Murder on the Levels

Exham on Sea Mysteries Series, Book 2

By: Frances Evesham

Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon

Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Two cyclists die on the Somerset Levels, and the Exham bakery gets the blame. Libby Forest runs into danger as she sets out to solve the mystery, save the bakery and rescue her career, helped by Bear, the enormous Carpathian Sheepdog, Fuzzy, an aloof marmalade cat, and the handsome, secretive Max Ramshore.

Set in the coastal resort of Exham on Sea, Murder on the Levels features a cast of local characters, including Mandy the teenage Goth, her new boyfriend, Steve, Frank the baker, and Detective Sergeant Joe Ramshore, Max's estranged son. The green fields, rolling hills and sandy beaches of the West Country provide the perfect setting for crime, intrigue, and mystery.

©2016 Frances Evesham (P)2018 Tantor

Excellent story awful narrator

The narrator's too-often monotonous voice nearly had me running from this book, which was pretty good. I rated the book a 4 rather than 5 because of it. I won't listen to anything narrated by Jennifer Dixon again.

Cozy

A decent cozy mystery to get me through the mundane. I liked the first one better. I’ll keep listening though when I feel like something light.

Cute story

Cute story, easy to listen to. Makes my commute a little more tolerable. However I like the other narrator better.

Annoying protagonist

It was hard to get past the immaturity of Libby, the main character. Although she is given the age of a mother of grown children, she acts like a teenager with little tantrums, irrational suspicions, and fits of jealousy. It’s difficult to see why Max, the love interest, would actually have any interest in a woman like Libby. 

The underlying mystery was okay but the villain of the piece came over with the old trope of a madman at the end.

Pretty good

It’s tough to find a good cozy crime mystery series. The story was an interesting one but some of the conversations between characters border on ridiculous. A couple of times I had to relisten because I thought I missed something. Unfortunately That wasn’t the case.

Crying out for a better narrator

I found myself wondering if the book was being narrated by a real person or something computer-generated. The narrator’s voice is okay, but it didn’t seem like she had any feel for what she’s reading. For instance, early in the story Libby is quite ill after being poisoned. Her college-aged daughter calls Libby after being informed by Max about the poisoning. Rather than conveying concern or shock when the daughter gets hold of Libby by phone, the narrator reads the daughter’s lines as though she could be asking Libby about a new brand of dish soap she’s trying, or perhaps a new set of curtains.

If Only The Narrative Were More Peppy.!

Alright Jennifer ,... if the author is to keep hiring you to narrate her audiobooks you simply must enliven your performance.,!!.. Sound peppier,
add some enthusiasm to that monosyllabic monotone “performance
of yours... If you’re supposed to still be young enough to be interested in men..
Then don’t sound lackluster and ready for the grave..!!.. be more spunky..!!

just ok.

the story started off really slow. In the middle, I was becoming confused. The last third, the story became really interesting. Get rid of the narrator.

I cannot believe I wasted time on this.

Ms Evesham's female characters are pathetic. Quick to anger and outrage for silly things and then begging to be saved. Very insulting
....I thought these stories had been written in the 80's. Hard to believe they are contemporary. I will not be listening to more. The Ham-Hill series equally bad.