Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead

Toad Witch Series, Book 1

By: Christiana Miller

Narrated by: Marie Rose

Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

A little magic can go a long way - to really screwing up a girl's life!

Mara is having the worst month of her life. At least, that's what her cards tell her and they've never been wrong. She's evicted from her apartment, loses her job, and is banned from Beverly Hills. So when the tarot cards predict her imminent demise, she uses a little magic to make her world right.

Suddenly, an aunt she's never met dies, leaving Mara as her sole heir. But when Mara moves into her inherited home, she discovers Aunt Tillie never moved out. She's still one pissed-off old lady, even postmortem, and she blames Mara's magical meddling for her death.

When Mara accidentally releases a demon and awakens the spirit of the most powerful witch in history, Tillie's ready to kill her - literally. It's the only way she can think of to save the girl from herself. The witch and the demon, however, have other plans for Mara's body!

©2011, 2012 HekaRose Publishing and Christiana Miller (P)2014 HekaRose Publishing and Christiana Miller

Not as I expected

So, how did it all pan out for Mara?
Well, She doesn't seem to be the brightest of witches, but this just as well really as the story does depend on her penchant for making rather silly choices, this is despite being given some sensible advice. However, she can be forgiven her ineptitude as her mother didn't stay in this world long enough to train her in the art of ...what? Witchcraft? Wicca? Paganism?

The reader is introduced to Mara when, through no fault of her own, she is living a life of what one can only describe as being reduced circumstances. She really is in a bit of a fix, her unemployment payments are coming to an end, not a job in sight, and, to add insult to injury she is being evicted. Something must be done!
Her gay best friend Gus (and his toad) come to her rescue, but only to make matters worse. Life as Mara knows it is ending, so she casts her problems upon the Universe and the Universe responds - The response being the death of Aunt Tillie who has bequeathed to Mara her cottage.

I did find this first part of the story to be quite slow and hard to stick with, so many seemingly unnecessary details, lengthy descriptions of characters who never appear again. All a tad tedious really. Indeed, I found myself urging Aunt Tillie to get on with dying so Mara could move to her cottage and for the story proper to begin!

Mara prepares herself for the long drive to The Cottage, best friend Gus kitted her out for the journey and new life with a box full of herbs and supplements and, possibly for a bit of company, his toad.
Eventually Mara and her toad arrive at Aunt Tillies cottage, and this is where the story really begins. There are some humorous moments to be enjoyed, a little romance, a little interaction with the locals. Then, in my opinion the story takes a surprisingly dark turn, malevolence and evil raise their ugly heads like interlopers. This, I must say, I did not expect and I found it quite shocking, out of place and not in keeping with the beginning and the end of the story.
Of course, all is well eventually, Mara concocts a wonderfully clever plot to release the possessed soul and the way is paved for a sequel.
This book is not at all what I was expecting, I thought it would be lighthearted and funny, as suggested by the cover and the publishers summary. I most certainly was not expecting such explicit adult content nor a story that is so very dark and disturbing.
I also expected so much more from Aunt Tillie, who, poor soul, certainly didn't get the back story she deserved, after all, she does feature in the title of the book.

For me, the audiobook was saved by the narration of Marie Rose, I certainly would not have finished this book if I were reading it myself. Not only does Marie Rose have such a lovely voice, she just captures each character so perfectly. I could identify each character quite easily. Her pace and rythymn are just right, so natural sounding from beginning to end. I shall certainly be on the look out for more of her work.

somebody tell aunt Tillie she's dead

This is such a fun witch story. I love Gus and grundle shank they add so much fun to the story. And every time she must explore another area of the house I am on the edge of my seat. I love the twist and turns of the whole story, it's just like real life! Great narration.

Great gift, entertaining listening

Where does Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is my first audiobook. Based in this listening experience I would definitely try more audiobooks.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead?

You won't get any spoilers from me. But the forboding dreams and visions Mara the lead character has are very vividly narrated. Also, the funny moments served as welcome comic relief before or after some intense paranormal moments. All if it held my attention throughout, wondering what what happen next.

