Murder at the Brightwell

By: Ashley Weaver

Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Amory Ames is a wealthy young woman who questions her marriage to her notoriously charming playboy husband Milo. Looking for a change, she accepts a request for help from her former fiance, Gil Trent. Amory accompanies Gil to the luxurious Brightwell Hotel in an attempt to circumvent the marriage of his sister Emmeline to Rupert Howe, a disreputable ladies' man. Amory sees in the situation a grim reflection of her own floundering marriage. There is more than her happiness at stake, however, when Rupert is murdered and Gil is arrested for the crime. Amory is determined to prove his innocence and find the real killer. As the stakes grow higher and the line between friend and foe becomes less clear, Amory must decide where her heart lies and catch the killer before she, too, becomes a victim.

©2014 Ashley Weaver (P)2014 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Critic reviews

"This debut novel by a librarian lays the foundation for a stylish series with Milo and Amory channeling Nick and Nora Charles." (Booklist)

"Fans of plucky female amateur sleuths will welcome Amory Ames, the heroine of Weaver's pleasing debut set in 1932 England... the affable Amory could carry a series." ( Publishers Weekly)

"A witty and charming debut mystery with a believably spunky sleuth and a compelling story of love that never runs smoothly." (G.M. Malliet, Agatha Award-winning author of the St. Just, and Max Tudor mysteries)

Diverting but forgettable

This is a diverting enough mystery/romance but moves a little slowly and doesn't develop the characters very deeply. And I didn't care for the burden being placed mostly on the female lead character to carry her marriage despite her husband's provocations.

The narrator's acting, voices, and accents are competent, but she has an oddly halting delivery that drags out or over-stresses some words, particularly the first two in the sentence. It didn't destroy the reading for me, but I did find it distracting.

I would recommend it as a daily deal but not at full price or use of a credit.

The narrator ruined this book for me.

What did you love best about Murder at the Brightwell?

The story was cute and kept moving. It is a lighthearted mystery/romance story.

Would you recommend Murder at the Brightwell to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes I would. Easy story to drive to. It doesn't take a lot of concentration. But the book was fun.

How could the performance have been better?

To be honest the narrator ruined the book for me. I almost stopped listening several times.The cadence of her speech was way off. It was painful to listen to, my mind would reconstruct each sentence after she spoke. Too hard to explain here but the good news is that the next book that follows has a different narrator. I will never buy another book read by her. Too bad really.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, not that gripping. Just. Lighthearted story. Just what I need sometimes when I am multitasking.

Any additional comments?

So glad to see a new narrator was hired for the next book, this one does not do the story justice.

Good Story Remedial Narration!

The story was great. It had a nice flow and a good plot build up. I think the author crafted and painted nice picture. But so much of it was lost on me due to the poor near ration. Your writer had a great voice couldn't read worth a flip.

Narrating was so hard to take

Would you try another book from Ashley Weaver and/or Billie Fulford-Brown?

Yes I would try Ashley Weaver's next book with a different narrator

What was one of the most memorable moments of Murder at the Brightwell?

Don't want to give anything away.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Billie Fulford-Brown?

Not, sure

Any additional comments?

Narrating pacing and cadence was way off. I had to change the speed to 1.25 to make it tolerable.

I couldn't finish because of the narration

I thoroughly enjoyed another series from this author so thought I would try this one. I honestly could not finish due to the strange way the narrator speaks - almost like a robot. I plan to skip ahead to the second book and hope I didn't miss much.

The intricacies of the characters

Very good story and I love the way it ended. I am hoping to get the next one to see how things go.

Superb who done. it

The author has woven a spectacular tale. The narrator makes the story come alive. Together they are an unbeatable team. I highly recommend this book.

neat enjoyed I did enjoy it and I'm done now

Jesus I can't believe I have to have 15 words to submit a review and I still have to continue until now

cute

What did you like best about Murder at the Brightwell? What did you like least?

nice agatha christie type novel.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

a little irritating trying to speak the male parts. over-exaggerated in a few other parts as well.

Good Mystery - Awful Narration - Pitiful Romance

It may not be the worst narration I’ve ever listened to, but it is close. The narrator’s voice range seemed very limited. There just wasn’t any flow or smoothness to the delivery. It was as if the narrator was slowly reading the words for the first time – it was stilted and emphasis was placed on words that wouldn’t have been emphasized. If you saw the movie, Galaxy Quest, just picture the aliens in that movie delivering the narration to this novel. On the brighter side, I did notice that this is the only book narrated by this artist – there is a different narrator for the rest of the books. That is certainly a good move on the publisher’s part.

I purchased this book because I first read the 7th book in the series, A Deception at Thornecrest, and very much disliked the character, Milo. That book was supposed to be after the playboy Milo had reformed and settled down, so I wanted to see the beginning – I am NOT a fan of reading of infidelity. Yes, I understand this is supposed to be a historical mystery – but I need a good romance along with my mystery and I just have a really hard time understanding why our female lead, Amory, would continue to put up with the stuff Milo dishes out. I was looking for some grand scene where a contrite Milo would realize the error of his ways and beg for forgiveness. Well, it didn’t happen. NEVER was there an apology – at least not from Milo – Amory made a couple of apologies for not believing him when he told her something.

The series is touted as a being witty and clever – a fun romp as in the Nick and Nora Charles style from the old movies. I didn’t see the slightest sign of any of the wit and humor found in those old movies and there certainly wasn’t any evidence of the love and respect Nick and Nora had for each other. As a child who grew up on those old movies, I can assure you that Nora wouldn’t have put up with Milo’s crap for 5 minutes much less 5 years. The series is set in the 1930s, but the only thing in this book that really evokes that era is the descriptions of the clothing – especially Amory’s. Those descriptions seem limitless and in the most minute detail.

The mystery was well done with lots of red herrings to throw you off the scent. I did suspect who the villain was almost as soon as I met them on the page, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying the rest of the investigation – because – well – I could have been wrong.

Believe it or not, I will be reading the second book in the series, Death Wears a Mask, because I do want to see if there is any repentance on Milo’s part. The writing and story development have definitely improved by the 7th book in the series, so I’ll be interested in where the next book goes.