A Treacherous Trade

A Fiona Mahoney Mystery, Book 2

By: Kerrigan Byrne

Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen, John Hartley

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Fiona Mahoney stands in the ashes of her hopes, facing her tempting adversary, Inspector Grayson Croft. Her sins are about to spill from her lips, when he says the one thing that could dispel all thoughts of revelation or redemption.

Someone is leaving the corpses on London's cobbled streets, and a name is being whispered in the fearful shadows. The name, against which Fiona would sell her very soul for vengeance: Jack the Ripper.

Old enemies and new friends join Fiona, as she chases a relentless evil through the streets of Victorian London. She’ll pull upon every contact in her arsenal, including Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, Inspector Aberline, “The Hammer” (a charismatic gangster), “The Blade” (an enigmatic assassin), and, of course, Jack.

©2022 Kerrigan Byrne (P)2022 Kerrigan Byrne

5 stars

This picks up right where book 1 left off. The mystery of Jack the Ripper continuing, still its definitely engaging. Detective Croft is starting to show some feelings for Fiona and its just beautiful to watch. Fiona starts to actually be in the investigations to find some answers and I can't wait to see what is next!

I really enjoyed this audiobook in duet style with narrators Sarah Mollo-Christensen and John Hartley. They did an amazing job with their characters.

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Loved!

I loved this second installment that continued the story of Fiona. I lay awake for hours unable to stop and go to sleep. It’s a fantastic mystery and I can’t wait for the next one.

Real!

First for the TINY bad bits: the new narration threw me a bit. I’d loved the distinctly Irish voice of the artist in the first book so hearing not only a new female voice (without the Irish accent) as well as the addition of a male’s was off-putting. I tried to return the book…unsuccessfully. Am I glad of that!

This book is fantastic and real. A real mystery. A real dilemma. Real moments of humor that surprised a laugh out of me and finally very real truths. The truth of life for women during this time, no matter their station; the truth of how life changes and instills experiences and wisdoms on us; the truth of how we evolve and life despite these realities.

I can’t wait for the next installment of this series. I’d have paid two credits for it, lol.

What Happened???

I liked the story but, I was so disappointed that the narrator had changed. I really liked the first narrator because her thick Irish brogue made the story seem more authentic. The prologue left me hanging and wondering who Fiona's chosen lover was.because there were so many choices. And, what happened to Jack the Ripper? Seems like he just faded into the sunset!

Surprisingly decent Jack the Ripper fiction

I am really enjoying this series. The narrator for both the first and second books were different but both were pleasant to listen to. I like the fact that Fiona seems to have these dangerous men falling all over themselves to protect her on her quest to find The Ripper. So far so good, can’t wait for the next one.

Excellent story, prefer narrator of Book 1

Amazing story! Detailed murder scenes with prostitution, so definitely not for children to hear or those that don't do well with descriptive bloody death. I felt it had more suspense than the first book and it was a hard story to stop listening to. I'm a little upset I have to wait 11 months to find out "who" in the hotel room! Please release it sooner!! :)
I preferred the narrator/narration from the first book. The first couple chapters of this book were hard to listen to and it felt like I was listening to "Alexa" read a story. I got used to it and it seemed to get better. The biggest issue was the male voice was very hard for me to hear! I was constantly turning the volume up and down.

Is Batman the narrator here?

I usually do not like to give poor reviews. Books and narration can be subjective. Just because I don't like something, doesn't mean someone else won't love it and I don't like to deter a person from experiencing something for themselves. But in this case, the narration took so much away from the enjoyment of the story I felt compelled to warn others. I can safely advise that this book might be a better read rather than a listen. I didn't mind the female narrator. Yes, the first book's narrator was 100% on the mark and I wholeheartedly missed her narration for this second book. For this book, I feel the female narrator's tone and emotion didn't always match the scene in which she was reading, and that was distracting. But not so much I was completely pulled out of the story itself. However, the male narrator was 100% off the mark all the time. He has the same menacing growl for every male character, every emotion that character is expressing, and every situation that character finds themselves. Even in the scenes in which the male character is expressing a more gentle or seductive tone, the male narrator chooses to use such a gruff snarl that I'm sure his next words are going to be "I'm Batman". It really drew me out of the story. Instead of enjoying the male/female interactions (especially the steamy ones) I was just rolling my eyes and gritting my teeth waiting for the male narrator to stop speaking. Please, stop speaking.
I do enjoy the series, even if it perpetuates some misleading facts about the very real victims of Jack the Ripper. If anyone is interested in reading about their story, I highly recommend, "The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper" – by Hallie Rubenhold.
But, I digress. This story is engaging and moves the continuing plot along nicely while also containing its own completed murder mystery, although the motive in this murder mystery might not be everyone's cup of tea, so to speak. I will read the next in the series as soon as it comes out. Although, if it's the same narrators, I definitely won't listen to it.

Ear Candy

I am so glad to find this series. I have been disappointed recently with other period mystery series. I was not able to like the characters or appreciate their plight. This one hit the mark. I am disappointed that book 3 and 4 are not available. I hope that changes soon.
Ps., SO glad they switched narrators!

great book

This was a really good book and while I haven't listened nor read book one this was given to me to review.

I don't know if it's the narrator or the way the book is written but Fiona seems very careless with her own life . she feels deeply for the dead and wants to find the one behind the murders. The fact she has not just one or two men but three! falling for her is a very nice suprise and I would love to find out who she chooses. unfortunately if it's going to be the same narrators I will not be listening to the next one but reading it instead as I really did have a tough time with the female narrator and no emotion in her voice. I really loved the story line amd can't wait for the next book. Thank You to the author for writing yet again another great book!

Bring back Justine Eyre

I'm sorry, but listening to this this story was a chore, especially when I had finished book 1 with J. E narrating in a wonder Irish accent and than suddenly Fiona sounds like an American who switches accents every other sentence yet nothing remotely like she was from Ireland.
Sorry but this was a big distraction.