Murder on Bank Street

By: Victoria Thompson

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Widow and midwife Sarah Brandt helps the less fortunate of the city bring new life into the world. But when a local doctor is found murdered, the shocking motive may destroy Sarah.

©2008 Victoria Thompson (P)2008 Recorded Books,LLC

Critic reviews

"Vividly recreates the gaslit world of old New York..." ( Publishers Weekly).

Simplistic mystery

This is a mystery with few surprises and little to interest the reader. The narrator's voices are a bit over the top and more distracting than entertaining.

We finally got the answer!!! It’s about time.

There is no need to read Books 1 though 9 in order to follow the mystery of who killed Dr Brandt, this book stands alone in that way, however if you do read the books in order presumably you will be extra interested in finding out the answer because you will be more emotionally invested in Sarah and her story.

Ironically, this installment didn’t focus on Frank and Sarah as much as previous books despite the fact that the plot was Frank’s investigation into Sarah’s husband’s death – it focused a lot on Maeve and her adventures and I like the person she is turning into - I wonder if Iris will become a reoccurring character?

Now that I know whodunit and why, I think it’s time to take a break from the series and stop neglecting the rest of my library! (I ploughed through 6 volumes in a row!)

I do look forward to continuing the series eventually and finally discovering how Frank and Sarah will ultimately hook up!

Missing the 's'

Would you consider the audio edition of Murder on Bank Street to be better than the print version?

Not this particular one

Any additional comments?

I love Victoria Thompson's books, and the narration for this was lovely, but something happened to a majority of the S's in the audio. They are cut off at the end of words, and most of them are missing (mithing) from many other words, and it makes my brain stumble over the story. Strange editing somewhere.

Terrible narrator. Good storyline.

Please bring Callie B back. She was a much better narrator. Suzanne Toran is very distracting and tries hard to do (often irritating) voices for each character. I really disliked her narration quite strongly.

I love this Series

Would you listen to Murder on Bank Street again? Why?

Yes, I love this series & in time would read it. I wouldn't listen to it. I thought the narration was horrible.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters in this series are fun, with good depth, & a little nerve racking. Those traits make for a good story.

What didn’t you like about Suzanne Toren’s performance?

It was too slow. Her diction was weird. I listen to a lot of audio books and this was one of the worst narrations I heard. I read all the books in this series up to this one because all but one weren't offered on Audible. I have fallen in love with this series and I hope to listen to the rest but if they are all like this I will probably read them instead.

Great Storyline and Much Better Narration

I read one review that indicated he/she would not have continued listening if Ms. Suzanne Torren (sp?) was the narrator from the beginning; however, I so wholeheartedly disagree—Callie B. is indeed a very good narrator as I’ve sought out her narrations because of her talent. But, her cadence was much, much too harsh for every character in this series, especially for Sarah Brandt’s voice, a very caring, sweet and nurturing soul. Suzanne T. got every character’s nuanced personality absolutely correct except perhaps for Frank Malloy, wherein I know it’s very difficult for a very feminine voiced narrator to mimic a strong, very masculine male voice without making him sound angry all the time. I thought the plot twists were expertly designed, the ending well orchestrated, and the narration excellent. Bravo for Sarah and Frank!!!

Awesome.

Much better performance and a great wrap up to Sarah's husband's murder. Very well done.

Great

So glad to have the mystery of Tom’s death solved. But what a complicated journey to find out!

Now on to the next!

Suzanne Toren

This is the second Victoria Thompson book I've listened to with with Suzanne Toren as the new reader. I am getting used to her voice but I'm not sure that I would have listened to all the books un the series if it had been her voice from the beginning.

It is a tribute to Victoria Thompsons characters and plots that have made me determined to listen to the next book in the series hoping I will be able to toletate the new reader.

Caught off Guard

The answer to the victim's dilemma took me by surprise. could not put it down.