A Load of Old Bones

By: Suzette A. Hill

Narrated by: Leslie Phillips, Simon Hurst, Grant Russell

Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The curious amd murderous exploits of the Rev Frances Outerard as recounted by himself with interspersions from his cat Maurice and his dog Bouncer. Leslie Phillips as a cat? Inspired casting! An enchanting tale full of fun, wit and insight. Set in a delightful 1950s mythical Surrey. The collusion between the cat and the dog to ensure their owner keeps out of trouble is hilarious.

©2006 Joyful Productions (P)2006 Joyful Productions

Silly, but not offensively so

Any additional comments?

This was a remarkably entertaining and relaxing read. Well read, and it did not overly tax my (admittedly high) tolerance of whimsy. Really, who can resist a murderous vicar?

What a hoot!

The characterizations of the dog and cat are genius (as are the narrators of both) in this light story about a spur-of-the-moment murder by the local vicar in a 1950's English country town. And how the cat and dog come to stay, decide they have a good thing going, and take steps to see that their new human doesn't get caught.

Laughed a lot. Maurice the cat's accent is a bit thick, so I listened to it twice and laughed even harder the second time around.

I LOVE THIS SERIES..!!.. AUDIBLE,..Please add the missing ones.

Droll,.. witty,.. laugh out loud antics in a medley of voices that are unique and satisfying.. I’m just upset that Audible only has the one left to purchase.. please get the rest Audible.. I’ll be waiting..!!

Better than I expected

When I began this book I didn't think I was going to like it. Glad I continued to listen. It was amusing and I liked the characters. I am looking forward to book 2.

A tough listen, not sure I get the humor

Any additional comments?

I only give 1 star for performance if something about the performance made it difficult for me to understand what was being said. Truthfully I almost gave up on this book, but I did manage to get used to it. The accents are very heavy, especially the character Maurice the Cat. Not only is his accent heavy but he has a very dramatic way of speaking (if anyone remembers how the Grinch talked in the old TV cartoon Christmas special that is what it reminded me of). The dog was easier to understand and the man was pretty good. Also the characters did use a lot of large words and a bunch of British slang. So not the easiest listen. Still I made it through and I was interested enough in what was happening to get through it pretty quickly. Having said that though, I am not sure I really "got" this book. It is not a mystery in the sense that a crime is committed at the beginning and there is no mystery about who has done it. The mystery is just whether or not they will get caught. When things are seen through the eyes of cat or dog character, you can expect a certain differing from the emotions you get with a human narrator, but here oddly our human FO displays the same lack of normal human emotion as his pets, if not more so. Since others have described this book as "hilarious" perhaps that is part of the humor? I'm not really sure. Maybe it is a British thing. I am not always tuned in to British humor. The plot (no spoilers here) revolves around FO murdering a woman who ruins his peace and quiet by being annoying and the efforts of his pets and himself to see he gets away with it to preserve all of their peace and quiet. I couldn't help but notice that FO is a sociopath. I guess this fact is just played for laughs but it made it hard for me to predict possible directions the book would take. Oddly I didn't dislike FO and I was interested enough in his story. But I think one book of it was enough.