

Predator by Terri Blackstock
Narrated by Cassandra Campbell

                                                                    
If you read my other post about Cassandra Campbell you will remember I was really unhappy with her voice and rendition reading A Year in  the World, by Frances Mayes. I did say that she should be narrating romance books. I think I was 100% right. She does an outstanding job reading Predator. Tremendous rendition of characters to a spine chilling degree. Predator is not a romance but a murder/horror story. I'll be adding that genre to Ms. Campbells bag of tricks.
The Book, Predator, I recommend it to anyone that is on any social websites or has kids that are spending any amount of time on them. With Cassnadra's narrating you will feel true terror. She manages to make you get into each character, feel their fear and engage with their very thoughts. If you don't get a frison up your spine listening to this book then you are not alive. lol, I hartily applaud Ms. Campbell's wonderful reading and the energy and emotion that she instills in it. Terri Blackstock's books usually are spine chillers. Outstanding book and satisfying rendition.

Dick Hill & Susie Breck narrators for Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath

Susie Breck Narrator

Whiskey Sour
J. A. Konrath
Narrators: Dick Hill, Susie Breck
6 hours 55 minutes

Dick Hill Narrator

Brilliance Audio

Whiskey Sour J. A. Konrath Narrators Dick Hill and Susie Breck

Dick Hill is one of the greats for narrating books. Always a pleasure to listen too him no matter what he is reading. Susie Breck, well, I'm on the fence about her reading. On the one hand her voice is sharp and clear. She does good enunciation. She is excellent in reading the text parts. Outstanding for intonation and enthusiasm. What bugs me is she has tiny bit of a lispy (new word I just created) and I don't know if it's for the character of Jack or not but there is the slightest tinge of an accent like Brooklyn or New York. Oh gosh, well accent from somewhere. Which is OK to have but I don't want to hear it on an audiobook. That's just me. She does read a little fast for my taste but it's not so fast you feel like your gasping. None of that would prevent me from buying or trying another audiobook she narrates. I do like her loud, easy to follow voice.


I don't like listening to books that are to violent, or gory like. J. A. Konrath's ( Jacqueline " Jack" Daniels ) Mystery Series. Amazon has tons of reviews on the series and most people love them. I admit I did like Jack, and the humor was great. I always enjoy some good humor in the books. The stories flow nicely,they are not overly complicated. I did enjoy the first one Whiskey Sour. When I got the second one it seemed too much like the first one. I was disappointed that there was not much of a new story. Oh there were some new things but the main theme was from the previous book. I'm really not into torture, bondage or weirdos. Apparently hundreds of people enjoy reading it. I didn't. Trust me if you don't like stories with a lot of graphic torture that can give you nightmares, pass this series up.

William Dufris reading Steve Hockensmith's Holmes on the Range Mystery

Holmes on the Range
Author Steve Hockensmith
Narrator William Dufris
9 hours 24 minutes
Producer: Tantor Media

Steve Hockensmith
Holmes on the Range

                               
                                                    

Steve Hockensmith
Author

William Dufris
Narrator

William Dufris narrator for Steve Hockensmith's Holmes on the Range Mystery


William Dufris is absolutely wonderful reading this series. Great voice, captures the old time western flavor of the stories. Huge range of vocalizations. This was a match made in heaven. He really sharpens up the characters in the book making all of them some of the greatest listens you can ever get.

The book,  Holmes on the Range Mystery is the first in the series and I can't believe there is a person on earth that wouldn't love this book. It's fresh, it's fun and it's got a great story. Two brothers and the adventures they have solving Sherlock Holmes type crimes. All because brother Gustave falls in love with Holmes. The brothers are charming, witty, kind, and moral. What more can you ask for. Just fantastic stories all of them. I recommend starting with the first in the series. Tell me what your opinion is. Do you like the Holmes on the Range Mysteries?

Julia Gibson reading The Cracker Queen by Lauretta Hannon

Julia Gibson
Julia Gibson reading The Cracker Queen by Lauretta Hannon. Ms. Gibson has a bit of a raspy voice. She has a little girlish tone. But overall she reads pretty well. She does some of the Southern speech nicely. Her talents would be better spent reading romance books. The Cracker Queen needs a deeper, more coarse voice. My choice would be Judy Kaye.
The book, Cracker Queen, is not my cup of tea. I found it rambling, disjointed and crude. I did not like the amount of swearing and vulgar language. It wasn't needed IMHO. Her family sounds like a horror story. I'm not sure but it seems like she is giving life advice and she really is not an ideal life coach. Dare I say this book is trashy? There were a few funny one liners but a book needs more than that to be good. Substance would have been nice.

