To Murder a Saint

By: Nicole Loughan

Narrated by: Suzy Lexington

Length: 1 hr and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

"The ground is too wet...If you bury the dead here, they can come back." Her father always warned her that the bayou was a mysterious and dangerous place. She never suspected that the greatest danger of her life was lurking in New York City. Before their bags are unpacked one of two Cajun girls in fresh from Louisiana is found savagely murdered in New York. All the clues point to a wild animal, a perplexing development for a third floor apartment. Lacking a suspect the police accompany the murdered girl's French speaking roommate back to her reclusive Southern Louisiana town in search of a lead. They are met with a warning that the killer is not finished yet and learn that this is not the first mysterious death in the family.

©2013 Nicole Utter (P)2014 Nicole Utter

Wonderful Cajun Novella!

If you could sum up To Murder a Saint in three words, what would they be?

Creepy Cajun Mystery

What other book might you compare To Murder a Saint to and why?

It reminded me of the Cajun characters in the Sookie Stackhouse series. But really, this book is unique in so many ways it is hard to compare to any other book. Refreshingly original.

Which character – as performed by Suzy Lexington – was your favorite?

Fanchon was my favorite. Suzy Lexington brought her feisty character to life.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me gasp with surprise at the ending.

Any additional comments?

To Murder a Saint is done to perfection. A fast paced story with so many twists and turns it's like trying to follow a 'gator through a bayou. At night. Without a flashlight. I was so happy to see there are more books in this series. I hope Fanchon and Banyan are in the next ones.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Amusing implausible mystery novella

Two best friends, Josephine and Fanchon, move from Louisiana Cajun country to NYC. At Josephine's urging, Fanchon goes out on a date with a guy encountered on am internet dating website. Upon her return home, she discovers the dismembered body of Josephine.

The detective , Banyon, assigned to investigate accompanies Fanchon as she brings her friend's body home to Louisiana and standard chuckles ensue as he meets the stereotypical natives.

Returning to NYC, Fanchon stumbles upon the real murderer and Banyon charges in yo assist her. It could be that this book hit me at just the right time as I laughed out loud several times while reading it and listening to it. I would tend to characterize it as a cozy mystery although the set-up and denouement is more bizarre than the standard cozy.

I read this through whispersync and thoroughly enjoyed the narrsyot and her voices. I bought the kindle book and received the Audible book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine alone.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Five Star Listen

My Review

One of my "not quite a cozy" picks
This is a short, but very intense listen where every word counts, it's action filled from the slightly disconcerting beginning to the wonderfully imaginative (and scary) ending.

Must admit, listening to Fanchons' creepy thoughts about her date at the start of the story had me thinking that she could be a top class psychopath!

Fanchon and Josephine, two bright young girls from the Bayou who grew up together almost as sisters, have moved to New York to pursue their careers.

Fanchon returns home from her date and opens her door to sheer horror, there, in the blood splattered room she is faced with the ghastly scene, the butchered remains of her beloved friend Josephine.

Everything suggests the culprit is an alligator! Therefore, the police decide they must make further investigations back in Josephines' home. Fanchon accompanies Detective Banyon, a hard core New Yorker, to the Bayou. Fanchon finds herself explaining the mysteries of her home to Banyon, and acting as a buffer between this outsider and the family and friends of Josephine.

The author provides the listener with some wonderful descriptions of places and customs, she also wrote in a heartbreakingly beautiful way of how Josephines murder affected the family and Fanchon, especially in the light of a previous family tragedy.

Once Josephine has been returned home, Fanchon makes her way back to New York, against the wishes of everyone, and the advice of Madame DuPont - who sees all!

The police give up on Josephine, they create a crazy scenario to explain away her macabre death, make a public announcement, and that is that.

Except of course it's not!

The difficult part of reviewing a shorter story is the fear of revealing spoilers! All I will say is, the mystery unravels in a most unexpected and very entertaining way. Despite it being a slightly gory murder mystery it does contain some wonderfully humorous gems. I found it to be a truly creative, entertaining and beautifully written story. I loved this and I'm eager for the next in series.

Narrator
I can't fault the narration of Suzy Lexington, she is a wonderful story teller, she created all the characters so well for me, I could just picture them in my head. This is a short story, and within are moments of horror, fear, deep sadness and humour, yet Suzy portrays all the emotions so seamlessly.

The accents? Well, I don't know, I'm British/ Australian, but they all sounded good to me.

This is a well produced audiobook and I thoroughly enjoyed listening.

I received this audiobook as a gift from the author in return for this, my honest opinion

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

I love this book. The way it was read. She really did a GREAT job.

The woman who read this book should read all of them, she was really good 👍

Short but action pack

Took me completely by surprise. A fast moving murder mystery. It moved fast & was a total surprise leaves you wanting more.

I enjoyed this short story.

The narrator did a wonderful job. The story was interesting, and I learned some facts about New Orleans. The protagonist seemed very relatable. Sometimes the characters would act illogical and fake to show the characters personality, and as a result, I was drawn out of the story. As a reader I would think no one, especially a cop in Harlem, New York, would behave that way or say that. The story was good, I just wished for a little more horror and terror.

Very good story with a very good narrator to go wi

When a couple of girls from the Louisiana bayou move north to the Big Apple they are full of dreams, but when one of them is killed in a grizzly murder everyone is stumped as to what happened and who done it. To Kill a Saint takes the listener from NY c to the bayou and back again in this novella that will have you guessing right up to the end.

The narrator is perfect for this book. Her accent is perfect and her voices are all believable. Love her and love this book!

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

To Murder a Saint

Any additional comments?

I got this book from the author to review.I liked the book,but feel it was too short to really flesh out the characters.The storyline was interesting.Two girls from New Orleans go to live in NY and one is murdered.An improbable policeman enters the scene and things move too fast to come to a conclusion out of the blue.
Susie Lexington does a good job with the different characters and accents,though they're very stereotypical.I am hoping bk 2 is a bit more in depth.probably 1 book should have been written instead of 2.

A Good Read

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes. It was different and I enjoyed the storyline and the narrator

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I think the concept of an alligator in a major city was interesting and believable. Nothing negative

What about Suzy Lexington’s performance did you like?

I think her use of the local dialect was good and added a different aspect to the story

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I think the author could have stretched the stor line out for another hour

A good start looking forward to the next book

What made the experience of listening to To Murder a Saint the most enjoyable?

the story was good the voice acting was good.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

It has a nice suspenseful feel where you wonder what is going to happen next.

Really gripping story.

What did you like best about this story?

Exciting, with a gripping storyline are the first words which come to mind when summing up this audiobook.
This story, begins with two excited young Cajun girls, just moved to New York from the Louisiana Bayou preparing for one to go on a blind date. However, the date is not as expected, and the evening which follows turns out to be nothing like either could ever have imagined, as one of them is murdered!
Devastated, the other girl travels back the home with the investigating Detective searching for answers. In the sleepy Louisiana Bayou however, life is very different and its inhabitants live by different rules.
Will they discover a motive or track down the killer? You will have to listen to the book to find out!
The author, Nicole Loughan sets the scenes beautifully throughout this thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery. With plenty of twists and turns, and an ending you could never have guessed, I would not hesitate to recommend this fairly short story (1hr 53mins) to all lovers of murder mysteries.

Have you listened to any of Suzy Lexington’s other performances? How does this one compare?

This is the first narration by Suzie Lexington I have heard, however, I loved the easy listening sound of her voice. I have to admit that I cannot honestly say if her voice was Cajun, all I know is that to me it sounded perfect for this story.