Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar

By: Kate Saunders

Narrated by: Anna Bentinck

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

In 1851, private detective Laetitia Rodd is enjoying a well-earned holiday when she gets an urgent request for her services. Mrs. Rodd’s neighbor Jacob Welland is a reclusive rich gentleman dying of consumption, and he wants Mrs. Rodd to find his brother, who has been missing for 15 years. 

Joshua Welland was a scholar at Oxford, brilliant, eccentric, and desperately poor when he disappeared from the university. Friends claim to have seen him since, in gypsy camps and wandering around the countryside. But the last sighting was 10 years before - when Joshua claimed to be learning great secrets from the gypsies that would one day astound the whole world. 

Mrs. Rodd travels to Oxford and begins to search for the wandering scholar. But as she investigates, Mrs. Rodd discovers something dark - and extremely dangerous - lurking in the beautiful English countryside.

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Another engaging Letitia Rodd story

Todd and Blackbeard make the perfect investigative duo - she refined yet aware of the sins of those around her, he bluff and dogged on the hunt for a killer. The narrator us also amazing. I can't wait for the next episode.

4 people found this helpful

If Jane Austen were Victorian

And a childless widow, and a discreet private detective...her story might look a bit like Laetitia Rodd’s. I enjoyed the first novel and put the second on my watchlist to buy as soon as it arrived in audio. I love ‘cozy’ mysteries and this is a good example of the genre. I can’t help but admit I miss the romantic element a little and wish there might be a little romance between Inspector Blackbeard and Mrs. Rodd, but I think the author has chosen the Miss Silver/Marple/Poirot path and gives us the romances in her cast of characters.
Otherwise, an enjoyable, soothing read.

4 people found this helpful

More than your money's worth!

Multiple individual stories woven expertly into a single plot line in a way that draws you in without leaving you lost. Characters are not confused because you come to know each one. The narrator not only changes accents and volume, but cadence and emotion with enough consistency that names were not essential to knowing who was in the room. In two cases, the identity of an approaching character was correctly assumed because it would be just like them to show up right now. Add the fact that this story refers back and forth between the past and present, including in the provision of historical context and asides directly to the reader, and the resulting tapestry reflects the work of a master weaver.

2 people found this helpful

Love this series!

Another enjoyable Laetitia Rodd mystery! Anna Bentinck’s performance is wonderful (I could listen to anything she narrates!), and the story is full of twists and turns.
I hope Ms. Saunders continues to write (beautifully) more books in this series!

2 people found this helpful

Long and leisurely

The author introduces so many characters and plot lines that they're hard to keep track of. I think that's kind of the point, but it was hard for me to stay connected to the story, especially in the middle. A good one for when you have a lot of leisure time to fill and can pay attention through a long story with many moving pieces.

1 person found this helpful

lovely mystery

I enjoyed this mystery very much Hope any other stories in this series will become available on Audible as soon as possible.

1 person found this helpful

My very favorite cozy investigator

I loved the first Laetitia Rodd book so much, I listened to it four times, This book is great, but it felt more contrived and - I thought - more difficult to follow and close sub-story loops as the first. That said, all of the familiar characters are back and as endearing as ever. The narrator, Anna Bentinck, is as close to perfection as I can imagine.

Long live Laetitia Rodd! Fingers crossed Kate Saunders loves writing these stories as much as I love "reading" them.

Huh. I love Letitia Rodd but......

I knew who the villain was so early in the book it was a little silly to listen to the main character miss cue after cue. The first book was better. This one felt a little cheap and while I listened to the end and enjoyed much about the book it was not what it should have been. Too much foreshadowing combined with dumbing down the main character disappointed.

Intriguing mystery

Top-notch story, excellent writing., well developed characters and an excellent narrator. Waiting for more from this author.

Pleasant cozy but an odd ending

This pleasant mystery was entertaining and also relaxing. The characters are interesting and varied, the historical time period just right, but the ending seemed unlikely and was a bit of a disappointment. Still, the rest of the book is a wonderful listen.