• Whodunnit?: Murder in Mystery Manor

  • By: Anthony Zuiker
  • Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
  • Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (2,629 ratings)

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Whodunnit?: Murder in Mystery Manor

By: Anthony Zuiker
Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
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Publisher's summary

A grand estate. Ten unsuspecting guests. A diabolical game of life and death.

A companion to the upcoming show Whodunnit? on ABC.

Ten excited guests arrive at the Westlake Estate, expecting a lavish retreat. They are the winners of a sweepstakes to "Live Like a Billionaire for a Week." But what was supposed to be a promising escape soon turns into a horrific nightmare. Within hours of arrival, the guests sit down for an extravagant dinner. When they pull their party poppers as instructed, a loud chorus of bangs resounds, followed by earsplitting screams as the guest seated at the head of the table bursts into flames and slumps to the floor. The others are told they must solve the crime or be the next victim. The killer, their diabolical host, is hiding among the frightened guests. Is the murderer the well-toned trophy wife, the retired deputy sheriff, the stoned college dropout, or perhaps the sweet, homely grandmother? The killer toys with them, inviting the guests to explore the lavish estate, from the stables to the hedge maze, in an effort to uncover the gory details of how the murderer pulled off such a gruesome murder. Alliances are forged carefully and information is shared warily, since none of the remaining guests knows whom to trust. The next to die a hideous death will be the one with the least accurate solution to the latest murder. In the end, only three guests will remain: the winner, the loser, and the killer.

Full of tricky plot twists and over-the-top schemes, Whodunnit? Murder in Mystery Manner is riveting required listening for mystery fans. Listeners are treated to an edge-of-their-seat thriller as they participate in solving the crime. It's Clue meets Ten Little Indians.

Anthony E. Zuiker is the creator and executive producer of the CSI franchise, which includes CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY. His mystery reality show, Whodunnit?, is his first foray into unscripted television. He lives in Los Angeles with his three children and his wife, Michelle.

Whodunnit is performed by the show's host/butler, accomplished narrator Gildart Jackson.

©2013 Anthony Zuiker (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

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Owwww! My ears, my ears!

Free Audible books aren't really free - they require an investment of time. I've found some real gems - Neil Gaiman's short story "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" (2004) with the first chapter of "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" (2013) was so great I listened to Shoggoth's twice, and that first chapter of "The Ocean" again when I listened to the entire book. Kurt Vonnegut's "If This Isn't Nice, What Is?" (2013) was an Audible gift - and it was charming and inspirational.

On the other hand, Anthony Zuiker's free "Whodunit? Murder in Mystery Manor" (2013) was so painful that after the first few chapters, I lost all sympathy for any of the murder victims. I wanted to give the 'continuing character' butler a swift kick in the butt, badly. I figured out "Whodunit" in about 30 minutes, skipped to the end and confirmed my suspicions, and stopped wasting my time.

My disappointment was heightened because I really liked the concept. It's a companion to ABC's series "Whodunit," which Zuiker created. Zuiker's behind one of the few TV shows I actually watch, CSI. If Zuiker had a novelist write the book, it might have been palatable. Actually, Agatha Christie did write it in spirit - the plot is "And Then There Were None" (1939). Not that I have a problem with that - that plot is used in about twenty five percent of modern horror movies. Christie's not with us, but there must be someone who can do more than turn ACTION BLOCKS into prose and call it a novel.

Free isn't free when it costs time you could use on a good listen.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Felt Cheated

While you found out WHO-dun-it, you never found out WHY, and that is a critical piece for this genre. I am disappointed in the author. None of his crime series would have lasted a year if the view didn't discover the motive.

The performance was very good and really carried the story.
I won't be downloading any others in this series, free or not.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Didn't make sense

I couldn't pass up the free book but wish that I had. It was a collection of puzzles tied together by a completely unbelievable and unrealistic story. There was very little character development and no attempt to explain why the game was put together nor why these contestants were chosen. I'm embarrassed that I kept listening to it--somehow I hoped that it would make sense. It never did.

At least the narration was well done...

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

Bored Billionaire Psychopath Behaving Badly

From the beginning this is a game for the reader to discover who is the killer. In fact, it is a self described primer for a television series upcoming on ABC. I give it 2 stars simply for keeping me guessing till the end.

Another reason for 2 stars is the five star performance of actor Gildart Jackson. I am confident his reading made me feel like I was listening to something worthwhile. Sadly this was not the case.

