The Confounding Case of the Carisbrook Emeralds

Book 6

By: Stephanie Laurens

Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan

A young lady accused of theft and the gentleman who elects himself her champion enlist the aid of Stokes, Barnaby, Penelope, and friends in pursuing justice, only for the investigators to find themselves tangled in a web of interfamily tensions and secrets.

When Miss Cara Di Abaccio is accused of stealing the Carisbrook emeralds by the infamously arrogant Lady Carisbrook and marched out of her guardian's house by Scotland Yard's finest, Barnaby Adair's cousin Hugo Adair takes umbrage and descends on Scotland Yard, breathing fire in Cara's defense.

Hugo discovers Inspector Stokes has been assigned to the case, and after surveying the evidence thus far, Stokes calls in his big guns when it comes to dealing with investigations in the ton - namely, the Honorable Barnaby Adair and his wife, Penelope.

Soon convinced of Cara's innocence and, given Hugo's apparent tendre for Cara needing to clear her name, Penelope and Barnaby join Stokes and his team in pursuing the emeralds and, most importantly, who stole them.

But the deeper our intrepid investigators delve into the Carisbrook household, the more certain they become that all is not as it should be. Lady Carisbrook is a harpy, Franklin Carisbrook is secretive, Julia Carisbrook is overly timid, and Lord Carisbrook, otherwise a genial and honorable gentleman, holds himself distant from his family. More, his lordship attempts to shut down the investigation. And Stokes, Barnaby, and Penelope are convinced the Carisbrooks' staff are not sharing all they know.

Meanwhile, appointed Cara's watchdog until the mystery is resolved, Hugo, fascinated by Cara as he's been with no other, seeks to entertain and amuse her...and, increasingly intently, to discover the way to her heart. Consequently, Penelope finds herself juggling the attractions of the investigation and the Adair family's demands for her to actively encourage the budding romance.

What would her mentors advise? On that, Penelope is crystal clear.

Aided by Griselda, Violet, and Montague and calling on contacts in business, the underworld, and ton society, Penelope, Barnaby, and Stokes battle to peel back each layer of subterfuge and, step by step, eliminate the innocent and follow the emeralds' trail....

Yet instead of becoming clearer, the veils and shadows shrouding the Carisbrooks only grow murkier...until, abruptly, our investigators find themselves facing an inexplicable death, with a potential murderer whose conviction would shake society to its back teeth.

©2018 Stephanie Laurens (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Outstanding narration!

This gentleman portrayed a variety of voices & emotions pertaining to children, youth, adults & aged adding much to this story. He takes listeners magically & emotionally endearing this story.

very enjoyable listening experience

I enjoyed the characters, especially Penelope and Barnaby. The narrator was top notch and the writing delightful, as always.

emeralds

I didn't relish the narrators females voices especially Penelope. The main males were okay ....

Intelligence

Interesting 🧐 intriguing 🤔 who done it without sex, swears, violence.

Romance trumps over bitterness and prejudice and just plain jealousy and selfishness.
Hurray!🎉👏🏽

Worth every second! Narration was excellent!

Wonderful Character Development

Enjoyable story about missing jewels and blame on an innocent miss, which has Stokes, Adair’s and Montague’s investigating.  Napoleon Ryan does an excellent job as narrator.

I Liked It

I read A LOT of romance, and to be honest, the sex scenes get so tiresome and cheesy. I’m sadly kind of over it and these days, I’m more into story.

This book had story galore, and I found it well constructed and enjoyable.

It’s more of a romantic mystery, the characters weren’t annoying, and there were no dumb, frustrating plots based on people not communicating.

I read 2 of the previous books in the series (not essential to reading this book) but it was ages ago and as soon as I dove in to “Emeralds,” it was like revisiting an old friend.

Thank you Stephanie Laurens!

Oh, and the narration was superb as well.

good narrator but his women's voices are awful

enjoyable if predictable cozy mystery, but romance elements were cloying and while the voice actor was clearly able to differentiate all the characters, he does the women's voices in a falsetto that is just grating to listen to.

Wrong genre?

This is more of a mystery really. It’s ok but it was hard to get through.

A nice mystery

I haven't read the previous books in this series but it wasn't essential to do so. The ending was different than I expected and I liked it that way. The narrator was terrific, especially with the female characters. However his regular voice is swoon worthy

Intriguing Historical Mystery

Old and new characters are woven together seamlessly with Lauren's detailed portraits of personalities, motives & their reactions to circumstance. I was totally involved in this well written mystery with sides of romance.
Unfortunately the flat delivery t caused it to drag a bit. While the narrator did an excellent job of differentiating between characters he didn't give them any life. Still an enjoyable read!