• A Question of Proof: Nigel Strangeways, Book 1

  • By: Nicholas Blake
  • Narrated by: Kris Dyer
  • Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars (35 ratings)

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A Question of Proof: Nigel Strangeways, Book 1  By  cover art

A Question of Proof: Nigel Strangeways, Book 1

By: Nicholas Blake
Narrated by: Kris Dyer
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Publisher's summary

In the first book in the Nigel Strangeways classic crime series, an obnoxious schoolboy is found dead at his school Sports Day. Can amateur detective Nigel Strangeways help find the killer?

©2012 Nicholas Blake (P)2012 Audible Ltd

What listeners say about A Question of Proof: Nigel Strangeways, Book 1

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Poetry Doesn’t Pay. Happily, Crime Writing Does.

‘But, Percy darling, you surely can’t make much out of your poetry?’ He twiddled his fingers for a moment…I don’t,’ he said. ‘I only got fifteen shillings for that “Caliban at Sunset” thing of mine in Parnassus…But I have a … an alternative source of revenue…My receipts from this — er — alternative source of revenue amounted last year to nearly eight hundred pounds…Florence, you will shrink from me, but…I write detective stories under the pseudonym of Rex West.’

-P. G. Wodehouse
Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, 1954

One doesn’t make much out of verse, even now; the most I've ever received was a dollar a line. So we shouldn't wonder that C. Day Lewis, alias Nicholas Blake, chose the same alternative source of income as Percy Gorringe, alias Rex West. Nor should we regret his decision. This story has everything we ask for from Golden Age Detective Fiction: a good puzzle, interesting characters, engaging dialogue and a wit that leavens the somewhat brooding atmosphere brought on by corpses in hay stacks and lawn chairs. That some vital details only get revealed in the final pages really doesn’t bother me; first, because our amateur sleuth Nigel Stangeways has to live up to his name and second, in the end he recounts every instance where the murderer tipped their hand. Had I been more attentive, I could have come closer to solving the puzzle, even without those final pieces.

Of course, the book bears testimony to the times in which it was written. Socialism, psychology and skepticism seemed logical alternatives in the aftermath of the Great War and the Great Depression, especially for the younger literati. But while we all deplore religious maniacs I can’t, as Strangeways does, lump the prophets of the Old Testament among them. I wasn't so much offended as disappointed; after several hours punctuated regularly by the sleuth's spot-on observations of human nature, this came off as frivolous at best. Still, it’s a small fly in otherwise grade-A ointment.

Our reader, Kris Dyer, comes in for some pretty severe lumps from other reviewers, but I think he does a superb job, creating a unique, recognizable voice for each character in this crowded cast and performing the whole in the spirit in which it was written. I’m looking forward to the other ten Strangeways mysteries on tap, all with Mr. Dyer at the mic.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Think I'll read this in print

This was a book that I thought I'd enjoy (and I still think that). But I had a lot of difficulty listening to it. The premise is interesting--a murder at a private school, lovers who early on look vulnerable to being suspected...but that was as far as I got.

I usually finish most books, even if they are not as good as I had hoped. But this narrator was very exasperating. At times he would pause for breath several times within a sentence--leaving the listener with a choppy experience of the narrative, and usually he read too fast--leaving me feeling so frustrated--backing it up to have to listen to an extremely uncomfortable delivery all over again.

But I want to say that oddly, he had surprising interludes where he read beautifully--he was especially brilliant with voices of certain characters--capturing the nuances of speech of snobby intellectuals perfectly! I thought that his talent there would make it okay to listen to the rest, but alas, I finally just gave up. I do want to finish the book--I think it will be very good in the written form. So I'm going to find the book and just read it.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not worth the cost.

Characters were silly, story was silly and I really thought the detective should have taken up another career.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Murder Mysteries Don't Get More British Than This

A British boys boarding school. Hay battles, cricket, a secret society, adultery, murder. Enter the detective, Nigel Strangeways, whose noteworthy ticks are that he drinks superhuman quantities of tea, sleeps with too many blankets, and was "sent down" from Oxford for answering all of his examination questions in limerick format. Ah, England!

For a book in this genre, it's extremely well-written and easy-to listen too, with casual references to the Bible, classical mythology and Shakespeare. It's always a pleasure to find popular fiction filled with well-turned phrases, as this book is.

As for the performance, well-done, though I wasn't wild about the voice chosen for Nigel Strangeways. He sounded a bit creepy and oily, not ideal for the hero of the tale. But on the whole, not a bad job, given the difficulty of finding distinctive voices for so many similar male characters.

This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it can be fun to escape into the alternate universe of a mystery like this from time to time. I look forward to trying the next in the Nigel Strangeways series..

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Almost unlistenable, but great Classic

What did you like best about this story?

Nigel Strangeways! I find him amusing and entertaining. This was the first and we learn the snipe was always a prodigy from a young age. Blake's characters are pleasingly eccentric, and well- representative of their classes' stereotypes. Golden age mysteries!!!

What didn’t you like about Kris Dyer’s performance?

His voice was OK but some insane director/producer had him read in a very annoying, stilted manner with oddly placed hesitations. I've not ever heard the like before even after listening to over 2000 audible books.

Any additional comments?

I have persevered listening to this classic series with long gaps in between books. I have to wait for my TMJ flare-up to abate. I need to be able to grit my teeth throughout! The stories are good, some more than others as in any series and worth the downsides.

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