Four Dead Queens

By: Astrid Scholte

Narrated by: Amy Shiels, Elizabeth Knowelden

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Four dead queens. Three days to catch a killer. Two forbidden romances. One shocking twist you won’t see coming. 

Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she’s, in fact, one of Quadara’s most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara’s most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara’s queens dead.

With no other choices and on the run from Keralie’s former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation’s four dead queens.

An enthralling fast-paced mystery where competing agendas collide with deadly consequences, Four Dead Queens heralds the arrival of an exciting new YA talent. 

Praise for Four Dead Queens:
An Indie Bestseller
An Amazon Best Book - March 2019 

“A good, devious mix of some of the best fantasy and murder mystery that YA has had to offer recently.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“Astrid Scholte’s propulsive debut YA novel checks all the boxes for an addictive read.” (Refinery29)

“Four Dead Queens is a darkly delicious tale that keeps you in constant suspense. A thrilling, genre-blending book perfect for fans of both fantasy and murder mysteries. I just might be the fifth dead queen because this story - with its labyrinthine twists and turns - slayed me in every possible way.” (Kerri Maniscalco, number one New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series)

“A cinematic thrill ride brimming with murder, mayhem, and twists that will shock you, Four Dead Queens is sure to be your next obsession. Absolutely riveting.” (Sarah Glenn Marsh, author of the Reign of the Fallen series) 

“Astrid Scholte breaks into the fantasy genre with a triumphant, exciting debut that will keep readers guessing all the way to final chapter. Four Dead Queens is not to be missed!” (Beth Revis, New York Times best-selling author of Give the Dark My Love)  

©2019 Astrid Scholte (P)2019 Penguin Random House LLC

Read for the fun and clever plot, not the writing

Dead Queens delivers as a twisty-turny mystery with satisfying revelations along the way. It's plenty of fun, and I grant it a solid A grade for plotting. Listen on that basis, and you won't be disappointed.

If you want smooth literary writing, snappy dialog and compelling heroes, well, you may be in the wrong place. The secondary characters, including the titular queens, are a lot more interesting than the main couple.

Excellent Mystery

From the moment that I hit "play", I was completely locked into this book. For the first half of the book, everything seemed so predictable, but it was still enjoyable. Then the plot twists and revelations began, and I couldn't stop listening which lead to me falling asleep way later than I should have. If you enjoyed Three Dark Crowns and Six of Crows, this listen is definitely worth your while. Just make sure to clear your schedule.

Good page turner

I found the performance of this audiobook to be really good and I couldn’t stop listening! Completely sucked in. Also a really good debut novel for the author.

However, the plot felt like it wasn’t well enough thought through. I caught on quite early on where the ending was headed but I kept listening hoping that a twist would prove me wrong. There was also too many questions that wasn’t answered in terms of the world building and how the kingdom ended up with four queens. I wish this wasn’t a standalone book and that we got to see more of Keralie and Mackiel, which imo was the most interesting relationship

It’s 3:06 in the morning I loved this book

I’m very picky with what I read but when I saw this book on the @literaryllama instagram account I was intrigued. After reading this book I can honestly say it was a page turning adventure. The twists and turns were unexpected and the characters Vivid. Not only that but the storytelling of the audio made it all the more thrilling. I completely recommend this book. I could not put it down such a great find can’t wait to see more from this author.

Entertaining & Enjoyable

This novel was enjoyable and appropriate for young audiences. It may start out formal and a little slow; but the story captures your attention and provides interesting entertainment.

I do not recommend

Full disclosure, this was a DNF. I listened to 5 hours (somehow) which is nearly half of it. Nothing really happened. At least nothing I cared about because I felt nothing for any of the characters. The author did a huge info dump at the beginning and that was a little hard to follow. Then they went on with the story as if the reader had memorized everything in the info dump. I just don’t like the way this story is told at all. It’s like all the pieces for a great story are there, but arranged incorrectly…and some are missing.

The performance isn’t great either. The narrators don’t have much range which is detrimental with so many characters. At many points, the guy and girl sounded so much alike that I couldn’t tell who was talking. Same with the four queens.

If I ever finish, I’ll update this review. But for now, not a fan.

Great book, would recommend

This book gave me whiplash (in an amazing way), it was truly amazing. What I would give to read this again for the first time.

Twisty Turny

I loved this story for more being predictable. Astrid’s a great writer and built this story to perfection. Loved it! Can see it being a movie one day!

Fun crime fiction

This was a fun book with lots of twists and turns.
I enjoyed it.. it was light and an easy listen.

Amazing

Such an amazing book about mystery, love, and family. I would 100% recommend this book to everybody.

Exquisite

I loved it. The story seemed like any other fantasy but the intricate writing left me in awe. Recommend.

Brilliant, keeps you guessing

This is the perfect book for fantasy fans who also enjoy a mystery. Every time I thought I had everything worked out, the author would throw you in a completely new direction.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable book and I will definitely be on the look out for more from Astrid Scholte.

This was my first audio book so unsure whether I just need to get used to it but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the performances. The tone didn’t always seem to match the narrative, which made it a little distracting but overall was clear and each character did have their own “voice” which did come through.

Amazing

I was hooked from the beginning! There’s so many twists that I didn’t guess.. and combined with the wonderful fantasy elements and world of Quadara, it was amazing! Highly recommend to fans of YA, fantasy, mystery 😀💛