Gypsies, Traps & Missing Thieves

By: Rachael Stapleton

Narrated by: Sarah Breidenbach

Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

Fortune Teller Madam 'Nana' Vianu and her gifted Bohemian Lake girls, Mallory and Danior, have an unparalleled weekend planned for the guests of their family-owned-and-operated lakeside manor resort. 

A carnival themed mystery game including two days of fake fatal fortunes, harmless hauntings, and bogus book hunts. Or so they think until a dead body is found at the bottom of the manor's secret staircase. Rumors abound of past indiscretions and a ghost's revenge. It could all be part of the show but as the weather worsens so do their chances for survival. Snowed in with a killer, the Vianu girls must use their paranormal gifts and follow the clues to decipher what is real in this game of make-believe.

©2018 Rachael Stapleton (P)2018 Rachael Stapleton

Such a fun audiobook!!

Gypsies, Traps & Missing Theives: Bohemian Murder Manor Mystery Series, Book 1 by Rachael Stapleton, narrated by Sarah Breidenbach was such a fun audiobook! I do not normally listen to the paranormal genre, but I had to give this one a try because I love cozy mysteries. I'm so happy I did because it was awesome! First of all, the storyline is super engaging...who doesn't want to go on a murder mystery weekend? I do, and even more so now! The characters were like old friends; I felt like I was right there with them, feeling everything from their anxiety to their relief and back again! Besides the storyline and characters being amazing, there were so many other things about this audiobook that I felt added to my overall enjoyment, such as the length, the sound effects, and the ending.
1. At 5+ hours, the length is perfect. It's not too short, making you feel like you were cheated out of a credit, and it's not too long, making you feel like it's dragging onnnnn and onnnnn with unnecessary details. It's a perfect long afternoon or weekend listen.
2. I've never listened to a book with sound effects before this one. I LOVED THEM! Ranging from a subtle ring of the phone and the dog barking to the blowing wind caused from bad weather, they definitely added to my overall listening experience. I felt these small touches made the audiobook even better than it already was!
3. The ending, which I won't give away, left me dying to hear the next in series! Needless to say, I'll be first in line when it comes out! Book 2 will be on audio, right?!

The performance by Sarah Breidenbach was outstanding! Everything - her voices, accents, volume, and speed - were right on. I'm so glad I decided to listen instead of read because she really did the book justice, and I hope to hear more from her in the future!

Gypsies, Traps & Missing Theives: Bohemian Murder Manor Mystery Series, Book 1 by Rachael Stapleton, narrated by Sarah Breidenbach gets a well-deserved 5/5 stars across the board! There's nothing that I didn't like about this audiobook. I highly recommend it to those who love cozies, clean mysteries, and light paranormal fun! This is my first book by both the author and narrator, and I'm thrilled to have found them both. I plan to stick around, and I hope you join me!

Thank you for reading my review. I hope it was helpful. :-)

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Narration

It was a very good story line. I was a little hesitant before purchasing this audiobook because of the real life noises of things like doorbells, phones and ect. I am happy to say I loved it!! I wish more audiobooks offered this to the audible versions. If anyone knows of more, please let me know.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Buckle your seatbelt for some twist and turns!

If you are ready for something different from the norm, this is a credit worthy purchase for you. Sit back and listen closely not only to the numerous characters with a variety of personalities, but to the sound effects that make the story come to life!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A Fun Murder Mystery!

I absolutely loved this story. The classic twists and turns amongst the “performances” of the Murder Mystery Party attendees left me guessing as to just what was party fodder or actual crime. The plot was engaging and the characters came to life.

Sarah Breidenbach did an excellent job narrating. She gave the characters personalities and was enjoyable to listen to.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sarah Breidenbach deliver's the best performance

My fourth read & first re-read from author Rachel Stapleton and it won’t be my last. Well written, the characters well developed. I’m a character reader, I get into the characters. Who and what they are. Why they do the things they do. The things that make a reader get invested into the characters and thereby the book! Longer than my first two reads from Stapleton this book is even better, partially because of its longer length. When I got the chance to listen to the Audible edition after reading & reviewing the Kindle edition I jumped at the chance. As a college History Major the historical genealogical tracings grabbed my attention & narrator Sarah Breidenbach’s voice inflections made a very good book even better and added depth & believability to the read! (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018)

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Thoroughly enjoyable

This book is thoroughly enjoyable. There are a lot of twists and turns along with a lot of suspense and mystery. 5he narrator has done a great job bringing the story to life.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Kept me guessing to the very end!

