The Framed Women of Ardemore House

A Novel

By: Brandy Schillace

Narrated by: Lindsey Dorcus

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

"A must read for any mystery lover." – DEANNA RAYBOURN, New York Times bestselling author of KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE

An abandoned English manor. A peculiar missing portrait. A cozy, deviously clever muder mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.

Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.

After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.

With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…

©2024 Brandy Schillace (P)2024 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

The painting

The story was a little choppy and the main characters did not have chemistry. Too many other needless characters without depth. I’m already sure the character on the spectrum too will end up being long lost family. Allora!

The Framed Women of Ardmore House

It was an interesting story with the main character, Jo, being on the Autism spectrum. She sees things differently than the other characters in the story.
She inherits a house in England. She is American, her mother was English. Almost immediately after she arrives, she finds the dead body of the grounds keeper in her cottage, and a possibly very valuable painting is missing. Who killed the grounds keeper and who stole the painting?
There a couple of questions at the end of the book that are left unanswered, that's why it did not get more stars.
I do recommend this audio recording.

I almost quit, but glad I stayed with it

Not sure why, but the first few chapters did not click with me. I had trouble getting to like the characters, but recalled from other reviewers that it would get better and it did. Eventually, the cast of characters evolved into likeable people that I would enjoy learning more about. It is not much of a mystery if you want a serious puzzle. I knew who the main villain was early on, I just did not put the why together until it was revealed at the end.

Wonderful

A very enjoyable (multiple) mystery novel, excellently written, engaging with fully realized characters. The crowning achievement of the latter is the vivid descriptions of the brilliant protagonist’s thoughts and experiences through the lens of autism.

Narration was distracting

While I enjoyed the story the narrator had the worst accents that I have ever heard in an audiobook. I found it distracting, which was a shame as she is a good narrator otherwise. I wish she had narrated it entirely in her native accent.

How terrible the narrator was!

The Narrator of this story was so annoying and distracting. If I were the author of a book being read to others on audible I would be sure to vet the narrator beforehand especially if I were not a Brit writing a story about so many areas that I did not know about!
The narrator seems to have watched too many episodes of Vera and Shetland, and been unable to decipher the difference. Some sentences made a frantic trip around the British Isles, and were still unable to settle on the correct accent for the character. It was truly agonizing to listen to.
Now to the story… It wasn’t a bad story just a bit draggy in places. I really think that the author should stick with nonfiction.