Mr. Darcy's Letter: Abigail Reynolds, Narrator: Pearl Hewitt

Mr. Darcy's Letter
Author: Abigail Reynolds
Narrator: Pearl Hewitt
Provider: Abigail Young
9 hours 32 minutes

Mr. Darcy's Letter Author: Abigail Reynolds

Pearl Hewitt, Narrator

A marvelous narration by Pearl Hewitt, Ms. Hewitt has a lovely, feminine and musical voice, and she uses it to her fullest advantage. Every character is given a most definite voice, no blurring of tones, Masculine voices are excellent, I had to laugh when Ms. Hewitt, did a laugh of scorn from Mr. Darcy. It was fabulous. She easily finesses the females characterizations so skillfully, you can almost feel like you are in that time and place with them all. The book is well written, with interesting and charming people, paired with a skilled and talented narrator makes for an exciting listen. Mr. Darcy's Letter is a journey into another century. I'm not a big fan of Jane Austin. Some of the current writings such as Mr. Darcy's Letter, in comparison are more lively, realistic and inviting to listen to.

No one could be disappointed listening to this narration, it is one of the finest. I loved the quick change between a higher pitched, squeaky voice of simpering Lydia, addressing Elizabeth, it was so distinctive, it sounded just like another woman talking. When Elizabeth responds to Lydia, her voice is again the lilting, smooth voice that is Elizabeth. Amazing, outstanding. The interchange between Elizabeth, Lydia and Mr. Wickham, was an academy award winning performance. There is absolutely no artifice in Hewitt's narration, she is so smooth and realistic sounding. Pearl Hewitt is a  perfect fit for a Regency Romance. I adore her narration of this book and you will too.



The author of, Mr. Darcy's Letter, Abigail Reynolds has pulled together an intriguing and interesting story.  It might be thought that a plot about little more, than a gentlemans interest in a woman and his desire to marry her, and the woman, having the wrong idea of his character, and she despises him, would not create a story of so many intrigues, misunderstandings and disasters. Yet, in an entertaining and believable way Ms. Reynolds has accomplished all of this, in her 'what if ' scenario 

Mr. Darcy is in love with Elizabeth Bennet and she hates him as much as he loves her. In desperation Darcy spends an entire evening composing a letter declaring his love and intentions and presenting a defense against the falsehoods lodged against him. Elizabeth refuses the letter knowing if she accepted it, it could be construed as an acceptance of marriage. Frustrated, Darcy devises another plan to get his letter to Elizabeth whether she wants it or not. Angry at his impudence Elizabeth tosses the letter unread into the fireplace.
Elizabeth thinks her friend Wickham is honest and upright and believes his lies against Mr. Darcy.
Poor Mr. Darcy, he has to work very hard to gain Elizabeths respect and attention.

Elizabeth speaks to Wickham about Darcy and is aghast that Wickham thinks she is foolish to turn down Mr. Darcy, that Darcy is handsome, wealthy and will provide her an enviable life. Elizabeth ponders these things but until fate brings her face to face with Darcy and she see's another side of him only then, does she soften her thoughts about him. When she learns the truth about the lies against him she is sorrowful, as she has deeply hurt and distressed Darcy's sister.

Darcy seizes an opportunity to kiss her and that kiss leaves Elizabeth weak in the knees and wanting more. The relationship grows from there and blossoms within the strictures of polite society. The characters are well developed so much so you feel like you know them.

The bulk of the book is about the social activities, restrictions and rules that must be lived by and social intercourse. Having few preconceived ideas about Jane Austin or her books, unlike her fans, I can't compare what I'm reading/listening too, with what she may have written or thought of the plot. I just enjoy and go along for the ride happily unaware  I can't imagine the famous Jane Austin would have anything but good things to say about Mr. Darcy's Letter. Pearl Hewitt is such a talented and gifted narrator and is a perfect match that will bring you hours of listening pleasure.

The White Angel Murder, author, Victor Methos Narrator: Wayne Farrell

The White Angel Murder
Victor Methos
Narrator: Wayne Farrell
Producer: Yossof Sharifi

8 hours 4 mins.

The White Angel Murder by Victor MethosNarrator: Wayne Farrell

Narrator: Wayne Farrell

Wayne Farrell has a nice deep and very masculine voice, well suited for a good mystery story.
He has a pleasant and light accent which adds interest and dimension to the plot. Wayne does some
excellent variations for the secondary characters and even does a reasonable southern accent and American. I'm impressed with not only the quality of his reading but with his varied and expansive range of emotions like the scorn of a low income housing area. Very nicely done on the tough guy parts or the bored by stander. Wayne is a very high quality and talented narrator who is sure to become popular with audio book listeners very quickly.


