Sick of Shadows

By: Marion Chesney

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

Captain Harry Cathcart and Lady Rose Summer have entered into an engagement of convenience so Rose can avoid being sent to India with all the other failed debutantes. Rose's sharp intellect and radical ideas have served to repel her would-be suitors. Rose's parents are hardly thrilled that their only child is marrying a man in trade, but Harry comes from a good family and, at the very least, they hope he will keep their troublesome daughter out of mischief.

Unfortunately, even a pretend engagement cannot save Rose from trouble. Bored with endless parties, teas, and balls, she befriends Dolly Tremaine, a beautiful young girl newly arrived from the country and overwhelmed by the demands of the Season.

Rose is delighted to have a protege, but their friendship is cut tragically short when Dolly is found floating in a river. Harry must solve the mystery of Dolly's death, and keep Rose from being the murderer's next victim.

©2005 Marion Chesney (P)2007 BBC Audio

wittiest in series to date

I save this series for when I am really fatigued and want a lighthearted (but not too silly) listen. This is a hoot, besides being a decent light period mystery, Narrator Davina Porter sounds like she's enjoying herself, and adds extra camp to the read. There are sublte winks and nods to authentic Edwardian lit and its imitators.

Exciting

I like this small series very much and it's too bad that the author decided to hang it up and focus on the Agatha Raisin and Hamish MacBeth series, although the MacBeth series is particularly good as well. This is the third book in a four book series. The first is Snobbery with Violence followed by Hasty Death, then this book (Sick of Shadows) and finally Our Lady of Pain to end up the set. This installment is very exciting but I found the mishaps between Lady Rose and the Captain to be almost too heartbreaking to take at times. The narrator is excellent with various accents (although a little weak on American) and has a pleasant singing voice which comes into play quite a lot in this novel. Sweet romance, star-crossed lovers, good level of historical research, and a nicely-conceived plot. Read them in order.

Delightful English nearly farcical romantic mystery

Marion Chesney always provides a well written light hearted story. This series ranks high. the characters are well drawn Nothing heavy even with a murder in the mix. I think I have everything he has written and he never disapoints

Silly self-defeating heroine needs to grow up.

Or so it seems to me. Perhaps it's the self-sabotage of jumping to conclusions, by both Harry and Rose, but this story simply got a bit tedious. After three like this, I'm only listening to #4 because got all four books for my library at the same time. Here's hoping it's more like the first in series, & that Rose gets to be bright and smart and a bit more of a woman than a silly little girl.

Good book.

Good book. Wish it was longer. I recommend to anyone looking for a light read.

great for multitasking

I enjoy the stories and characters while I'm working on my quilts. makes the time go too fast but I never get bored.

Very silly, somewhat callous series, saved by DV

I have just enough interest in how Harry and Rose's story ends up to listen to the 4th and final episode after this book. But really... both of the two main characters have just enough likeable qualities to make their silliness (hers) and rudeness (his) bearable. I can't say the same about Rose's parents. Two more self-centered characters would be hard to find. Because they don't want to deal with her, they agree to have their daughter locked up in an asylum. Without Harry's timely intervention, she would have lived out her days there. And this heartless act registers as a blip on everyone's screen. I was appalled and had a hard time moving forward in the plot from there. If Ms. Porter weren't such a wonderful narrator, I would have given up before now.

Not as good

I did enjoy the 1st 2 books, however this one was a bit too ridiculous with the "Will they, Won't they" part of the story. It totally ruined it for me. I dont mind a bit of romance in mystery books, however I dont like romance novels with a little bit of a mystery plot. I wont be going on with the series.

complicated

This book was a very enjoyable, complicated and interesting mystery. Many twists and turns to the plot.

Very predictable and the plot is SLOW

Listening to these one after another if feels like the same old same old. Noone is developing, the murders are meh.