The story begins with the introduction to Jeeves. He is of all things a modern day butler. He is lured into employment by money and a mysterious, anonomous employer who answers to the name of X. However, no sooner does he arrive on the California estate, than he discovers he is imprisoned along with the entire staff.

Of course he is to direct 10 duped guests in a deadly game of whodunit? Nine of the guests think they've won a contest where they will spend a week living like a billionaire. They are told immediately the killer is one of the 10 guests. Only they are not to discover who did it, but only how the murder was accomplished. Those who come to false conclusions are slated to die next. Thus, one by one each guest is murdered in the most gruesome and imaginative way.

The story is simply a made for TV farce. There is no character building. We know almost nothing about Jeeves in the introduction and though the story revolves around him, we learn little else. The guests are truly innocent people who get slaughtered for no reason whatsoever. In the end we learn nothing at all about the killer. Nothing about his/her background or why he/she chose his/her victims or even why play the game at all.

So here is a story with no hero, weak characters, a game instead of a plot, and full of innocent people being murdered in preposterous ways. It's a setup for a weekly show full of guest stars much like Fantasy Island or Love Boat. Or maybe it will be set up like Lost and 24. Regardless, this book is more like a TV show than literature.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Weak, very weak

I noticed there was a second book in the series, also free. Based upon the first book I'm not interested even at the price of free. The book started out with interesting possibilities but never came close to fulfilling them. There were some interesting puzzles to solve but the story which these puzzles were in was poorly constructed, had virtually no character development, there was zero explanation of motivation, especially for the killer and the story just didn't make sense. In general it felt like I was trapped in a bad game of Clue.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I got what I paid for...

I could not finish this audio book, and since it was free I felt free to delete it and never consider going back to it.
The problem was I didn't care about any of the characters, save Giles the butler, but even he couldn't carry this. I understand that this is in relation to a reality game show, which apparently excuses poor character development. It was when the 2nd murder occurred, it was clear that these people weren't going to get any more interesting, and found it hard to believe that people would react that way if there was a chance that most of them will die. They behaved, at least as far as I got, like people on a second rate reality tv game show. The people, except Giles, all seemed shallow and petty or one dimensional and I wouldn't want to have a drink or spend time with any of them, so why would I care if they died?
So I cut my losses.
The narration is good, but, still a poor story is a poor story.

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Creepy in a bad way

Though my husband and I love the TV series which is kooky but not actually lethal, we did not like the book. The book has the butler still cracking his terrible punny jokes, but the people are actually dying. There is not saving grace for any of the characters. The end is abrupt and, again, has no saving grace. Frankly, it creeped me out!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Lighthearted Mystery--Easy Listening

This Whodunnit starts out very promising. A Butler, Giles, is offered a job he can't refuse at a huge estate for a salary he could only dream of. He never meets his employer until the end, as all communication is done in writing. He is to greet 10 guests at the Westlake Manor and be their butler as well as their guide through the rules of the murder games.

Don't expect any great character development, as the guests backgrounds and personalities are brushed over quickly--the focus is to get to those murders as fast as we can. We are rushed through each murder at breakneck speed, and then the guests must solve each one--or be the next head on the chopping block. The riddles, clues, and challenges each guest must decipher are fun, and it's challenging to figure it out with them. Some are a pretty far fetched, but if you stretch your imagination just a little- - - -

I was listening non-stop as I wanted to race to the end to see who the murderer was--so the time went by quickly. Even though this is not a not notch mystery/thriller, it is well worth the price --which is FREE. Hard to complain about that--but I was slightly disappointed in the very end after the murderer is revealed---unless this little add-on is setting up more murder mysteries to come.

This book is by Anthony E. Zuiker, who is also the producer of the made for TV show of the same name. Similar layout, but the murders are not the same, and the people are different. The book does give you an idea about what to expect from the TV production, but only in a general way.





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Redundant and Tedious

Sometimes, it's worth looking a gift horse in the mouth. It may have been a "freebie" but it wasn't a gift. I admire the idea of using Audible books to promote ABC's upcoming series, but if the television show is this uninspiring and dull--- well, I will leave that to the television critics.

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As Ridiculous and Unimaginative as the TV show.

Any additional comments?

This was seven hours of my life I will never get back. The ending was silly and anticlimactic. At least with the tv version, you can use the DVR fast forwarding features to watch it in a third of the time. Do yourself a favor and download an Agatha Christie selection.

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