The Ladder Dancer

By: Roz Southey

Narrated by: Gordon Griffin

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, 1736. A foggy September evening. When a child is killed by an unknown horseman, musician sleuth Charles Patterson, the only witness close enough to see that the collision was no accident, vows to hunt down the rider. But there are distractions. Richard Nightingale, a fashionable “ladder-dancer”, arrives from London to cause havoc with the ladies.

A local lad, Cuthbert Ridley, sets the town in uproar for the fun of it. And Kate, a girl from the slums, is determined to become a musician – even though no respectable woman ever performs in public. When Nightingale is attacked, Patterson realises the situation is far more complicated then he thought. Can Patterson find the murderer before someone else dies?

©2011 Roz Southey (P)2012 Soundings

Great Narrator - Indifferent Historical Mystery

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

I really didn't care much for the book. I found a sense of the period totally lacking and parts of it were positively boring - especially all the back forth between Charles and his wife. I prefer historical mystery that bring the period alive and that is not the case here. It could be any period in time actually.

What was most disappointing about Roz Southey???s story?

For a historical mystery this lacked a sense of period. Dropping in carriages and long dresses and swords is simply not enough to recreate a period. I had no feeling the characters were living in the 18th century. I will not be reading another one in this series again.

Also I didn't like the character of the little girl - I found her irritating and annoying. I wish she had been left out. The wife was not very appealing either and I found Charles a bit on the weak side. I also did not like that hint of sci-fi or fantasy with the ghosts and stepping through into another world. Had I known the book had these elements in I would not have wasted a credit on it.

The plot wasn't too bad but it was stretched out over too many hours for as thin as it was. I had the feeling that a lot of the writing was just filler and did nothing to move the plot along which made listening to it sheer tedium.

What does Gordon Griffin bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

He is a great narrator and one of my favorites. He always manages to create a sense of character in even the most unappealing books. His narration was the only thing that saved the book from my awarding it ONE star.

Could you see The Ladder Dancer being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

NO

Any additional comments?

I felt I wasted one credit - I felt the "blurb" about the book should have warned the reader of these ahistorical elements such as Ghosts, stepping through time. I don't like these elements in book and avoid books that have them.