Janice

I agree that if this had been the first of Anne Tyler's works, she would not have succeeded in a writing career. It's a dreary boring story, peopled by tedious characters. The lesson learned is to read the excellent and knowledgeable reviews before wasting money on such tripe. I'll know in future.

I have really enjoyed the "Royal Spyness" series by Rhys Bowen, so I hoped "Evan Blessed" would be as good, but it isn't. The story is predictable and plodding, and the characters are ordinary, as is the narration. Not bad, but far from good. Choose something else.

Tony Hillerman weaves together the complexities of Navajo metaphysics and murder mystery with great skill and produces a fascinating story of a different world. The character ofJoe Leaphorn is so well defined that he almost seems like a friend.

I have read all of Hillerman's books, and it is a great pleasure to now listen to them on audible. Well written and well read. The perfect combination. My only complaint - that all the rest of the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee books are not yet available on audible.

Obviously, in an audible book, quality of narration is vital. We were taught, as children, to pronounce our "t"s, but this narrator seems to actually trip over them. Furthermore there are many laughable mispronunciations, and by the time you have stopped laughing the story has moved on, so that you have to rewind. If you are a Brit I don't recommend this audible, which is a shame because the books are enjoyably entertaining and quite well written. I'll be taking the rest of the series off my wish list. Pity.