Murder in Vienna

By: E. C.R. Lorac

Narrated by: David Thorpe

The distinguished industrialist, the fair girl and the aggressive young man - although Superintendent McDonald tried to avoid studying his fellow passengers, he simply couldn't help it. For him, it was difficult to adjust to being on holiday. He turned away deliberately. These people weren't his problem, he was on holiday—or so he thought.

Set against the enchanting background of post war Vienna, with its beautiful palaces and gardens, its disenchanted residents and scars of war, E.C.R. Lorac constructs a characteristic detective story, sure to puzzle and excite. This exceedingly rare mystery, first published in 1956, makes its triumphant return for the first time since its original appearance.

©1956 The Estate of E.C.R. Lorac (P)2024 Soundings

Not so much

I did not get into this storyline however love CID MacDonald usually. Great accents on narration but too many accents -got annoying. Not narrators fault.

Great old fashioned story

This story set in post war Vienna is (like other ECR Lorac stories) excellent at letting the reader feel how very different the world was 75 years ago. This novel stand out in terms of the quality and interest of the secondary characters…another of Lorac’s specialties

Wonderful listening treat

Amazing description of time and place: Vienna. Convoluted tale of theft, murder, switched identity, deceit, and other crimes and misdeeds set in postwar Austria and concerning passengers who land in Vienna on a flight from London. Wonderful narration. Many accents and voices involved. This, however, can confuse the ear when listening to long German names, place names, and other unfamiliar terms without the advantage of reading them for recognition. As a result, I occasionally felt lost geographically in my new city, and sometimes confused as to who certain were, but couldn’t stop listening! I adore Lorac. She is just wonderful. Hoping for more of her books to be reissued. No one sets the scene as she does!

Golden Age Classic

I enjoy CID MacDonald. This one is later in MacDonald’s career and is outside of his usual setting. E.C.R. Lorac does a great job describing the setting and building intrigue. You do get a sense of how Vienna would have been after the fallout of WW2. David Thorpe as always brings the story to life. He is one of my favorite narrators.

Good mystery - misophonia warning

As with so many audiobooks, the narration makes a good book almost impossible to enjoy. I wish narrators would understand that the voices don’t need to be unpleasant, over the top cartoon voices. The point of audiobooks is to enjoy a story, why would I want to hear loud wet-mouthed breathing or grating voices. It would be so much better if they were more subtle and realistic. Just read the story - I’m not a child, I don’t need voices to follow the plot.

As for the plot, it a great Lorac mystery as always. Engaging characters, fun locations, good twists and turns. I highly recommend her novels if you enjoy golden age style mysteries.