The Sugar House

A Tess Monaghan Mystery

By: Laura Lippman

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Laura Lippman won the Nero Wolfe Award for this powerful mystery.

Former journalist turned P.I. Tess Monaghan thought she knew Baltimore like the back of her hand - but what she doesn't know just might kill her in this grim yet irresistible novel.

Solve another case with Tess Monaghan.

©2000 Laura Lippman (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"A rare find: a puzzle so finely calibrated that each new disclosure brings revelation and deepening mystery at the same time." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Great Story, Don't Like the Narrator

What made the experience of listening to The Sugar House the most enjoyable?

I love this series. I think Laura Lippman is brilliant. I enjoy the character development and the wonderful world building.

What did you like best about this story?

Character development.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator is very talented, but does not suit this story, in my opinion. She sounds like a contralto woman who has smoked for a long time. She does a great job with the "world weary" characters in the story, but everyone else sounds goofy.

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

I love the writing,

Any additional comments?

This is a great series.

What was Barbara trying to do?

Barbara Rosenblat has narrated a number of the books in my library, but seems something was really going wrong during this reading - like someone was goosing her or giving electroshocks. Or some kind of chemical? The tone was totally wrong for the story. I'm still listening, so hopes she settles down soon. The plot and story seem interesting. That's what I want in a detective story, so will try to ignore the reader.

Mixed bag

I liked the character, setting, and premise, but towards the end, it felt as if the author got fed up and tied up all the loose ends and punished the wicked, toot sweet. Perhaps another book of Lippman's would be a better option.

The narration is killing me...

I don't know if I'll be able to finish listening to this audible, may need to read it. 45 minutes in and I can't listen to the story through the narrator's over the top voice rendition of each character. Her separate voices are exaggerated to the point of mockery, and I can't even parse the story out because I'm hyper focused on her narration. Sorry. I'm going to have to skip this one.

Change in Narrator a Problem

I've really enjoyed the Tess Monaghan series so far and thought that Deborah Hazlett did a great job of bringing the characters to life with her narration. With this book however, the author changed publishers and narrators. I like Barbara Rosenblat's narration on the right books. She is not a narrator I necessarily avoid. But she has a somewhat unique voice that doesn't lend itself to a wide variety of characters. Her voice is deep enough that it is difficult for her to sound as young as the main characters are in this series, and when ever she tries to use the Baltimore dialect that Lippman refers to so often, it sounds like she is drunk. I realize these books were narrated over a decade ago, but Rosenblat's voice probably never sounded young enough for this series.

The plot on this Monaghan entry was strong, if a little complicated and I enjoyed the book even though I didn't like the narration.

Great story, horrible narration!

Where does The Sugar House rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Fairly low, but not because of the story. The narrator sounds like she had been a smoker since God was a child. She doesn't even have the range to voice different characters. I bought this one for my Kindle and will be re-reading it!

What did you like best about this story?

It was solid throughout.

Would you be willing to try another one of Barbara Rosenblat’s performances?

Absolutely not!

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

Not sure how to avoid spoilers here...

Hate it when they switch narrators in series

This narrator is awful. I wish they wouldn’t have switched I was really enjoying the series and the previous reader, Deborah Hazlett was great as Tess.
This reader just makes the books very annoying.

Barbara Rosenblat rocks it!

After reading a few reviews of Barbara Rosenblat's narration, I LOVE the way Ms. Rosenblat reads. She can read male/female along w/ multiple accents. The story is great as well. Unfortunately, Ms. Rosenblat only reads 3 in the series. Not sure I'll continue listening w/out Ms. Rosenblat reading.

great

Loved this book. I have read several books by this author. this is my favorite yet.

Book Great - Narration difficult to listen to

I love Tess Monaghan and jumped in right after I finished "In Big Trouble." When I started the book, I honestly could not tell if the narrator was male or female. I came back Audible and was shocked to see the narrator was Barbara Rosenblatt whom I have heard in numerous audio books and always enjoyed. Her voice is unusually gruff and abrasive. Also, her characterization of the major players seems a bit on the sarcastic side, plus, some of the voices sound like they're from the deep south rather than Baltimore. I am planning on going through the series in order, and almost dread listening to the ones by Rosenblatt. I may read them instead. I would say to listen to a sample. This makes me sad. She's always been one of my bankable narrators who is a pleasure to listen to.