Murder on Black Swan Lane

De: Andrea Penrose

Narrado por: James Cameron Stewart

The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London's most popular satirical cartoonist, A. J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church - his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear - and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect.

An artist in her own right, Charlotte Sloane has secretly slipped into the persona of her late husband, using his nom de plume, A. J. Quill. When Wrexford discovers her true identity, she fears it will be her undoing. But he has a proposal - use her sources to unveil the clergyman's clandestine involvement in questionable scientific practices and unmask the real murderer. Soon Lord Wrexford and the mysterious Mrs. Sloane plunge into a dangerous shadow world hidden among London's intellectual enclaves to trap a cunning adversary - before they fall victim to the next experiment in villainy.

©2017 Andrea DaRif (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Tedious

I just could not warm to this book--especially the Earl of Wrexford, the main character. It began with a rather hard to follow prologue, but it did get better after that. For a while it was fairly engaging, till it began to sag in the middle. There are many books where the protagonist is not particularly likeable, yet they are interesting characters, which keeps me connected. I didn't feel that way about this one. I believe the author had some good ideas, and much of this book is a good listen, but I found myself with flagging attention too often, so I finally gave up about three quarters of the way through. I did try to like it, but guess it was simply not my personal cup of tea. Your taste may be different.

Great story

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, both because of the author's skill and the flawless narration. Intelligent, compassionate, and learning about themselves by learning about each other. There is more than Knight meets the eye with this mystery

Mystery Mavin

Excellent mix of character and actual scientific fact.

Terrific narration and can’t wait for the next installment.

I loved this book.

I am an avid audio listener and was glad I purchased this book. Entertaining story, I liked the voices and no smut so I could listen to it in mixed company. Looking forward to the next in series.

Very Good Regency mystery

I really enjoyed this book. It's a very solid mystery set in Regency England. it has well thought out interesting characters and an intriguing puzzle.

Loved it

This is Rexford and Sloane number one. I read book two first, not knowing it was part of a series. Backing up to book one did not impact the sense of relationship building as it was so similar to the beginning of book two. Much of the tale was similar as the bones of the story doesn't change much from books one to two. Rexford is very forward-thinking for a male and especially a member of the peerage. Sloane is as independent as they come, but her situation is borne of necessity, one she's dealt with very capably. This is set in the Victorian era but the characters are very enlightened, which I don't mind. I'd like to think everyone flaunted convention. There's a fair bit of scientific history in here as well. The vocabulary is upper crust and learned, as we would expect to hear from the educated of that time. The narration was spot on. I'm really looking forward to book three.

A good read

This was a great story for the dull days of winter. Enjoyed the story and it was not too romantic just enough. Liked the history part of it very much.

One tiny complaint

My only complaint are a couple of anachronistic references. Otherwise it's clever and mostly clean.

Don’t give up on this ... the 2nd book is a big improvement!

This one is a bit contrived and all the different leads take some time to come together for a denouement. Murder at Half Moon Gate is much better. Practice makes perfect .... maybe a few more books ...

worthy of 2 listens

Loved this audio book. The only thing I was disappointed in is that the second book in the series is not released until 3/27/18. I didn't want to leave that world just yet. There are so many books that I rarely listen to the same one twice, but this one was worthy even though I knew the ending already. I hope the audio book is also available on the same day as the hardcopy. Looking forward to it.