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

Promising Prequel to new series

What did you love best about Murder on Black Swan Lane?

Promise of learning more about interesting characters.

Would you be willing to try another book from Andrea Penrose? Why or why not?

Yes, I want to find out more about Charlotte and Rexford's back stories.

Have you listened to any of James Cameron Stewart’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The use of the term man child seemed anachronistic.

Any additional comments?

Hopefully alchemy has been exhausted.

Dragged on

Another review nailed when they called this book “Tedious”, it really is! It dragged on to the point where I stopped listening and just paid attention to folding clothes! I never liked the Earl, I think the author made a mistake here in not giving him more redeeming value. I don’t know, maybe she did in the end, but I found folding clothes more interesting than finding out.

A Promising start to a new series

I enjoyed this book ,hopefully this is the first in a new series. The narrator was excellent the story was good although not gripping. The description of Regency London was informative and the author did not fall into the trap of making the two protagonists fall for each other so no bodice ripping which was also good. All in all a good start and I look forward to the next one.

Slow to start, but a very good book.

A little slow to start, but if you are a fan of well written and performed 19th century murder mysteries you won't be disappointed.

What a joy to listen to!

I am so glad that this is the first of a series! I love the science, the touch of romantic chemistry, the way the female lead character's brilliance is fleshed out in the face of the time the novel is set in... Most of all, the use of such excellent language! I would have loved to read this rather than listen to it for the joy of the language, but the narrator is terrific & I'd hate to have missed out on his performance, I am grateful to HighBridge Audio for putting this out there!

One Banger Of A Mystery!

Picture It: Regency England; A death of an Emotionally Complicated Husband followed years later by the murder of a prominent Celebrity Scientist.
Throw in the artists wife, a down on her luck, , artist in her own right. Since, being widowed, she it's basically living hand to mouth, and that is putting it very very mildly!! Barely able to support herself, she decides to take in two vagrant orphaned brothers, who have lived on the hard streets of Recency eraLondon.
Throw in a devilishly handsome, not to mention Wealthy, man with a TITLE and you get this great Late 1800's classic and surprisingly suspenseful by the edge of your seat mystery!!!!!

Terrific characters and good historical context

She does a compelling job of creating characters, context, and plot that kept me attentive and engaged throughout. Never bored, I enjoyed every minute of it — a rarity for me.

A Master Sleuth

Great combination of characters and intrigue. Many twist and turns, and interesting history. For those who enjoy some historical information this is a plus.

Interesting New Characters

Promising new characters with an interesting story line. Mrs. Sloane and Wrexford will be fun to follow! Raven and Hawk are great too!

A well written and well read book.

This story was well written and enjoyable. A few times it verges on coincidence and raw chance as the resolution to some plot problem, which would have ruined it. But ultimately it kept them to a suitable minimum. I am looking to the sequel.