Steven Weber, reading Live Wire Author, Harlan Coben

Live Wire

Myron Bolitar Series, Book 10

by Harlan Coben
Narrator: Steven Weber

9 hours, 43 minutes

Brilliance Audio

Live Wire, Author Harlan Coben

Author: Harlan Coben

Steven Weber reading Live Wire by Harlan Coben
Steven Weber has a rich, full bodied voice with the talent enough to successfully express a wide range of characters. For the most part he doesn't mimic a woman's voice but changes the tone of his natural voice so that it is neither totally feminine or masculine but conveys that it is a woman speaking. Live Wire was far more enjoyable with Mr. Weber narrating than it might have been if read by a less talented reader.

Book Review of, Live Wire is a Myron Bolitar story. The plot has many twists and turns with Myron looking for his estranged brother. He deduces that his sister in law is somehow connected to the disappearance of a rock star. I liked the book well enough and I always liked Win, his ruthless sidekick. So many mystery books have a side kick for their protagonist but I have always liked Win the best. Looks like Harlan Coben is going to make this the last of the Myron Bolitar series. 

Justine Eyre reading Now You See Her by Joy Fielding

Justine Eyre
Reading, Now You See Her by Joy Fielding
Hard to follow the book because the sound quality isn't too good. Sounds like she's in a tunnel or down a well. There is a warble to the sound and a fading in and out. I found this odd because Brilliance Audio usually does an excellent job in recording. I'm not sure if it's her reading of the hollow sound that is making it warble.  As to her narration, I feel like gasping for air. My heart rate has gone up and I'm sure my blood pressure has too. The speed of her reading is so fast that I can't even begin to follow the story line. So I have to give her a very low score as a narrator.  This particular book has some low ratings on Amazon. Since I don't have anything else new to listen to at the moment I'm giving it a chance. About a third into the book she began a better pace and with a few exceptions she managed to continue to the end of the book without sounding like she was off to the races.
The book was not that good. I did like the descriptions of places in Ireland. Some were informative but not so long as to become boring. The story pretty much is a divorced older woman Macy Taggart goes alone on the trip to Ireland that had been meant for her and her husband as a second honeymoon. Their daughter had been killed in a canoe accident two years before and she thinks she see's her daughter in Ireland. There were some very unlikely happenings at the end of the book. Things not even dumb luck could cause to happen.
The blurbs did sound like it might be an interesting book. I did enjoy some of her other books like See Jane Run and Kiss Mommy Goodbye. Now You See Her just doesn't make the grade.

Colleen McCullough The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet Read by Jen Taylor

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett
Colleen McCullough

Narrator: Jen Taylor

13 hours 39 minutes

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett

Narrator Jen Taylor

Jen Taylor reading The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett by Colleen McCullough.
Jen Taylor has a strong clear voice and a good range of tones. But like so many British readers they talk like they have a sock stuffed down their throat. For example  'after' sounds like awf ter, Clerk sound like klark this just gets on my last nerve. Sigh, a clerk is a clerk in a store or office and Klark is a man's name. How they get klark out of the spelling clerk that has no A in it, is beyond me. Girl is girl not something that sounds like gull. Aside from that her voice is pretty good.

The book is a mixed bag. About midway through it, it disintegrated into some weird fantasy. Totally ridiculous and unbelievable. Apparently the book is some kind of Jane Austin continuation or sequel. My opinion is not colored by being a big fan of Jane Austin because I am not. For me it was just a stand alone book. I could not warm up to liking Mary. How the other characters could be so adoring of her and forgiving was beyond me. In any time period Jane would be an obnoxious, bull headed pain in the butt. She had no redeeming traits. Frankly the book was awful and even though it started out interesting enough it rapidly fell into the trash. To bad because I've enjoyed so many of Colleen McCullough's past books.

Crocodile on the Sandbank, Elizabeth Peters Narrator Barbara Rosenblat

Crocodile on the Sandbank

Crocodile on the SandbankAmelia Peabody, Book 1
Elizabeth PetersNarrator: Barbara Rosenblat

Blackstone Audio

8 hours 53 minutes

Narrator, Barbara Rosenblat

The late Elizabeth Peters,

Narrator Review

Barbara Rosenblat is such a wonderful narrator. She always has inflections where they should be, doesn't sing song. She has a strong, clear voice and appreciated by many audio book listeners. She's enhanced and expanded the quality of Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody series.  I loved all the books in this series and Ms. Rosenblat can make you believe you are listening to a fully acted out play. 

