Nancy's Mysterious Letter: Nancy Drew Mystery Stories Book 8

I enjoyed all the previous Nancy Drew books narrated by Laura Linney who is fantastic. I did not expect this narrator to be as good as Linney, but I didn't think she would be so awful. I listened to the sample, and I thought her voice pleasant enough. But in listening to the book, I discovered that this narrator has no clue about how to present different "voices." It would have been better had she just read the book straight; instead, she attempted to create characters through caricatures. Male characters were all petulant, for example. The most heinous offense, however, was that she turned Hannah Gruen, the Drews' housekeeper, into Butterfly McQueen through an outrageously stereotyped southern, African American accent! Apparently, Birschbach believes this novel was set in the pre-Civil War era and thinks of "the help" as Mammy figures. She read all of Gruen's verbs without the final G-- cookin' instead of cooking-- which is NOT how they're written! (Shouldn't the narrator read the text *as written*?) I kept expecting to hear Gruen saying, "Miss Nancy, yo's never gonna fit in 'dat dress..." Anyone who has read the books knows that Gruen is NOT this type of character. Even anyone who has not read the books should be able to figure out that a character named Gruen is not from the rural South! The horrible and miscast stereotyped voiced ruined this book. I could not finish it! This narration is disrespectful to the novels and the fans of the series.

We've been listening to audiobooks for years. My kids and I particularly like the Nancy Drew series.

This is the first one we've been disappointed in, due solely to the narrator. She uses different voices for the characters. Some of the voices don't sound right or are overly exaggerated, and sometimes she gets mixed up and uses a different voice for a character than she used before. We usually get wrapped up in the story, but with those issues it would pull us right out, unfortunately.

I would suggest listening to more of this audiobook than is available in the sample (ie from a library?) before purchasing.

NO. The narrator's use of accents in characters' speech was VERY grating to both mine and my 8 year old daughter's nerves. Just read the story as written. Please don't add accents that are not described in the books. I was shocked to hear Hannah Gruen portrayed as a Yankee interpretation of a Southern belle. George's voice conjured images of an elderly male nursing home inhabitant.

Unfortunately the introduction to Bess and Gearge's romantic interests was marred by the narrator's rendition of their parts in the book.

Laura Linney had done an excellent job narrating previous books.

A mistaken letter stolen, an unknown heiress in danger of being swindalled and a teenage detective with two mysteries to solve.

At the bottom unfortunately.

Yes, with trepidation. If anybody has listened to the previous stories, they would realize that those productions were a lot better than this one. The reader changed, and the story lacks all the suspenseful music that used to make it a lot more entertaining.

She doesn't seem to have the experience necessary to deliver credible male voices. She also changed the accent of the maid and it sounds awful!!

No

We've enjoyed the other Nancy Drew mysteries but this one was tedious and the narrator was abysmal.

I remember these as a child and was thrilled to rediscover them. I look forward to sharing them with grandchildren some day.

I love all of the Nancy Drew Audio Books, they are quick listens and fun!