Aunt Dimity and the Duke

An Aunt Dimity Mystery

By: Nancy Atherton

Narrated by: Teri Clark Linden

Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Emma Porter is 40, fat, frumpy, and a passionate amateur gardener. When her longtime lover dumps her for a younger woman, Emma escapes the cloying sympathy of family and friends by setting out on a summer-long driving tour of England's glorious gardens. A Dimity-contrived coincidence brings her to Penford Hall, a sprawling Gothic mansion in Cornwall, where she finds a duke in search of a missing lantern with extraordinary powers.

Suspecting there's more than one mystery to be solved at Penford Hall, Emma accepts the duke's invitation to stay on and restore the once glorious chapel garden to its former beauty. The dark rumors surrounding a rock star and the near-death of the duke's beautiful cousin confirm Emma's suspicions, and set her - with Aunt Dimity's ghostly guidance - on the path to Penford Hall's secrets and the pleasure of unexpected love.

©1994 Nancy T. Atherton (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Loved the story but the narration could be better

Ms. Linden does a good job in creating different voices for the characters but her reading is sometimes stilted and robotic. Also, she needs to decide whether to use the English pronunciation or the American one. Pick a side.

Slow start but clever and entertaining

The manor full of secrets and suspects took a while to develop. The clothing, interior decor, and garden descriptions are a tiny bit excessive. But the characters become more interesting, unique, and likable. Some twists I didn’t see coming in the mystery & a touch of the supernatural. Very entertaining.
The narrator is good at all the numerous different characters’ voices with accents.

Fantastic book, very strange reader

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I adore this series, so I was thrilled when Audible decided to record them all! I liked the reader for the first two books, but the new reader is completely wrong for the series. All of her British accents are spoken in an unnaturally slow cadence that makes them sound slightly addled. I'll still buy the books because I love them, but I'm disappointed that the reader does not do justice to this wonderful series.

What other book might you compare Aunt Dimity and the Duke to and why?

The entire Aunt Dimity series; the Brother Cadfael series (after a fashion - they have a similarly cozy style, though set in an entirely different time); the Agatha Raisin books (though these are slightly more violent); the Her Royal Spyness series.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She read all the English characters in a completely unnatural cadence that made them sound stiff and addled - even the children! The characters are not written that way at all, nor are any of her accents accurate to anything I've heard in the UK. Also, her "Lori" doesn't have the spunk of Christina Moore's.

Was Aunt Dimity and the Duke worth the listening time?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

This series should be made into a mini-series! Failing that, could it be re-cast and re-recorded by someone who is fluent in the accents?

not so good

Any additional comments?

Pace of reading too slow and sounded forced. Couldn't listen to the whole book.

i l8ke this book a lot.

This has a very enjoyable story and listening experience. Almost all of Nancy Atherton'sb books do.

Stilted narration, horrific accents, and worse

This sweet cozy story was ruined as an audiobook by the narration. Words were mispronounced, the accents were atrocious, the pacing and phrasing was truly awful.

One of my favorite books ruined by the reader.

What disappointed you about Aunt Dimity and the Duke?

The performer appears to be learning to read. Every "a" is pronounced as a long a.
The character Emma is written as smar, logical, strong and is here made to sound weak, young, and non-assertive. All the English characters speak with big spaces between each word.
I was really happy that you had made this book available. I preordered so I anticipated enjoying the reading. I forced myself to listen twice, hoping it would sound better the second time. It was just as annoying.
I can get free recordings through a government program for the handicapped. They have a great recoding of this book, but I have no way of copying it because they use a unique recording method.
I am also VERY sorry to see that, now that you have made the series available, it is all performed by the same artless individual.

What other book might you compare Aunt Dimity and the Duke to and why?

The book, not the erecording, has many of the qualities of Charlotte MacLeod's Sarah Kelling series: Charm, wit, and humor. These qualities do not come across in your version.

Would you be willing to try another one of Teri Clark Linden’s performances?

NO

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Aunt Dimity and the Duke?

The text is great and does not need cutting.

Any additional comments?

Please rerecord with a different performer.

TERRIBLE Narration!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A decent narrator!

What did you like best about this story?

I adore all the Aunt Dimity stories and was so excited to see them listed here. WAS excited. This narrator is terrible. She's ruined an excellent series.

Would you be willing to try another one of Teri Clark Linden’s performances?

Absolutely not. Her cadence and pacing are completely off. She over emphasizes each word and has no expression or emotion in her delivery. I lasted less than nine minutes and had to turn it off. Can't believe I wasted a credit on this.

Any additional comments?

Skip the audio--go buy the book!

Performance ruins this book

Would you try another book from Nancy Atherton and/or Teri Clark Linden?

I like the Aunt Dimity series despite certain basic problems w/ the stories. The overall charm overcomes occasional literary blunders. But the performance by Ms Clark Linden makes them painful to listen to. The stilted, irregular flow of words makes this unlikely to be listened to again. Perhaps the director instructed her to over-enunciate for some unlikely reason as she becomes more natural when using an accent. But whatever the reason, I will not be buying anymore books with this performer

Fun story, poor reader

Aunt Dimity books are fun. However, when read by someone who uses poor judgment in choosing voices, accents and pronunciation, listening to the best books can be painful.