Have you ever wanted to experience a Murder Mystery Getaway? I have, and this book took me as far as I could go without actually leaving my living room.
This is my first experience with Rachael Stapleton, I'm definitely adding her to my library. What a great book(audio)! The characters are very distinctive and so full of personality. I love, love, love Nana. The story has good flow, and kept me listening. I usually have the plot all figured out about halfway through, but I was still trying to settle on "who, what, and why" right up to the very end. Sarah Breidenbach did an amazing job narrating, her accents and tones are fantastic. I knew exactly which character was speaking just by her voice, no "he said" and "she said" necessary.

Was it real? Or was it part of the weekend fun? You'll have to pick it up to find out!


I received a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

5/5 Magical Spells...Clever and Engaging!

Mystery murder weekend? Real murder weekend? A bit of witchery? Entertaining. Engaging. Rachel Stapleton has woven together in her third-person narration the perfect blend of magic with a clever murder mystery to challenge one’s inner Sherlock. Several possible conclusions were available, and I thought I'd figured it out, but the final reveal turned out to be a delightful surprise! The characters are enjoyable and seemingly well-developed for a first in the series which I attribute to the writing talent of Rachael Stapleton. Mallory is a favorite, but I really enjoyed Nana’s attitude and personality. All of this was greatly enriched by the voice artistry of Sarah Breidenbach.

I am a big fan of audiobooks, and this one was produced extremely well with 5/5 stars in all categories. At five hours, it is well worth the price of a credit, and the perfect length for a quiet couple of days. However, it was Sarah’s performance that made it hard to stop and finish household chores or go to bed. She went well beyond a traditional reading out loud with speed and emotions to add to the suspense, tone and accents (excellent voice for Nana’s Romanian dialect) to illustrate personality, and although the male voices can be tricky and some I've listen to have struggled with that, Sarah made a valiant effort for which I commend her. Her variety made it easy to recognize each character. The audio version was very reminiscent of a radio play adding some sound effects like phones ringing, dogs barking, the approaching storm to increase the overall enjoyment of the performance. I highly recommend Rachael Stapleton’s book in any form, but I was so entertained by Sarah’s voice talent, I recommend you go for the audio version!

"Disclosure: II received an ARC. My review is voluntary with honest insights and comments."

Gypsies, Traps & Missing Thieves

Great storyline... it’s a murder mystery game, but when the body is found, nobody is sure if it’s the game or reality. Twists and turns abound and I was left guessing right up until the end.

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

It was okay.

This is the second audiobook I've listened to by this author. While the other book had issues relating to the timeline, this one had simply way too many characters. I can safely say the only character whose looks I remember was the character with blue hair, Genevive. Yup, that's it. I did like the idea of a group of people coming together to solve a crime, that part was neat.

The narrator did a great job with accents but there wasn't much variety with the character's voices, especially since there were so many. I can't tell you how many conversations I stumbled through, not really knowing how was talking. There were times when the narrator spoke naturally as opposed to reading from something, but the majority of the time she came across as stilted and unnatural. I don't know whose idea it was to use the sound effects, but I wasn't a fan of those. To me, it takes you out of the story, especially since the sound would take place either before or after the sound effect was mentioned in the story.

Questions/Comments:

I know had I read (not listened to) this story, I probably would have ended up with more questions. But, again, so many characters all talking with the same voice...yeah. It made it difficult for me to follow.

One area at the end of the story that stood out to me was regarding the coin. Damien was just shot and...I have no clue who it was that helped him into a sitting position, but she was the one with the coin hidden in her pocket. So picture this, a female wearing a winter coat all zipped up to keep the cold out. In one of the inner pockets is a magical coin. I have a few questions about that scene.
1. How did Damien even know that this female had the coin?
2. How did Damien know this female had the coin in her pocket? 3. How did Damien know which pocket the coin was in?
4. Since we know it was in an inner pocket inside her bundled up coat, how in the world was he able to get it without her knowing?