What does Marie Rose bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I would have missed all the entertaining voices, comic timing, dramatic pacing, and fun accents that added a whole new layer to the story experience. I think that's what's really made me a new fan of audiobooks, if they are all like this. Ms. Rose's performance really shines here.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did want to keep going, chapter by chapter. It's about 8 hours, so I couldn't listen all at once due to other daily obligations. But even when I wasn't listening, I wondered what Mara, Gus, Tillie, and so forth were up to, and I wanted to get back to them.

Any additional comments?

Some of the sex scenes in the end seemed hastily put in and could have been more developed, if they were even needed at all. But that's a minor point. Also, I got this audiobook for free in exchange for my honest review.

Hated to see it come to an end!

Where does Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I absolutely LOVE this book! The writing of Christina Miller is fun, an engaging page turner! However, it was narrator, Marie Rose, that brought this story to life! She developed the personality and voice for each character in such a way that you forgot that it was Marie Rose speaking for each of them. Such a talent!! I look forward to the next book in this series, "Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie We're in Trouble" I can only hope this too will be produced as an audio book with Marie Rose returning to voice all the wonderful characters in the way that ONLY Marie Rose can!!

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the interaction between Mara and her best friend Gus as well as all the details on their pagan rituals!

What does Marie Rose bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She connected with each character and brought them to life, each with a distinct personality and voice.

If you could rename Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead, what would you call it?

I wouldn't change it. The title alone suggests the underlying humor that is the foundation of this story.

Any additional comments?

Please make an audio book with Marie Rose for your 2nd book in the series!

Wonderful

Would you listen to Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead again? Why?

Yes, it is a wonderful story. The characters are fun and interesting they make you want to listen to the story over and over again.

Who was your favorite character and why?

All the characters are great but Aunt Tillie is a power all her own in this book.

Which character – as performed by Marie Rose – was your favorite?

All of them

Who was the most memorable character of Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead and why?

Guss, Marie did such a good job with his character and she made him very funny.

Any additional comments?

Everyone this is a charming, funny and delight to listen to. Try it. You'll like it to.

Pretty good, at least I enjoyed it all the way to the end

I like to listen to books all in a row… And this narrator was really great at making the voices and I loved her. So I listen to the sample of the next book in the series and I not really sure I’m going to get it. They changed readers and the new narrator makes Gus sound terrible and not the wonderful highbrow spoken man he was in the first book.

Cozy and FUN

A basic cozy mystery. It was just a fun, casual read. The characters were pretty much stereotypical for this genre as well as just stereotypical in general. This is not the usual genre that I turn to, but I’m glad I did. I needed a different kind of book.

Narration was basic. Narrator had issues voicing different characters.

Hauntings for Dummies

The book was entertaining, and I appreciated some of the research into the details on esoteric spirituality, but really...for a woman who claims to be a witch, and a decent one at that, how many hits with the clue-by-4 do you need? There is literally a moment when it's "don't go down the creepy stairs to the basement!" Gus is a great character though. I liked him better than the protagonist. The sarcasm and fine details crafted (pun intended) for the spell work made it readable. Am I getting the sequel, no, but I'm not returning it either.

Description didn't match the reality

I was disappointed by what looked to be a fun read. Maybe it was simply that the description didn't match the reality...

"Suddenly, an aunt she's never met dies..." - Actually, this didn't happen until nearly 1/3 of the way in. I understand the need for setting up the characters, but the pace seemed off. Then, "When Mara accidentally... awakens the spirit of the most powerful witch in history", the most powerful witch wasn't as powerful as she was horny. I wound up skipping entire chapters because I am not keen on erotic descriptions.

Like another reader wrote, Mara's relationship with Paul seemed to come out of nowhere. Perhaps I skipped that section, but I wasn't invested enough in the characters to go back to sort out the relationship.

So, in summary, *I* didn't like the book, but this may be due to expecting something different from what I got.

Enjoyable

Oddly different and fun read. I enjoyed the storyline and reccomend this book. Good audio narration. Looking forward to where the next book takes me.