Aunt Dimity and the Duke

An Aunt Dimity Mystery

By: Nancy Atherton

Narrated by: Teri Clark Linden

Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Emma Porter is 40, fat, frumpy, and a passionate amateur gardener. When her longtime lover dumps her for a younger woman, Emma escapes the cloying sympathy of family and friends by setting out on a summer-long driving tour of England's glorious gardens. A Dimity-contrived coincidence brings her to Penford Hall, a sprawling Gothic mansion in Cornwall, where she finds a duke in search of a missing lantern with extraordinary powers.

Suspecting there's more than one mystery to be solved at Penford Hall, Emma accepts the duke's invitation to stay on and restore the once glorious chapel garden to its former beauty. The dark rumors surrounding a rock star and the near-death of the duke's beautiful cousin confirm Emma's suspicions, and set her - with Aunt Dimity's ghostly guidance - on the path to Penford Hall's secrets and the pleasure of unexpected love.

©1994 Nancy T. Atherton (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

One of my favorite books ruined by the reader.

What disappointed you about Aunt Dimity and the Duke?

The performer appears to be learning to read. Every "a" is pronounced as a long a.
The character Emma is written as smar, logical, strong and is here made to sound weak, young, and non-assertive. All the English characters speak with big spaces between each word.
I was really happy that you had made this book available. I preordered so I anticipated enjoying the reading. I forced myself to listen twice, hoping it would sound better the second time. It was just as annoying.
I can get free recordings through a government program for the handicapped. They have a great recoding of this book, but I have no way of copying it because they use a unique recording method.
I am also VERY sorry to see that, now that you have made the series available, it is all performed by the same artless individual.

What other book might you compare Aunt Dimity and the Duke to and why?

The book, not the erecording, has many of the qualities of Charlotte MacLeod's Sarah Kelling series: Charm, wit, and humor. These qualities do not come across in your version.

Would you be willing to try another one of Teri Clark Linden’s performances?

NO

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Aunt Dimity and the Duke?

The text is great and does not need cutting.

Any additional comments?

Please rerecord with a different performer.

Nice development of a background character

Would you try another book from Nancy Atherton and/or Teri Clark Linden?

The Aunt Dimity series has been delightful diversion, Nancy Atherton has inserted this volume skillfully into the series.

What didn’t you like about Teri Clark Linden’s performance?

Reminds one of a teacher reading to an elementary school class.

Horrible Narration

This is the second time I've tried to listen to this book. It's one of my favorite series and I just don't have time to sit down and read it again right now.
The first time, I gave up after 20 minutes. The narrator ruined the experience for me. This time I'm listening to it at 1.25x so the pauses between words aren't as pronounced. But, I've gotten far enough to get to the accents, which need a great deal of work.
I haven't listened to any other books in the series outside of the original recordings that had a different narrator. Does anyone know if it gets better?

Performance ruins this book

Would you try another book from Nancy Atherton and/or Teri Clark Linden?

I like the Aunt Dimity series despite certain basic problems w/ the stories. The overall charm overcomes occasional literary blunders. But the performance by Ms Clark Linden makes them painful to listen to. The stilted, irregular flow of words makes this unlikely to be listened to again. Perhaps the director instructed her to over-enunciate for some unlikely reason as she becomes more natural when using an accent. But whatever the reason, I will not be buying anymore books with this performer

TERRIBLE Narration!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A decent narrator!

What did you like best about this story?

I adore all the Aunt Dimity stories and was so excited to see them listed here. WAS excited. This narrator is terrible. She's ruined an excellent series.

Would you be willing to try another one of Teri Clark Linden’s performances?

Absolutely not. Her cadence and pacing are completely off. She over emphasizes each word and has no expression or emotion in her delivery. I lasted less than nine minutes and had to turn it off. Can't believe I wasted a credit on this.

Any additional comments?

Skip the audio--go buy the book!

Fantastic book, very strange reader

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I adore this series, so I was thrilled when Audible decided to record them all! I liked the reader for the first two books, but the new reader is completely wrong for the series. All of her British accents are spoken in an unnaturally slow cadence that makes them sound slightly addled. I'll still buy the books because I love them, but I'm disappointed that the reader does not do justice to this wonderful series.

What other book might you compare Aunt Dimity and the Duke to and why?

The entire Aunt Dimity series; the Brother Cadfael series (after a fashion - they have a similarly cozy style, though set in an entirely different time); the Agatha Raisin books (though these are slightly more violent); the Her Royal Spyness series.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She read all the English characters in a completely unnatural cadence that made them sound stiff and addled - even the children! The characters are not written that way at all, nor are any of her accents accurate to anything I've heard in the UK. Also, her "Lori" doesn't have the spunk of Christina Moore's.

Was Aunt Dimity and the Duke worth the listening time?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

This series should be made into a mini-series! Failing that, could it be re-cast and re-recorded by someone who is fluent in the accents?

Terrible narration. I am very diappointed

Would you try another book from Nancy Atherton and/or Teri Clark Linden?

I love books from Nancy Atherton but will never buy another one narrated by Teri Clark Linden

What didn’t you like about Teri Clark Linden’s performance?

Very boring, especially in comparison with Aunt Dimity's death narrated by Christina Moore

This narrator is simply terrible

I listened to Aunt Dimity's Death years ago and loved it. Thank heaven I heard it with a different reader. This narrator is just dreadful. Her inflection is all wrong and leaves me feeling like she is reading to a small child. I doubt I will listen to the rest of the series because of her. She just ruins a wonderful novel.

The narrator ruins the story

Whatever were the producers thinking? Did they listen to the performer? As others have said, she sounds like she's reading to very young children. Be sure to listen to the preview before you buy.
The Aunt Dimity series is so enjoyable, gentle and engaging. Too bad it's spoiled in this production.

narrator made me crazy

Would you try another book from Nancy Atherton and/or Teri Clark Linden?

only if they never used that narrator!!!!
she drove me crazy the way she stopped after every single word and paused.

What do you think your next listen will be?

nothing by this narrator oh man she was so irritating

How could the performance have been better?

if the narrator would have just spoke instead of SAYING---EVERY---WORD---SEPERATE---IT---WAS----SO---ANNOYING---I----WAS----IN----A----BAD----MOOD----AND----COULDNT----FINISH-----THE-----BOOK-----BECAUSE----OF-----HER!!!!!!!!!!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

anger because of her voice disappointment with her voice !!!!

Any additional comments?

please-----drop-----her------from-----your------list-------of---------narrators!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disappointing

Story was pleasant, but totally let down by narration. Dialogue was stilted, too slow, without much inflection. Accents were hit and miss.

Read by a robot

What a shame! I was reccomended this series by my sister after I finished the Amelia Peabody mysteries. This otherwise perfectly agreeable cosy mystery story was spoilt by the performance. I listened at one and a half times the normal speed as I couldn't bear the almost patronising drawl of the narrator (I'm still undecided if it was a person or a computer generated voice) There are some funny moments of American to English poor translation. I doubt that the Author would have used the phrase like fleas on a cats fanny had they known the English connotations of the word! However, I'm already looking for the next in series so the story won in the end.

A second great story spoiled by dreadful narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book, yes, not necessarily the audio book.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Stilted style, with a complete lack of grasp of English (and Scottish/Irish ones let alone regional English and the differences between upper, middle and lower class ones) accents and pronunciation.

Do you think Aunt Dimity and the Duke needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

As it is an early book in a series I'm assuming there is a following book.