Don't Mess with Mrs. Sedgewick

By: Marie F. Martin

Narrated by: Becky White

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Roberta Sedgewick is stuck in a house that is too empty without her beloved Burton - the rat died and left her with his dog and rooms that rattle. She convinces her three golfing buddies, all in their 70s, to sell their homes and buy adjoining condos. The widows intend to spend the rest of their days golfing, gambling at the casino, and having fun. Oh, the heaven of it. 

But then they all hire the same maid who uncovers long-hidden, criminal secrets kept by each woman. Oh, the horror of it. The reputations of their deceased husbands - a banker, a minister, and a respected farmer - will be tarnished forever. Three of the widows could face jail time, and the fourth fears for her life. Whatever will they do with the conniving, blackmailing maid? 

Don't Mess with Mrs. Sedgewick is a caper story. Elderly ladies with crimes in their youth catch far worse criminals in the present.

If you grew to love the characters in Marie F. Martin’s previous novels Maternal Harbor, Harbored Secrets, and Ratham Creek, you will treasure Roberta and her friends in the mystery Don’t Mess With Mrs. Sedgewick.
 

©2016 Marie F Martin (P)2019 Marie F Martin

I wanted to like it but had trouble

In Don’t Mess with Mrs. Sedgewick by Marie F. Martin, Roberta Sedgewick gets the idea to round up her three other widowed friends and move into four adjoining condos, where they can live the good life for the rest of their years. Then Roberta gets approached by Audrey, who begs for a job, offering to clean their houses. That fateful day will change the lives of all four women, as Audrey goes snooping through their secrets. All four have secret crimes hidden in their past that they have told no one about until Audrey shows up. When Lynette catches Audrey snooping through Roberta’s possessions, Audrey turns on her and demands $10,000 not to tell the cops about Lynette’s hidden secret. She then proceeds to blackmail Roberta and Mildred. In fear of the exposure of her own past, Sonia disappears. It becomes up to Roberta to deal with the blackmailer and the subsequent conflicts that arise.

Don’t Mess with Mrs. Sedgewick contains an interesting premise, but I felt that it didn’t live up to its potential. I wanted to connect with the characters, but while I sympathized with the ladies, I didn’t feel the outrage by their being blackmailed that I should have experienced. In addition, the narrative style felt disconnected, as it switches between first person present narration by Roberta Sedgewick and third person past narration about each woman’s crime. Further, I felt that the conclusion was somewhat abrupt at wrapping things up, and Mrs. Sedgewick dealt with Audrey in such a nice way that the title didn’t fit well.

There is one character I really did love, that of the character whom the women meet as Tony while fishing and then see as a glamour girl singer as Toni. We feel genuine sympathy and appreciation for this cross- dressing individual as we get to know the character’s story.

The audiobook is performed by Becky White, who does a good job of helping readers connect with this somewhat difficult book. She uses effective accents to give life to the characters, making them more realistic than they might otherwise have been.

I really wanted to like Don’t Mess with Mrs. Sedgewick, but I was disappointed by the quality of the writing. I feel that the author has real promise but didn’t live up to her potential with this particular book. Hopefully her next book will be stronger. I give this book three stars.

Disclaimer: I was given this book for free for review purposes, but that had no influence on the content of my review.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Started reading, ran out of time, ended on Audible

I love listening to books so enjoyed this one on Audible. Good story - lots of twists and turns and I liked the setting. However since I started it first as a read, I guess I anticipated a certain reading voice and it took me awhile to get used to the presentation. The story line shows the author has lots of imagination!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Widowed Ladies Group

Marie F Martin is a great writer. I so enjoyed this group of widowed women. Don't Mess With Mrs. Sedgewick has some endearing characters and unexpected twists. Becky White brought the characters to life with her performance. She gave them distinguishable voices, and added the right emotions. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. I will definitely listen to more books by this author and narrator. I never would have guessed the groups past crimes.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

interesting story

I listened to this story while driving across the country. Truthfully, I would rather have read the book myself. I did not like the reader's voice or how she emphasized certain words and interpreted the characters voices. However, I enjoyed the story. Marie Martin is spot on with character development, and I enjoyed all the humor throughout the story. At the end of each chapter I was eager to find out what was going to happen next! The story has delightful and surprising twists and turns!! It had a great ending!! All in all, I enjoyed it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I wanted to like this more...

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.

Here, Mrs. Sedgewick and her three widowed friends all move into neighboring condos to enjoy their golden years together. Each of them has a secret in their past. They all hire Audrey to clean their homes. Problem is that all of these women left evidence of their secrets in their condos and Audrey finds the evidence while snooping and uses it to blackmail each of the women.

I wanted to like this more but the story moves rather slowly; I found it unbelievable that after so many years these women are still hauling evidence around of their past indiscretions; and the way they ultimately dealt with Audrey is completely contrary to the title. The story did have some humorous moments and I enjoyed ladies sleuthing. I also enjoyed the character Toni, the lounge singer.

The narrator did a good job and kept a nice pace.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

If you enjoy both the Golden Girls and Murder mysteries, you will enjoy this audiobook!

If the Golden Girls were very wealthy, kept secrets, and solved mysteries, they would be Mrs. Sedgwick and her delightful friends. The narrator’s mature voice made the story seem warmer and more realistic adding immensely to my enjoyment.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

in the pace of life

this book was just wonderful I do know some books that writes about alder people but this book was just wonderful the book wasn't a fast story precisely it took time and in some way I loved it very much it wasn't you usually listen at least it wasn't mine but it was enjoyable and very very special I loved the book very much

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

4 stars

This is a pretty good book with an interesting premise and characters. I would give it 5 stars but the pace of the story is slow and drags a bit.

I received this book for free in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A fun read and listen

It was a fun read. I can't think of any other books that have senior citizens for the heros. That was refreshing.
I also thought the performance voice fit my mental picture of what the characters would have sounded like.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Ridiculous

I did not like this book. The story seemed contrived and it moved to slow.

Who needs men hanging around?

They obviously breed wealthy golfing widows differently in Montana so close your eyes, hold your nose and jump into a huge tub of suspended disbelief before embarking on this book.
Four seventy something golfing female friends, all now alone, buy a beautifully located new build of four condos in it's own gated community, intending to spend their golden years having fun and supporting each other. Friends for years, they think they know each other. They are wrong. Each hides a secret from the past and trouble starts when a nosy Scottish cleaning lady starts to uncover them.

I guess the intention was to make the four women seem, each in their own ways, feisty and eccentric but for this reader they came over as rather foolish, sometimes pushy and occasionally unpleasant, their whole lives (mostly) having been pampered by husbands who made money and whose reputations they intended to protect. And now they had their second childhood, time to play without the grown ups, including with guns and rifles. Sorry, I couldn't warm to any of then, and they didn't seem to really like each other much ejther.
But they do get themselves in big trouble and, turned into a film, the plot line is just crazy enough to make it good, silly fun. As a book, well, sadly, this reader found little to encourage reading to the end.
The narrator, Beckie White, helped enormously. It was sheer pleasure to listen to her slightly deeper timbre read with good intonation and pacing, enthusiasm in her tone as she gave voice to the various characters. Her delivery was good, apart from her Scottish accents, which must rate as some of the worst I've ever heard. Fortunately, these comprise only a small percentage of the book overall.

My thanks to the rights holder of Don't Mess With Mrs.Sedgewick, who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy, via Audiobook Boom. Oddball characters I enjoy, but these women were just a step too far with, it seemed, few if any redeeming attributes. Or perhaps it's just that I don't like golf.