A Time to Kill

Inspector Drake, Book 5

By: Stephen Puleston

Narrated by: Richard Elfyn

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

A web of intrigue and deaths in the heart of Snowdonia. Can Inspector Drake unearth the killer from deep inside the rural community?

Investigating the disappearance of local antiques dealer Harry Jones is not high on DI Ian Drake’s priority list. He has more important things to spend his time on than looking for a man who has probably just walked out on his wife. Until they find Harry’s dead body.

Drake knows they are dealing with a cold-blooded killer. But the valleys of Snowdonia are an unlikely place for a murderer to hide out, and Harry an unlikely victim. As the investigation unfolds, Drake discovers a web of intrigue surrounding Harry and business links with the criminal underworld.

When another murder takes place that strikes at the heart of the community, Drake is convinced the killer lies closer to home. And when two key witnesses disappear, Drake faces a race against time to bring the killer to justice, before he strikes again.

A Time to Kill is the fifth book in the dynamic Inspector Drake crime series. If you like police procedurals, clever mysteries, and gripping thrillers, then you’ll love Stephen Puleston’s Ian Drake novels.

©2018 Stephen Puleston (P)2019 Stephen Puleston

Glad I Stuck With This Series

As another reviewer said, this series keeps getting better. And A Time To Kill is the best yet. Especially good pacing and character development.

Hard to listen to

The narrator's female voices made this hard to get through. The story was good.

Just excellent series - better with each book

Note: Even though this is Book 5 in the series, it works just fine as a stand alone story.

Yet another great mystery from Puleston! I’m in love with this series. It’s well written all around from characters to plot to setting. So I always know that when I pick up a DCI Drake mystery, I’m in for a good story.

In this one, our dead guy Harry Jones is a bit of a gigolo and everyone knows it. However, his wife Fiona is trying to maintain some semblance of decorum but that makes it harder for Drake, DS Sara Morgan, and their team to figure out who the killer is. At first, Drake thinks Jones just went off with his latest conquest but then his body is found.

I live in the USA and I found it very interesting to see how the people of Snowdonia react to handguns. There’s a small stash of ‘antique’ guns found, mostly from WW2. In the story, it’s a really big deal. I live on a small hobby farm in an open-carry state, and such a stash of handguns wouldn’t be unusual to find in any of the homes around here. Eventually, Drake has to call in the specially trained cops that are trained to use firearms. All of this made the story extra interesting to me as it’s a very different gun culture.

I’m not big on romance in general but I did smile a bit as Drake makes his tentative flirtations. Annie is something of a local historian. If a full blown romance doesn’t happen for these two, I hope they remain good friends. And since we’re gossiping about Drake’s private life, he’s got a little family drama going on with his sister. She doesn’t want to meet or even acknowledge their newly discovered half brother. But in such a tightly knitted, small community, Drake’s family will cross lines with his investigation. And that lead to an extra exciting ending. Drake races to rescue a family member as well as stop the fiend! 5/5 stars.

The Narration: Richard Elfyn as always was spectacular in his narration. I love the Welsh accent even though I have no idea how many of the Welsh words are spelled. Elfyn switches seamlessly from one regional accent to the next. The female characters sound feminine and the pacing was perfect. There were no technical issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own.

Compelling Listen!

Stephen Puleston has created a compelling character of Inspector Drake. A Time to Kill pulled me in with its twists and turns. One murder on top of another domino effect. So many suspects and motives, I was intrigued to guess the culprit. Well done to the author for keeping me guessing. Richard Elfyn was perfect performing this book. He adds realistic emotions to his voice. I could hear who was speaking. I will definitely listen to more books by this author and narrator.

Enjoyable Mystery

I am really enjoying the Inspector Drake series. It reminds me of Monk and Midsomer Murders, with a quirky detective and interesting regional setting. The narration is excellent - all of the characters have distinct voices, and the narrating voice is different than the characters speaking so you never get lost in what is happening in the story. You don't immediately realize who the killer is, and I like that the mystery unfolds without an obvious solution.
Content wise, this is just on the edge of what I'm willing to listen to with the descriptions of violence that are not gratuitous, and there is a minimal amount of cursing. I don't believe this book had any intimate scenes, in other books in this series they are all implied / fade out, which I really appreciate. If it were a movie I would expect a PG13 rating for the violence of the murders.

Inspector Drake cones through again.

More Murder, a new team, same ticks. Ian Drake is back on the hunt for another killer. 3 Murders, many suspects, but only Drake and his team can find the killer.
Great story, very detailed, exciting ride.

Great audio book

I was lucky enough to have gotten a free audio book code from the author. I am volunteering to leave this review. Great audio book plenty of twist and turns. Love the descriptions.

The Murder of a Ladies' Man

This crime drama set in the Snowdonia region of Wales is well told with an interesting if slightly obsessive hero and a string of potential villains, each with convincing motives and plenty of opportunity. As Drake investigates the initial murder, subsequent bodies turn up, all connected in some way. Evidence points to various culprits in a twisted tale that would have done Agatha Christie proud.
Great reading with a convincing look at police procedure and a romantic and familial sub-plot that keeps the story from becoming pure police procedure.
Richard Elfyn does a wonderful job of reading this one with a voice that could make reading the telephone book interesting. A great melding of a great story with a great narrator.

Excellent addition to the Ian Drake series

Stephen Puleston‘s A Time to Kill is an action packed Inspector Drake story filled with misdirection, false leads and Drake’s personal quirks. Having listened to the previous four inspector Drake stories I can honestly say I think this is the bet one yet – of course there are three more, so I guess I’ll have to wait to see which is truly best. The way Puleston weave the case in with Drake’s personal life and his OCD compulsions makes this story very entertaining, not to mention Richard Elfyn’s narration makes each character stand out and truly brings the story to life.

