"Why on earth did they choose this narrator?"
Surely it would make sense to use a male narrator for a novel whose main character is a man, indeed most of its characters are men. Or at least one who doesn't sound so laboured when reading 'male voices' (her own voice when reading descriptive passages was pleasant) - they were irritating in the extreme. Maybe I am just too used to Stephen Thorne. Although Joanna Ward manages it - just.