The White Angel Murder is a carefully paced plot about Jonathan Stanton, who has been asked to become part of a team of highly qualified and experienced people to investigate cold case murders. Some are a bit gruesome in their description and like most cold cases they are hard to solve after many years have passed. Stanton becomes fixated on the case assigned to him of a twenty three year old girl that had moved to Los Angeles, San Diego area for the typical reasons that many young people do.
Her murder was so gruesome and sadistic that just reading the files makes Stanton sick. As he progress through the investigation he becomes suspicious that the murderer is a police officer. Stanton is unrelenting in his pursuit and has to use whatever devious methods he can to find out more about his suspect. Stanton seemed a likable if not over zealous character and his religious convictions seem to make him say or do things not in his own interest. As a detective Stanton was skilled and persistent, in his personal life not so much. I felt the characters were well rounded and fleshed out nicely so I was not bored or disinterested in any of them. Overall the story follows typical police procedure but with more of the more illegal side of a police department threaded throughout. The story seemed more exciting and faster moving towards the end of the book whereas the beginning and middle plodded along more. There were more graphic descriptions of crimes than I care to read, putting it into the genre of my personal black list. I just do not like explicit crimes against women.
 I had to skip forward a couple time to avoid listening to so much detail about sexual crimes. I'm sure many men will enjoy this book as they are less squeamish about such things than I am. Wayne Farrell does a nice portrayal of Stanton's low key  personality as an introspective and considerate person. It was an interesting touch that Stanton is a Mormon and stands by his religious convictions even though they lead him to have a more lonely and singular life. There are many surprising twists and turns as the plot unfolds leading to a satisfying and exciting conclusion.

Belinda Goes to Bath, M. C. Beaton, Narrator: Helen Lisanti

Belinda Goes to Bath
The Traveling Matchmaker, book 2
M. C. Beaton, writing as Marion Chesney
Narrator: Helen Lisanti
5 hours 27 minutes
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Author M.C. Beaton

Narrator Helen Lisanti

The charming and melodious voice of Helen Lisanti is narrator for the second book in The Traveling Matchmaker series Belinda Goes to Bath. The subtle, touches of trepidation in Mrs. Judd voice, quavering with fear is so well done.The bully of a husband, Mr. Judd, sounds so harsh and mean. I liked the pace Ms. Lisanti keeps while reading, expressing excitement, fear, and scorn, without missing a beat. At the same time she is consistently reading the story very smoothly and in a pleasant way. It is amazing how Ms. Lisanti, is able to put so much interpretation into a single word. Listening to Ms. Lisanti is a promised delivery of excellence in every-way.

In Belinda Goes to Bath, Hannah Pym, a great lover of traveling on the Flying Machine, as the stagecoach was called then, was full of eager anticipation of some adventure and excitement. She meets nineteen-year-old Belinda Earle who is traveling to Bath with Miss Wimple, her spiteful hired companion. Belinda is to be banished to the care of her strict and religious, Great Aunt Harriet.

Belinda’s shame is, she failed to find a suitable husband during her coming out season, and then she ran off with a footman. The footman never intended to marry her, and leaves her stranded and alone in London.
Shamed and crushed, she found her own way home and faced the scorn and punishment of her family. Both her parents had died in the smallpox epidemic, leaving Belinda in the care of her aunt and uncle, they expect her to marry a titled man, and one that is well heeled.  Belinda is not a particularly pretty girl, and far too outspoken, not popular characteristics for the times.Young women were supposed to twitter, giggle and be a bit empty-headed. Prospects for Belinda, do not look good.

Hannah, befriends Belinda, when the testy Miss Wimple, dozes off and Belinda tells her the tale of her banishment. Before long, the cold, and the snow, cause all of them to drink to much at each post stop, leaving them with various degrees of fatigue and hangovers. The coachman drinking far more than the passengers, falls asleep and overturns the coach into a river. Fortunately, they are rescued and taken by the Marquis of Frenton, to his home Baddle Castle.

Lord Frenton, has ulterior motives for not taking them to the nearest Inn, instead of his home. He has houseguests that he is very sorry he invited. He met Miss Penelope Jordan at her coming out ball, and found her beautiful, a potential marriage partner, to grace his home. He thought by inviting another couple, he could get to know her better and decide if she would make a good wife and companion. Bad weather prevented the other guests from accepting his invitation, leaving Miss Penelope, to assume that Lord Frenton was intent on marrying her. It doesn't take long for Lord Frenton to discover that although Penelope is very beautiful, she is not very nice. He especially does not like the way she has presented herself as lady of the manor, when he has not yet, asked her to marry him. He is hoping the presence of the coach passengers, will act as a buffer between himself and the Jordan's.

Due to Miss Wimple's head injury, and Belinda's severely sprained ankle, they are delayed at the castle longer than any of them expected. During their stay, we are drawn further into each passengers story, as well as Penelope Jordan and her parents. Ms. Jordan, has her nose put out of joint when the lord of the manors attention and eye, wanders to the more interesting Belinda Earle. Ignoring Belinda's protestations that she has no desire to marry after the episode with the worthless footman, Hannah Pym, is determined to have Belinda engaged to the Marquis, before reaching Bath.Through her stratagems and crafty intrigues Hannah, will successfully maneuver all relationships on to the roads that she desires. Oh, that she could be as successful with her own recently ignited desire for romance. This is a fun, and fairly typical light, Regency Romance, made interesting by the highly skilled talents of M. C. Beaton to make the typical sound fascinating. Lisanti gives it dimension and elevates it to another level of pleasure.