Christmas Cocoa Murder

By: Carlene O’Connor

Narrated by: Amy Landon

'Tis the season for hot chocolate and mouthwatering treats. But sometimes too much of a good thing can be downright deadly....

Siobhán O'Sullivan's hopes for a quiet Irish Christmas are dashed when the local Santa turns up dead in a carnival dunk tank of hot cocoa. Now instead of hunting down holiday gifts, she's pursuing a heartless killer. Seems the dead Santa was no angel either, stealing neighborhood dogs to guide his sleigh. But was it his holiday antics - or worse - that led to his death by chocolate?

©2019 Mary Carter (P)2021 Tantor

Not as good as later books in series

I didn’t like the narrator. She didn’t have an Irish accent and pronounced names differently than in later books. The story wasn’t as good as later books. My friend wondered if if some other person than the autor had written this book. It is so different than the other books (which got better and better as the series went on). There were also some errors re the order of the siblings and the narrator pronounced a sister’s name differently than in the other books. I now get an email saying it’s part of a different series than Irish Village. I think it was definitely a fan authored book (with O’Connor’s permission). She shouldn’t give out permission again for such inferior products.

Narrator

This narrator sounded more like a computer. No good on this book any way. Thanks

Narration ruins the overall piece

I was going to return this listen, and I probably should have but there was no other version without the same narrator and I wanted to know the story to keep the series straight. The voices were the same for every man, the Irish accent was not consistent on anyway. The listen was disappointing.

I enjoyed the Novella

This is the first time listening to this author I found both the story and the narrador very entertaining.

Cute Story, Not a Good Fit For the Narrator

As others have said, this story is cute. It’s not quite as involved as the rest of the books in this series, but it’s a novella, so that was fine with me. The narrator is excellent at voices, but not great at an Irish accent. But, all in all, I enjoyed the storyline.

Bad accent

The worst fake Irish accent of all time. Please do not have this actor do any more accents. It very nearly ruined the book for me.

A novella not on par with the rest of the series

A short quick listen that is much lighter and simpler than other books in the series. Christmas themed books seem like a new norm for cozy mysteries and this one certainly fits the bill as Santas are both victim and suspect. It is a well written mystery that is easy to follow along with. It does not have a large cast of characters and is not full of twists and turns. Sometimes a simpler book is nice, but this is not as enjoyable as other books in the series. As with other reviews I don't like the change in reader. I am sure Amy Landon would be great with a book set in the US as she has a good voice, but for a book set in Ireland to not be done with a good Irish accent creates a jarring change from the other reader. I hope this is a one off and Caroline Lennon returns to the series with the next full length book.

Horrible narrator

Awful narration. Do not recommend listening to this one. Was painful to get through. If you are able, get the ebook instead.

Narration can make or break an experience

After listening to, and thoroughly enjoying, books 1-7 narrated by Caroline Lennon, whose performances are consistently lively and authentic, I came across this "book 3.5" that I had somehow missed in the series. The familiar characters I'd come to love after seven books suddenly became strange and awkward with this new voice. The tone was sleepy, the accents forced and unnatural, and the fact that she mispronounces "Kilbane" as "kill-bonn" throughout the story really detracts from the listener's experience. I'm sure that Ms. Landon is a lovely person, and I can hear her effectively voicing any number of British historical dramas, but this assignment was not a good fit.

At Least Pronounce the Irish City Name Correctly!!

I could not place where I had heard this voice before and then it hit me…Siri!! The pace, the flat tone, the uplift at the end of each sentence. The most annoying narration and include the fact that she puts on a horrible accent almost made me stop listening. Every male in the story sounds the same…Burl Ives with a brogue about to keel over. Caroline Lennon is part of the O’Sullivan crew and nobody else should ever read these books to me.