• Murder of a Snake in the Grass

  • A Scumble River Mystery
  • By: Denise Swanson
  • Narrated by: Christine Leto
  • Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (338 ratings)

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Murder of a Snake in the Grass  By  cover art

Murder of a Snake in the Grass

By: Denise Swanson
Narrated by: Christine Leto
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Publisher's summary

Skye Denison and the rest of Scumble River is celebrating its bicentennial in style - with reenactments, a bingo tent, and a coal-tossing contest. Best of all, the guest of honor is the town founder's great-great-grandnephew, Gabriel Scumble. But his visit turns out to be short-lived when he is found dead. The murder weapon: a pickax. Meanwhile, Skye's ex-fiancée is back in town. But is he here simply to create turmoil in her love life...or does he have a connection to Gabriel's death?

©2003 Denise Swanson Stybr (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Murder of a Snake in the Grass

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

What happended to the cozy mystery

I really enjoy Denise Swanson mysteries usually, but not this one. The point of these types of mysteries is a little escapism. This novel had to many unpleasant situations. The entire mystery is based around 3 boys attacking a young girl. Also the actual murder victim is hardly mentioned or investigated. Almost the whole book deals with the delinquent boys. Yuk not fun and very unpleasant.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Another Good Cozy

I almost didn't read Murder of a Snake in the Grass because I had read a review that said this wasn't a cozy mystery and full of unpleasantness. I have to disagree with that. I found this one to actually be lighter than many others. There is a lot of lighthearted silliness which goes on in relation to Skye and her several love interests. There are some delinquent boys but they really don't get a whole lot of screen time, just enough to remind us that school psychologist is a bad job. I don't want to give anything away but Skye finally settles on one guy by the end of the book. We finally get the backstory on Skye's failed engagement. I found the performance of Skye's ex to be sort of tedious, but I can't speak to whether the accent was accurate. I suspect accents are just not the narrator's top skill. Basically this was good and in line with the rest of the series.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun and Entertaining

Murder of a Snake in the Grass in an apt title for this fun and entertaining cozy mystery. I look forward to the next book in this series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wrong identity

What made the experience of listening to Murder of a Snake in the Grass the most enjoyable?

I really like mystery novels, and this one had a bunch of mystery in it which made it really enjoyable for me. Even though the main plot of the book was trying to find out who committed the murder, you also have the mystery of why Sky's Ex is in town, and why this kid is acting out so bad.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sky is always my favorite character in these stories, I have to admit the character did get on my nerves a little bit when it came to dealing with her ex in this story but in the end I liked the way she handled him.

Which scene was your favorite?

my favorite scene was when the police chief arrested Sky's ex and he wanted to talk to her and tell her everything that he was hiding. that whole truth scene was really good and shocking to find that out. As well as the ending scene when we found out who the real killer was.

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

I would have to leave it just how the book is.

Any additional comments?

none

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another fun mystery

This was another enjoyable Scumble River Mystery. As always the characters were great and the plot moved right along. Can't wait to listen to the next one!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator was off in this one.

If you could sum up Murder of a Snake in the Grass in three words, what would they be?

This book tied together the past relations of the heroine with her current life and helped with background.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator simply could not correctly pronounce any of the Louisiana names and the accent was atrocious! It really grated on the ear if you were familiar with the area at all or if you were used to a true Southern accent rather than this narrator's version of one.

Any additional comments?

This is an enjoyable series but getting past the narrator of this book was difficult. Earlier books had the same narrator and were done better.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Murder of a Snake in the Grass

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I hated the "one liners". It seemed like every 10 minutes I heard something that is floating around facebook on the little e-cards. It was very distracting.

If you’ve listened to books by Denise Swanson before, how does this one compare?

I've listened to several other books in the series and enjoy them all.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably not.

Any additional comments?

These books are a fun read. Good for a weekend at the cabin or rainy day off work.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

just who was the snake

If you could sum up Murder of a Snake in the Grass in three words, what would they be?

interesting twist

What did you like best about this story?

Learning about Skye's ex-fiance

Which scene was your favorite?

Skye's swimsuit as undergarment

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

No, I enjoy these over several days, spreads out the enjoyment

Any additional comments?

This one had more twists and turns than usual, which I liked. No spoilers sorry.

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