• A Murder of Crows

  • By: Ian Skewis
  • Narrated by: Ian Skewis
  • Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (647 ratings)

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A Murder of Crows  By  cover art

A Murder of Crows

By: Ian Skewis
Narrated by: Ian Skewis
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Publisher's summary

The most violent thunderstorm in living memory occurs above a sleepy village on the West Coast of Scotland. A young couple take shelter in the woods, never to be seen again....

DCI Jack Russell is brought in to investigate. Nearing retirement, he agrees to undertake one last case, which he believes can be solved as a matter of routine. But what Jack discovers in the forest leads him to the conclusion that he is following in the footsteps of a psychopath who is just getting started.

©2017 Ian Skewis (P)2018 W. F. Howes Ltd

What listeners say about A Murder of Crows

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

EXCELLENT

Excuse the pun...what a novel novel! Lots of balls in the air. A masterful interweaving of many characters and subplots. (Each its own finely drawn and complete little vignette.)

Plus a surprising, thrilling ending! Very delicious...with promises of more to come.

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56 people found this helpful

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

A complete delight.

i looked for previous books from this author and found none, apparently this is Mr. Skewis's first published novel and I would "follow him anywhere". Wonderfully developed characters, location and narration, and a caprivating police procedural that I consumed in 2 sittings - the 1st of which was 8 hours long! Top-notch writing skills and with a lovely brogue no one could have done a better job with the narration. i just wish Jack hadn't retired (which is why I thought there were many preceding books, because he was the perfect character to move forward with. i have a unique suggestion for the author - make it a series writing BACK from Jack's retirement rather than forward. or have your next novel be the 1st in the series and have your first book be the last. jack is SO worthy of a series! thank you for a COMPLETELY ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE!

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44 people found this helpful

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

Author is the perfect narrator

Enjoyed the story, kept me guessing. Beautiful prose and narration. Looking forward to the next one.

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33 people found this helpful

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

Like peering through a smudged window...

...I had a difficult time mentally “shelving” the book...a murder, police procedural, a psychological study of dysfunctional minds and relationships, even a touch of the paranormal? Half way through the read I found myself checking other reviews - was I the only one confused?
Pros: Mr. Skellis has a lovely voice and excellent narration. As a first book he has captured the essence of a good mystery. I’m certain he will improve!
The plot is creative and unpredictable until the last chapter. Good storyline! Easily keeps you guessing!

Cons: ... But I believe that was part of my problem. There was too much left hidden for too long in too many aspects of the storyline. Everything remained a secret making the actions of the characters or story senseless. Ever played a guessing game with clueless clues? Where one player says, “I’m thinking of an animal...a dark animal....with teeth...BIG teeth...”
In the final chapters explanations are given and everyone shares but the end seemed out of harmony with the beginning.
Overall, I’d give the book a C plus or B minus.

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30 people found this helpful

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

A mob of maligant characters

I really tried to listen to this, but there are so many horrible men (no horrible women) in this story. I think there might be one good character, but after 3 hours plus of listening to the narration I just couldn't bear any more of these hateful, resentful, spiteful, malignant, jealous, nasty, violent characters. So I guess the author was successful in some of his character development, but I wish he had some sympatric characters to balance the story out. Or at least developed the couple of good characters as much as he did the hateful ones.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Unbearably drawn out ending

There were some great chapters and a knack for creating atmosphere and tension in the first two thirds of the story. The ending was so long and bad that I started skipping 30 seconds at a time. Very self indulgent. And the narration is distracting because it's full of swallowing and smacking sounds.

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17 people found this helpful

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

4

I did not know what to expect with this book. There was a nurder, apparently, I'm still not sure about this. A hat full of
villagers popping in and out people the pages, Loch Ness makes an appearance, a crow flies in with startling evidence,
dementia takes a bow and a fine detective story appears. A cut above the usual and I recommend it. it should probably be a 5. I'm off to see if Audible has any more by this fine author.

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16 people found this helpful

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

Ended on a down note

The story brews with interesting character development and beautiful story telling but it concludes in a surprising, dreadful drop off the edge of the earth.

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9 people found this helpful

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

Unsatisfying ending

I found the end of this book to neatly wrap up some things but then other parts leave you completely unsatisfied.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent who done it

I was disappointed to see that this was Ian's only book on Audible. I loved his character development and the uniqueness of his plot. If you like mysteries you'll love this one. I was impressed with his descriptions of nature and the world in which these characters moved. Hope Ian writes many more!

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7 people found this helpful