Gertrude, Gumshoe Cozy Mystery Box Set: Books 1–6

By: Robin Merrill

Narrated by: Darlene Allen

Length: 22 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

This audiobook features the complete best-selling cozy mystery series!

You know that eccentric great-aunt no one wants to sit beside at family functions? Or that neighbor who's just a little too strange to get to know? Or the pushy woman at the thrift store?

Maybe you know Gertrude.

She's a smidge snarky. She's frightfully frugal. And she's fearless. 

She'll find a body in a house of balls. She'll tick off the local police. She'll go undercover at Goodwill. And she might even manage to get herself kidnapped while yardsaling. All in the name of justice. 

©2018 Robin Merrill (P)2018 Robin Merrill

Gertrude is the BEST lead in a cozy!

If you’re debating whether or not to buy this box set, trust me when I say “do it!” You won’t want to stop once you start book 1, and each consecutive book picks up where the last one ended. So they flow into one another, and therefore this box set is perfect! Trust me, when you read the first book you’ll instantly want 2, then 3, then 4 etc. And that’s because Gertrude is hands down one of the best characters I’ve ever met in a cozy mystery. She’s spunky, blunt, determined & hysterical. Her dry humor is fantastic, especially opposite Calvin & the other supporting characters. I can’t get enough of her! She owns her flaws, has a love of solving mysteries, and about 20 cats. Each and every one of her quirks make her all the more endearing. Not to mention, the narration is perfect and brings the characters to life with such color and zest!

Gertrude is priceless

Gertrude is laugh out loud funny. A good read. The performer gives an excellent, lively reading.

Almost stopped listening

The narration was painful to listen to in the beginning, enough that I almost stopped listening to it. I am glad I stuck it out. Good characters and stories. I am looking for to getting in to more of Robin's books.

Mixed reviews on this one

The first book was painful to listen to. For the rest I increased the speed to 1.2x to 1.3x and it improved the cadence considerably and was much more natural sounding. I think the narrator also improved in later books.

The concept and plot of the story is fun, and well developed. Gertrude reminds me of an older, crabbier Agatha Raisin, certainly not the sweet, very clever Jane Marple. Yet somehow, Gertrude ends up to be a lovable character.

The strong cast of supporting characters are very realistic and well developed.

If you are a fan of an eccentric, sarcastic type heroine, this book is for you. Lots of humor. Minimal language and no explicit sex.

I'm more of a Miss Marple type fan, and on older lady so I didn't always appreciate the stereo typing of older people. All in all, I'd say I enjoyed the books, and would recommend them. A very good value for one credit.

Gertrude Gunshot cozy mystery box set Books 1-6

Love these books A laugh out loud and so very funny. Love the narrators voices. Hope there is more books to come.

wonderful stories and characters full of laughs.

The stories are great. Full of laughs and adventures. Just because you are older doesn't mean you can't get the bad guys

love Gertrude this is a fun listen!

I just love Gertrude and her sidekick. this is a must if you love cozy Mysteries.

The worst narration in my 19 year membership.

It sounded computerized with no inflection, and no amount of speed adjustment improved the narration.

Mildly entertaining. The narrator is awful.

I ended up changing the playback speed to 1.25x and the narrator was slightly less awful. She needs to not try voices and just read straight and not so slow. Gertrude kind of grew on me but I would like a better description of her and just how old is she?

Oh, Mylanta, don't miss this series........

Gertrude, Gumshoe Cozy Mystery Box Set contains all six books in the series, and it is an excellent use of a credit. Gertrude is an older lady with a walker living in a trailer park with lots of cats. She is gruff and blunt, but she has a heart of gold hidden under that tough exterior. She begins her career as a gumshoe by accident, but she quickly becomes amazingly adept at solving mysteries whether or not her help is wanted. Each book features a separate mystery, and they are all extremely well written and impossible to solve until Gertrude reveals the guilty party. Along the way, Gertrude develops her crime fighting team of her 70+ year-old neighbor, a grandmother/volunteer public transportation driver, and, eventually, another grandmother that keeps them all fed. They have all kinds of adventures along the way, including infiltrating a strip club, going undercover at a Goodwill, learning to use Google, social media and smart phones, attending poetry slams, learning to drive and getting arrested to name a few. If you are looking for a series that combines much comedic relief, unique characters and complex mysteries, this series is your best choice.

Darlene Allen narrates all six of the stories in this box set, and she does a fabulous job. She perfectly portrays Gertrude's personality, and she differentiates well between all the characters. Her pitch and tone help to set the lighter mood of these stories and to add to the hilarity of Gertrude's blunders. Overall, the combination of Merrill's writing and Allen's narration make this series dynamite!

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for this honest review.

A bit different

The stories here, with the usual suspension of disbelief, are quite entertaining and there were several occasions I was sorry to interrupt my listening. There are fair few smiles and the odd bit of pathos. Each one is different with a sort of’ continuous timeline that develops a few of what Gertrude would consider as her supporting characters.

I wasn’t t sure what to expect and the main character is someone I would wrongly be impatient with if I met in real life but hearing her thoughts in the book made her endearing but having said that in book five I found her bordering on unpleasant but she returned to the personality of the earlier books for book six

I thought both narration and narrator were good but on a personal level I just found the accent started to grate over long periods, probably because I’m not American.

I was happy I bought this set and and I liked how it was all wrapped up at the end of book six with a feeling that Gertrude had grown.

Surprisingly Enjoyable!

I did not expect to enjoy this really, but as a boxset for 1 credit, I thought that I’d give it a try. I listened to all 6 episodes one straight after the other and was sad when I got to the end of the last one!

The stories are Stand alone, meaning that there are no cliffhangers to irritate (or entice - depending on your preference). Having said that, there are a couple of references to what had happened earlier in Gertrude’s (or Hazel’s), adventures! But they just add continuity, rather than spoil the story.

As for Gertrude, you either tolerate her or warm to her. I can’t say anything stronger (or nicer) than that!
If you like Cozy Mystery’s with quirky (cranky), mature women, then this will not disappoint!

Enjoy!