The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery

By: Catherine Bailey

Narrated by: Stephen Rashbrook

Length: 15 hrs

Publisher's summary

In April 1940, the ninth Duke of Rutland died in mysterious circumstances in one of the rooms of his family estate, Belvoir Castle. The mystery surrounding these rooms holds the key to a tragic story that is played out on the brutal battlefields of the Western Front and in the exclusive salons of Mayfair and Belgravia in the dying years of la belle époque. Uncovered is a dark and disturbing period in the history of the Rutland family, and one which they were determined to keep hidden for over 60 years. Sixty years on, The Secret Rooms is the true story of family secrets and one man’s determination to keep the past hidden at any cost.

©2012 Catherine Bailey (P)2012 Audible Ltd

Critic reviews

"Reads like the best kind of mystery story. It is a tale of mistresses and heirlooms, cowardice and connivance, and a deeply dysfunctional family...gripping." ( Sunday Times)

"Astonishing...jaw-dropping...It would spoil the book if I revealed the whole works, suffice it to say...what a family." ( Sunday Telegraph)

Well Worth A Listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

A riveting book. I am not entirely certain that I agree with all of the author's conclusions, but she has done a fabulous job of detective work (a major part of the story), and this is particularly fascinating for anyone who is familiar with the era or the characters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

No one comes out looking very admirable.

Which scene was your favorite?

The boxes of old letters the duke did not manage to destroy.

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

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Excellent and absorbing.

Historically mysterious with lots of intrigue

History buffs and mystery buffs this is a must read Loved the rich details and the story line
great plot and detailing of characters.

gripping!

This is on my list of best-ever reads. The author's tracking down of documents and other clues to solve the mystery of the title is beautifully paced. As she follows the trail, the two principal settings, life of the privileged upper classes and the trenches of the Western Front, are excellently depicted. She writes well and maintains the suspense throughout. Stephen Rashbrook's narration is perfect - his voice, his accent, foreign pronunciations, pace, evocation of mood - wonderful! This book and the reader are highly recommended.

Captivating but soon dries out

The narrator is clear but dry and does not articulate well between characters. The storyline remains interesting but seems to lose some of its original allure.

Gently paced, historical journey

If you could sum up The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery in three words, what would they be?

Not Gothic Mystry

What other book might you compare The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery to and why?

The Suspicions of Mr Whitcher, The Secrets of a Victorian Lady

What does Stephen Rashbrook bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As a paper novel, I probably would have been distracted, but the phrasing and his characters brought the story to life

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt enlightened and ever grateful to be living in this century and not last

Any additional comments?

Despite not being a "fast-pasted, haunted mystery", as a historical journey , it unfolds the truth in an intriguing and enjoyable manner. I felt I was being told a story by a fire for my amusement, as such I tried to listen to it in as near as one go as my schedule allowed.

intriguing insight to a personal mystery

This was an interesting discovery of the trials and conflicts of an upper class British family during the first part of the 20 century. Amazing that so many letters where kept and even though many crucial ones were lost or destroyed to story was still eventually discovered.

Not what I expected

Some parts of the book were interesting and I didn't want to put it down but a lot of it dragged on and it was very tedious to get through.

A Mystery Unravelled in a Mediocre Way

First, I have to say that the narration was superb on this audiobook and it made what was a nice little mystery with a poorly structured narrative bearable. Researchers are, understandably, in love with their own process and so they should be. But it's a mistake to believe this automatically translates into a compelling story structure.

There were a number of ways to go about using what is a very interesting set of factual events to construct a novel: you can simply dramatize the facts and weave them into a historical novel (with either the research subject as the narrator or a secondary character as narrator); you can construct the whole piece as a collection of found documents, the way Dracula is constructed, in epistolary form; or you can take the contemporary discovery approach by having the researcher there in the story as a quasi-detective (as was done here). The mistake that researchers who try to turn their research into prose often make is to present themselves as an inert figure. No entity in a story is ever inert and attempting to present them that way is always a mistake in anything but academic writing which is why I agree with an earlier reviewer that this reads slightly like someone's PhD thesis.

Another problem with the story is repetition. This could have used an editor with a firmer hand. Repeating research findings is perfectly acceptable in academic writing, but it's just irritating in what needs to have a more fluid approach. Trust your reader to remember what you wrote three chapters ago. They usually do.

Finally, this this was irritating, the author telegraphs important discovery events by hyping what she's found before she tells you what it is. This really spoils the a-ha moment for a prose-reader. If anything, the opposite approach is more effective. To downplay the advent before a really surprising discovery is revealed.

Sounds like a really unsatisfactory audiobook, but it wasn't. Admittedly, this isn't a book of startling and shocking revelations. It's a gentle, poignant and almost literary unfolding of a man's life. But the core of it is an intriguing story. And, as I said at the beginning, the narration is outstanding, and mitigates a lot of the structural flaws.

great story

I really liked the story and the narrators performance added to the experience. I love books set during that time period

Too long and detailed to be entertaining.

This is well researched book ,more like a PhD thesis than a story.It refects well the era of the First World War and the power of the nobility.
The detail like the names and size of each picture in inches listed in sales catalogue sold to raise money for the estate is truly boring and annoying.,the same can be said of other lists.