Dying Fall

The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 5

By: Elly Griffiths

Narrated by: Clare Corbett

Dr Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist, spends a lot of time looking at death. But now death has found her, with the news that her long-time friend Dan Golding has been killed in a house fire.

Ruth's grief soon turns to suspicion of arson when she receives a desperate letter from Dan, sent the day before he died. He had made a ground-breaking discovery - and was petrified of the consequences.

Ruth is compelled to travel north to investigate further, alongside DCI Harry Nelson who is also drawn into the case. But where Ruth goes, so does her young daughter, Kate. This time, the risks are even higher.
(P)2013 Quercus Editions Ltd©2012 Elly Griffiths

The screaming child ruins this

Would you listen to Dying Fall again? Why?

No. I generally don't listen to books again for quite some time but this would not be one. The narrator, especially the very uneven volume levels, the screaming Kate and the overloud Sandy completely spoiled my enjoyment of the book. Books should be read, not considered a 'performance'

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

Very disappointing and contrived.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Clare Corbett?

Jane McDowell read the early Galloway and she was excellent. I won't buy any more as long as Clare Corbett is the reader

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

No comment

Any additional comments?

For goodness sake read the book and don't do the accents.

I prefer Clare Corbett

I am working through this series back to front. Normally, I would never do such a thing, but the series came to my attention with book 8 and since there were a number of complaints in the comments stating that book 8 wasn't as good as previous books, I thought I'd start there and if it caught my attention I'd work backward and the books should theoretically get better. I've actually enjoyed that approach, in part because while the reader of the first few books takes over again for book 8, the books in the middle of the series are read by a different reader, Clare Corbett. I admit that she does not do a good job with Nelson's actual voice, however I think her voices for the other male characters are fine, and I deeply prefer her voicing of both Cathbad and Kate in particular, who are two of my favorite characters. Also, though the voicing of Nelson is poor, his accent is much better than that provided by Jane McDowell (the reader of the first four books, as well as book 8). In fact all the accents are much better as voiced by Corbet. Additionally, her voice is much more pleasant to listen to to me, as she doesn't have a tendency to become shrill when indicating high emotion. So, overall, I felt that someone should write a defense of Corbet as a reader for this series, since there is a lot of complaining about her in the review here.
Other people have written good reviews of the story, so I'll just stop with my defense of Corbet.

Dying Fall book 5

What made the experience of listening to Dying Fall the most enjoyable?

I liked Jane McDowell's narration in "The Janus Stone" and I have liked Clare Corbett in recent Ruth Galloway series. Ms. Corbett does a good job with the female voice's however her male ones get a bit mixed up and the voice of Kate, Ruth's small daughter is like listening to NAILS on a CHALKBOARD! I have shut this book off twice because of this child's voice. Just horrible and jolting. I don't want screeching or loud noises in any audio book I listen to. I have returned audio books that have gun shot sounds, phone ringing sounds etc. Not necessary. When I read books my brain does not create these sounds so PLEASE don't put them in the audio version.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Only Jack Reacher (Lee Child) can keep me on the edge of my seat and even his latest wasn't seat edging material.

What three words best describe Clare Corbett’s performance?

Child's voice awful!

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

No

Any additional comments?

I will finish this audio book and yes buy another because I really like "Ruth Galloway" so keep up the good work Elly Griffiths.

Cant do a male voice to save her life!

Would you consider the audio edition of Dying Fall to be better than the print version?

Didn't read print version.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Clare Corbett?

BRING BACK Jane McDowell! Clare Corbett is a terrible match for these characters! I'm going to finish the book, bit I'm dreading hearing the male characters talk. I can't comment on their accents, but she sounds as if she's doing parodies of male voices.

Still a great series

Action, suspense, great characters and a well-written story. I am getting used to the narrator/voices in my head disconnect (you know, when what you're hearing isn't how you thought the characters should sound ); Ms Corbett is absolutely capable-her men sound like men, her accents are amazing, and I like her voice.

If you're up for a decent forensic series without a lot of gore and isn't going to leave you unable to sleep at night, allow me to suggest this entire series. And I do suggest you start at the beginning to get the full flavor of how things are put together and who these people are.

And I'm delighted to say that while this series is beginning to flag a bit, it is still a solid 4 stars.