Murder in the Museum

An Edmund DeCleryk Mystery

By: Karen Shughart

Narrated by: John DiLeonardo

Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Early one gray November morning, retired Lighthouse Cove, New York, police chief Edmund DeCleryk finds Emily Bradford's body on the beach at the base of the bluff where the local museum and historical society stands.

At the same time, a break-in has been reported at the museum, and Emily's coat and purse are found hanging on a peg in the museum's gift shop, where she worked. Was her death the result of a burglary gone bad or something more sinister?

When the police chief is called out of town for a family emergency, he hires Ed, now working as a criminal consultant, to assist Deputy Police Chief Carrie Ramos with the murder investigation. After several leads don't pan out, the chief, now back in Lighthouse Cove, decides to close the case.

Confident that with more time the murder can be solved, Ed is determined to continue investigating on his own, with encouragement from his wife, Annie, the museum's executive director.

One morning while in the basement of the museum, the couple discovers a copy of a map dated 1785, and Ed's instincts tell him it may be connected to Emily's death. On a hunch, he and Annie travel to Toronto, Canada, where he learns of the original map and a manuscript written in 1847 that was unearthed during an architectural dig. The manuscript contains information about a ship that capsized during a fierce storm on Lake Ontario - in 1785.

Now Ed has clues as to why the murder occurred, but he still doesn't know who committed the crime. Or does he?

©2018 Karen Shughart (P)2018 Karen Shughart

Murder in the history museum

In <strong>Murder in the Museum</strong> by Karen Shughart, the police chief of the small town Lighthouse Cove, New York, gets a call from a man who serves on the board of the local history museum. Someone has broken into the museum and ransacked it, but even worse, the purse and coat of Emily Bradford sit on the coat rack, but there is no sign of Emily. Could the thieves have killed her when they broke into the museum? Then, just as the police chief is starting off, his second-in-command rushes out. She received another phone call from Edmund deCleryk, the retired police chief of Lighthouse Cove and a former Navy SEAL, that he has found the body of Emily at the bottom of a bluff where the ocean is getting close to covering the body. The resulting case, where deCleryk ends up serving as a paid consultant, leads nowhere. But deCleryk is determined not to let the case drop altogether.

<strong>Murder in the Museum</strong> has interesting details in the plot, but the book slows down as it progresses. I was disappointed that it didn't maintain its drama, let alone build it up as good mysteries do. The basic premise was promising, and I did like a point that came towards the end of the book, but I felt that the author could have made much more of the interesting features from history. However, the solution of the mystery did provide a surprise and an interesting angle.

I did like some of the characters, but others were less easy to connect to, in either a positive or negative way. Ed DeCleryk and his wife, Annie, are sympathetic people whom we appreciate and like. But not many others really spoke to me. I wonder, however, if I might have connected to other characters if someone else was narrating.

John diLeonardo performs the audio edition of this book. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the quality of the narration. Many of the voices used for different characters come across as annoying or even grating. Further, the pacing of sentences seemed unnatural, with unusual extra pauses between words. I tried playing the book at a faster speed, but the words themselves were read at a normal pace, so listening at a faster pace didn't work well either. The quality of the book and high recommendations from friends with similar reading tastes kept me listening to the book, but I did not like the performance.

I found myself enjoying <strong>Murder in the Museum</strong>, but I suspect I would have much preferred it with a different narrator with whom I connected better. The plot had its good points, but I would have liked more development throughout, especially of the historical details. Though I didn't connect strongly with the book, I think that was largely an issue with the narration, so I give the book four stars.

Strong mystery and suspense

I highly recommend this audible because it is read well and grabs your attention from the beginning to the surprising end. Moreover, the plot is based on an unpredictable and intriguing story. The context of the story offers a comfortable familiarity with many real-life locations. The main character is an outstanding detective with a remarkable thinking process for deduction. One will be strongly immersed into the world of suspense and mystery with this story.

Great voice, very uneven reader

The story is very good, but I am continually distracted by the narrator's uneven pacing. I like his voice just fine, but the inappropriate pauses call my attention to him, rather than the plot.

who was it

a good intriguing mystery that beginned with an interesting story already that kept me wanting to listen more & more. the reader brought the characters alive & made them interesting. can't wait to hear more of what's going on in lighthouse cove.

exciting book!

This book was so easy to listen to. The action starts right away and it holds your attention for the entire time. The narrator did a great job of reading the material and making it exciting. I liked all of the characters and it was easy to tell them apart with the different voices without being over the top. Sometimes the story got a little bogged down in the details, but that's only temporary, and hardly a problem. Overall it was really exciting and suspenseful. The end was totally unexpected for me!

worth reading

I appreciated the historic hook of the story but the author spent too much time describing minutiae that most of the time didn't add much to the story itself.
The narrator handled the various characters well although was clearly most comfortable in the protagonists role

Herky jerky

I like the story but the narrator has an irritating way of reading Like a school boy who doesn’t read well. Trying to do voices of individual characters shouldn’t have been attempted