• The Murders of Richard III

  • A Jacqueline Kirby Mystery
  • By: Elizabeth Peters
  • Narrated by: Grace Conlin
  • Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (458 ratings)

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The Murders of Richard III

By: Elizabeth Peters
Narrated by: Grace Conlin
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Publisher's summary

When attractive American Jacqueline Kirby is invited to an English country mansion for a weekend costume affair, she expects only one mystery. Since the hosts and guests are all fanatic devotees of King Richard III, they hope to clear his name of the 500-year-old accusation that he killed the little princes in the Tower of London.

Jacqueline is amused at the group's eccentricities until history begins to repeat itself. A dangerous practical joker recreates famous 15th-century murder methods: beheading, poisoning, smothering, and even drowning in a butt of malmsey. As the jokes become more and more macabre, one at last proves fatal.

Jacqueline puts all her observations together for a dazzling solution that will surprise even the most attentive listener.

Download another Jacqueline Kirby Mystery.
©1974 Elizabeth Peters (P)1995 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Highly entertaining." (The New York Times)

What listeners say about The Murders of Richard III

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    175
  • 4 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, terrible, terrible narration.

How could the performance have been better?

I adore Elizabeth Peters and always enjoy her books. While Grace Conlin is not my favorite narrator for her books (who can compare to Barbara Rosenblat?), on other Jacqueline Kirby books she's done a fairly good job. This one, being set in England, exposes a major weakness of Ms Conlin. Accents. Her British accents are terrible. Not just bad, really, laughably bad. It made it almost painful to listen to this book, and I could barely finish.

Was The Murders of Richard III worth the listening time?

On this one and with this narrator, I really have to recommend just reading the book. The narration nearly ruined the whole thing for me.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

If you like Peters stay away

I you have read/heard other books by E.Peters you will be sorely disappointed.
While the book itsself is entertaining and maybe even a fun listen, it in now way lives up to the expectations placed upon it by the authors name. For most authors this would be a laudable book; for Peters it's at best an embarassment.

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8 people found this helpful

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

Good Author, Mediocre Narrator

Audible needs to get the Barbara Rosenblat version of this book -- she is a wonderful narrator and would make this audiobook so much better. Naked Once More, the last in this series is available with Rosenblat's narration -- you can listen to it and understand what I mean!

Elizabeth Peters' books are probably my favorite guilty pleasure.

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6 people found this helpful

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

Not her best

Had forgotten (read this in paper once) that this is a mediocre book character-wise. This is not helped by the fact that something about the reader's tonality sets me a bit on edge. I actually stopped half-way into the book, because instead of being supporting it was aggravating. I regret saying this, but it is true. The data is fascinating, but buried in strange character behavior and dialogue.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • S
  • 04-05-11

Fairly entertaining

I have listened to all the Egypt novels by Miss Peters, and wanted to enjoy more of her work, so I bought this novel. I found it somewhat complicated, but not as engaging or as humorous as the "Peabody" novels. In fact, the repetition of the arguments about the true history of Richard the Third got rather annoying. There are some interesting plot twists, and some fairly interesting characters, but overall, not nearly as entertaining as the Egyptian series.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good for driving

The plot is pretty good--you can see partial solutions then another twist comes. I did not think the narration was very good. The speaker was clear, but the characterizations were distracting rather than enhancing. Also, my recording had a number of skips. They were short enough (I think) that they did not affect the story, but they were annoying.

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6 people found this helpful

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

Early Comments

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

Really can't comment on the story, I just downloaded for kindle with the audible version for whispersync. Hoping for a little light entertainment this evening--sort of a bedtime story. Very disappointed with narration.

What was most disappointing about Elizabeth Peters’s story?

No comment as yet.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Grace Conlin?

Strident, grating, and annoying. Ruining this as an evening's quiet entertainment. Guess I'll haul out the reading glasses and read myself to sleep. Waste of the extra 3.99.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

The usual

Elisabeth Peters is fun. The lady just can't help it:) This book doesn't have the scholarship of "The Daughter Of Time" but it is hugely enjoyable, as all of Miss Peter's book are.

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5 people found this helpful

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

Still Fun

I normally love Elizabeth Peters' work, but this was too much of a history lesson.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

enjoyable listen, not overly surprising plot.

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2 people found this helpful