• The Cornish Coast Murder

  • By: John Bude
  • Narrated by: Ben Allen
  • Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (219 ratings)

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The Cornish Coast Murder  By  cover art

The Cornish Coast Murder

By: John Bude
Narrated by: Ben Allen
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Publisher's summary

The reverend Dodd, vicar of the quiet Cornish village of Boscawen, spends his evenings reading detective stories by the fireside - but heaven forbid that the shadow of any real crime should ever fall across his seaside parish. But the vicar's peace is shattered one stormy night when Julius Tregarthan, an ill-tempered magistrate, is found at his house in Boscawen with a bullet through his head.

The local police inspector is baffled by the lack of clues. Suspicion seems to fall on Tregarthan's niece, Ruth - but surely that young woman lacks the motive to shoot her uncle dead in cold blood. Luckily for Inspector Bigswell, the reverend Dodd is on hand.

©2014 Martin Edwards (P)2016 Soundings

What listeners say about The Cornish Coast Murder

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A Good Old Fashioned Who Done It

A well written linear story. The narrator was first rate . I will look for other books narrated by Ben Allen.

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18 people found this helpful

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

Quite dull

I found the first half of this book to be one of the dullest books I have ever listened to. There is SO much repetition of the evidence as characters discuss it and think about it. I love this sort of book, but this one was probably the worst ever!

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8 people found this helpful

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

Awesome

this was a really great story enjoyed it from start to finish plot was great

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5 people found this helpful

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

whodunnit details are held back

One of those stories where the key clues are not revealed until the end, all at once -- for readers who like to detect along with the hero, very frustrating, Well read, but disappointing.

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4 people found this helpful

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

Well-Wrought, Well-Read.

Misled by his short story, “Pattern of Revenge”, I’d docketed John Bude as one of those regrettable incidents, without which no genre of literature is complete; in this case a mystery writer whose mysteries (miracle of miracles) I could unravel. Yet his Cornish Coast Mystery remained on my wish list, being the first British Crime Classic I’d put there (probably because I liked the cover). Now I find the rest of the book is just as attractive.

I guess it qualifies as a “police procedural”; suspects are interviewed, notes are taken, theories are discussed and dismissed. But the story is far more engaging than that label usually implies. The “how’d-they-do-it?” is just as perplexing as the “who-dunnit?” The case develops—and the solution emerges—in natural stages that never seem contrived or rushed. In fact, the book (and Ben Allen’s performance) proceed at a pace that allowed me to follow the details and deductions with a minimum of rewinding.

I hesitate to use the word “charming” because the label “cozy” makes me cringe, but there are aspects of this story—such as the friendship between the vicar and the doctor—that do charm. And this vicar, unlike many I’ve met in British Lit, actually believes. It’s a nice change of pace. Lively ancillary characters and entertaining dialogue round out this well-wrought, well written, delightful murder mystery, to which Ben Allen does more than full justice.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Disappointing

it is not fair to the reader when the murderer is an underdeveloped character. With a backstory introduced in the last 3 chapters, the reader has no chance of solving the mystery.

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2 people found this helpful

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

First Bude I’ve listened to....

I read this book earlier and liked many of the characters. I felt the full range of emotions as the story progressed..
Encountering a policeman who had brains and yet was not so egotistical he wouldn’t listen to anyone else was refreshing.
I look forward to more books by Bude.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Gentle and enjoyable

Nicely plotted and written 1930s police procedural\whodunnit. Likable characters minimal gore a bit of deus ex machina denouement but this doesn’t spoil the pleasure.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Couldn't get past chapter 3

Bad writing, bad narration, just plain bad. Oops, I need more words. Will this do?

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

Nothing to do with Cornwall, save the title

There are classics worth reading and classics with little to recommend them, this is the latter. I found it heavy-handed. The detective and his relationship with others utterly unbelievable. I listened to the Audible edition because I thought it would put me to sleep but the narrator was so annoying, I often switched it off. The only reason bothered to finish it is that it was on the list of recommended books for a trip I am taking to Cornwall. There is nothing to do with Cornwall, save it is in the title.

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