She's given each character their own voice and personality, from the gentler tones of Evelyn, to the robust and cantankerous Radcliff, to the outstanding Egyptian accents when in Egypt. It is a stunning performance Barbara Rosenblat gives, in every Elizabeth Peters book. Elizabeth Peters has created multi dimensional and realistic personalities in this first in the Amelia Peabody series Crocodile on the Sandbank.


Audio Book review: Crocodile on the Sandbank



Amelia Peabody, a spinster inherits a comfortable living from her father. After his passing Amelia indulges a long time desire to go to Egypt. While there she rescues a fellow English woman that's fainted. As a crowd gathers around the woman Amelia, goes to investigate the ruckus. This is how she meets Evelyn Barton Forbes, a gentle woman, abandoned and misused by her lover Alberto.

Amelia takes Evelyn under her wing and persuades Evelyn, to work as her companion. She sets out to replenish Evelyn's wardrobe, nurtures her back to physical and mental health, and when restoration is accomplished, Amelia rents a boat for a trip up the Nile to meet Radcliff (gotta love that name) and Walter Emerson, brothers who are working an archaeological site.

Walter is smitten with Evelyn, and anxious to marry her, Radcliff is not as eager to engage in a romance. Evelyn, a feminine Victorian lady is the perfect compliment for Amelia's no nonsense personality, Amelia is audacious, intelligent, resourceful and a woman who knows her own mind.

It's not long before curious and suspicious accidents occur and Amelia with her trusty parasol jump right in to solve the mystery. The book is some romance, a lot of adventure, and plenty of fun. I found it to be very educational for archaeology as well as history. Rosenblat is in harmony with each person's role, and how they interact with one another.

It is a terrible loss that on August 8, 2013, Elizabeth Peters passed away. Her love was Egyptology and she wrote, Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs, Two Thousand Years in Rome, Red Land, Black Land, all non-fiction, under  her own name of Barbara Mertz.

Under the name of  Elizabeth Peters, she wrote "The Amelia Peabody" series and she also wrote under Barbara Michaels, with a large number of stand alone novels. She was a very prolific and prestigious author and held in high esteem.  I loved all of her books and like others have listened to them many times. She will be terribly missed and leaving behind a great crater in the world of well written, non-fiction.

Death of a Gossip by, M.C. Beaton, Narrator Davina Porter

Death of a Gossip
Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, Book 1
M. C. BeatonNarrator: Davina Porter4 hrs 57 mins                

Death of a Gossip
M. C. Beaton

Narrator Review: Davina Porter

Narrator Davina Porter

Davina Porter is the Queen of Narrators. Her voice is beautiful and cultured. The quick changes between characters is usually noticeable when read by other narrators, but, with Ms. Porter it's staggering how she manages to give each character a personal voice.

Each is distinctive, with appropriate accents. She never fails to re-capture the individual not only within the same book but from book to book in a series. To fully appreciate her astonishing abilities try listening to M. C. Beaton's, Death of A, series. Davina Porter gives the most remarkable and unparalleled portrayal of characters no matter what book she might be reading.

Audio Book Review: Death of a Gossip, by M.C. Beaton

Author M.C. Beaton

The first in the series is, Death of a Gossip (1985) that introduces Hamish MacBeth and the prissy miss, Priscilla, the love of Hamish's life.

The bitchy Lady Jane Winters joins a fishing class at the hotel in Lochdubh. Who is she and why did someone kill her? One by one Lady Jane humiliates each person in the class, by bringing up some secret in their past that they don't want anyone to know about.

With great relish Lady Jane loudly and viciously details their embarrassing past. Even our favorite constable, Hamish is not passed by. Lady Jane tries to hurt him but Hamish really has no shameful events in his past. Lady Jane is not endearing her self to anyone and someone is definitely going to make sure she does not get around to exposing them and kills her.



This Audio Book from Amazon/Audible is not the Davina Porter narration but a newer remake narrated by Antony Ferguson and produced by Blackstone Audio.

What I love about the Death of A, series is you really can't like the person who is murdered, in fact they deserve to die. Hamish, always discovers the killer and they always die or commit suicide thereby saving a trial and neatly ending the book. Beaton also uses weather skillfully and it is almost always winter, cold, and snowing, or the wind is blowing.

Unfortunately the series is now being narrated by other readers and some are very good but none are as excellent as Davina Porter. If you are lucky you may still find the ones by Davina Porter and if you do snap them up because they have become very scarce.