Suspenseful and Intriguing

A complicated homicide for the police to solve. Mr. Puleston is a new to me author. I like murder mysteries. The storyline was a tad bit confusing at times. I needed to carefully listen to the narrator in order to keep all the characters straight in my head.

The British accent of Mr. Elfyn gave this English novel merit. He has a clear and easy to listen voice.

Another excellent audio book

The Author gets under the skin of this tight knit Welsh community and describes in vivid detail the liaisons, secrets, comings and goings the residents. An enjoyable read to the end.

Another great listen

I am really getting into the inspector drake series, just love the narration as well it makes it so easy to listen. The story itself is very well developed, with lots of twists and turns as you would expect in a novel by Stephen Puleston - fully recommend.

Another great thriller

This is another great crime drama voiced by the excellent Richard Elfyn.
This author certainly can craft a great storyline with the usual characters involved. Highly recommended.

Good listening

Another good book to listen to, love the pronunciation of different areas in Welsh. Recommend that you listen to this book.

It's time for a good book

I enjoyed this book. This is the first book by this author that I have listened to but it won't be my last.With so many cozy mysteries featuring amateur sleuths out there it was a nice change to listen to what I call an old fashion police procedural. It is a serious and fairly complex tale giving you plenty of twist and suspects but it works and I could very easily see it playing out on tv along side someone like Morse. The author weaves background information on the characters nicely into the mystery, so if like me this is your time with Inspector Drake you don't feel confused or lost over previous plots. That's not to say that I won't be going back to the beginning to see what I have missed.
Inspector Drake is called out for a missing person case but the interview with the wife gets interrupted with reports of a dead body being found. The connection is made and what started out simple quickly turns complicated. The man had connections to the criminal underworld and known as a player with the ladies, Drake and his team have there work cut out for them narrowing the suspect list down. Even the timid wife seems to be hiding something. Then another body is found, can they find the connection between the two cases? What does a lawyer and an antiques dealer have in common? Time will tell but when two witnesses of the second murder go missing Drake finds that time is not on there side and things get personal for him.
I liked the narrator. He did some really good voices for the characters and a lot of them had accents which added to the feel that the mystery took place in Wales.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Another brilliant story!

I’ve listened to the first five.... loving each almost more than the previous.....I’ve only got No. 6 left 😫...... what am I going to do?!!
So hoping No.7 appears soon 🤞

Death of an antiques dealer.

This is the 4th book in this series that I have read, (somehow I have missed No 5?) and each one has been better than the last. The combination between Stephen Puleston's writing and Richard Elfyn's narration is just perfect and this is one series that I will definitely continue.

Inspector Drake is an interesting character; he suffers with OCD and needs to keep repeating certain actions. This was a big factor of book 1 but now it simmers gently in the background and forms a part of his character, rather than being an overwhelming part of the book. I can't help but think it might be a good symptom for a police officer in many ways. He's a likable guy and it was nice to see him enjoying a bit of female company after the separation from his surly wife earlier on in the series.

Antiques dealer, Harry Jones is murdered early on in this episode, and there is no obvious reason for his death. Drake and his new sidekick, Sergeant Sara Morgan work well together to follow clues and unearth evidence. I definitely liked the character of Sara more than his previous partner, who was messy and too much of a contrast to Drake. I hope she decides to become a full time mum and Drake can stick with Sara.

I don't want to give too much away, so I shall finish with a quick word of praise for Richard Elfyn, the narrator, who brings the area of Wales alive with his beautiful soft Welsh accent. Goodness knows what names I would allocate to those unpronounceable places and people, without his help.

Now I need to step backwards in time and listen to book 4.

Brilliant book

This is the fifth book in the DI Drake series, and it really helps if you have read at least one of the previous four as the characters backgrounds are built on from previous novels, plus they are brilliant books.

The main character in this book is DI Drake, who suffers from OCD, which has affected his family life so much that he is now separated and has lost custody of both his children, and also affects his job as well.  I though this aspect of his life was dealt with very well and sympathetically dealt with and the way he does his job works very well alongside his condition.

This book also has a new DS, Sara Morgan, who works really well alongside him and helps brilliantly throughout to help solve the murders.

The descriptions of the area where the book is based are done so well that you can almost imagine you are standing alongside them all.

The story itself revolves around the murder of an antiques dealer, and his links with the criminal underground.  The story was a brilliant read, which kept me guessing right to the end and made me want to read the next one.

Well Thought Out

Very methodical, usual police procedure, and can be a bit long drawn at times. The story without giving too much away is about the death of an antique dealer found shot. As it is a local person, D.I.Ian Drake is the lead detective with a bit of OCD about him is on the case and believes a killer is also a local person. With all police work, it's getting to know the victim very well and who he could have upset along the way, and in this case most of the inhabitants of the village. The area has been well described and as I have not been to that part of Wales I cannot confirm if it is correct but the author does come from there, and the area does sound very tempting to visit. I have read a novella by Stephen Puleston and that was very good but short, and again the area well presented. It is typically British and well thought out will certainly read this author again

Struggled a little with the complexity

I follow this series and have listened to two and read the some. I think I prefer to read them. Whilst the storyline was good, I struggled to keep up with the complexity of it and often became distracted with yet another aspect to the case. So switched off mentally and then lost the thread.
What I did like was the development of the character on a personal level and was pleased with his journey after separating from his wife as the demands of his job and his dedication to it were the final nail in the coffin of his marriage.