Death at the Seaside

A Kate Shackleton Mystery

By: Frances Brody

Narrated by: Joan Walker

Nothing ever happens in August, so Kate goes off on a long-overdue holiday to Whitby to visit her friend Alma who works there as a fortune teller.

She's been looking forward to a relaxing seaside sojourn, but, upon arrival, she discovers that Alma's daughter, Felicity, has disappeared, leaving her mother a note and the pawn ticket for their only asset: a watch-guard. What makes this more intriguing is that the jeweler who advanced Felicity the 30 shillings is Jack Phillips, Alma's current gentleman friend.

Kate can't help but become involved, so she goes to the jeweler's shop to get some answers. While there, she makes a horrifying discovery in the back room, and it becomes clear that her services are needed. But she's met by a wall of silence by town officials, who are keen to maintain Whitby's idyllic facade, so it's up to Kate - ably assisted by Jim Sykes and Mrs. Sugden - to discover the truth behind Felicity's disappearance. And they say nothing ever happens in August....

©2017 Frances Brody (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Audio/Narration Volume Too Low

I've been a Kate Shackleton Mysteries reader for years. I love the characters and stories. My main complaint is the recording. I found that I had to strain to hear the narrator as she would pitch her voice low for when Kate speaks or narrates but then suddenly pitches high for other characters. It was annoying having to adjust the volume whenever the speaker changed. I've listened to the audio with a couple different devices thinking maybe it was just the audio settings, but I still had the same issue. The narrator is clearly talented and brings the characters to life. I just wished that the recording of the book was better.

Narrator taking to whining out lines of dialogue

I normally love Joan Walker as an experienced narrator with a beautiful, warm, versatile voice. Sadly, recent productions by this narrator find this most annoying whiny, croaking , high pitched voice application to certain characters dialogue, copious dialogue unfortunately, making listen to parts of Joan’s narration painful and unpleasant. Ruining an otherwise well crafted story in more than one book

Difficult listen

The narrator on this one was difficult to follow. Her voice didn’t seem to have much flexibility, so she seemed to use volume changes to indicate different characters. Not ideal for those of us with hearing issues.

Terrible new narrator

I couldn’t get past 15 minutes the narration was so awful. So I can’t comment on the story. Too bad as I’ve enjoyed this series so far.

Cannot hear the narrator

I’m tired of spending money on audiobooks where the small sample sounds good, but the actual narration is impossible to hear. The narrator is talented, but she needs to remember that “audio” means we need to be able to “hear.” Where were the producers? Where was quality control? Her voice goes high, then drops to a whisper. Much of it so far is in a tone I can’t hear. If you’re listening while doing other things, it’s impossible to babysit the volume button. Up, down, up, down, up, down. I’m going to have to purchase the Kindle now or give up in frustration. This is a shame and a waste of money. Laying on the couch doing nothing else while using earbuds might be the only way.