The Last Draft - A cozy bookshop murder mystery full of twists

THE FIRST IN A NEW SERIES

De: Agatha Frost

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

The FIRST BOOK in an irresistibly charming British village murder mystery series full of twists and turns…

Meet Ellie Swan... an introverted bookworm with a history degree stuck at a crossroads. After putting her degree to work in a TV studio's historical continuity department for years, the studio merges with a giant streaming service and Ellie loses her dream job. She finds herself working in a coffee shop to make ends meet, and while waiting for the perfect opportunity to come along... she gets a phone call informing her that her dear Granny Maggie has broken her hip.

Leaving the city and her coffee shop job behind, Ellie returns to her quaint hometown of Meadowfield to care for her grandmother, but she finds more than just the family's beloved bookshop, Meadowfield Books, in disarray. Granny Maggie's hip was broken during a robbery gone wrong, and the thief—a relative of a deceased local author—is found dead. The item the thief stole? The local author's final manuscript.

While juggling caring for her grandmother and running the failing bookshop, Ellie finds herself in a web of mystery and murder, as she encounters a cast of characters each with a motive for coveting the author's final manuscript. Utilising her passion for history and her old community ties, Ellie untangles a series of clever clues and red herrings. From the financial desperation of the thief's father to the secretive actions of a local historian and antique dealer, the plot thickens when another of the family is also found dead. With a knack for history and a heart for sleuthing, Ellie uncovers hidden truths, from coveted manuscripts to clandestine motives, but can Ellie's keen insights and tenacity ensure justice is served? And will she find a renewed sense of purpose in her long-forgotten home?

Find out in The Last Draft, the first book in the NEW Meadowfield Mysteries series, a quintessentially British cozy mystery series packed with heart, charm, and a cracking mystery full twists and turns. Perfect for those who love a good puzzle served up with a side of homemade scones and village gossip.

Discover the secrets of Meadowfield, where every page turned is a clue unveiled...

Narrated by AI audio voice and you can tell.

The book had a decent story line and plot. It wasn't anything to keep you on the edge of your seat and the story was pretty predictable, but it was a nice easy listen. The ai narration was not great. AI doesn't understand voice inflections, some pronunciations and doesn't differentiate the voices of different characters. I won't be listening to the rest of the series.

The Last Draft

The plot seemed to cut corners at times and it took me a bit to become invested in the characters.

Good mystery story, not good reader

The plot and characters are great. I enjoyed the story very much, but the reader is a digital voice with odd pauses, inflections, and pronunciations. The voice sounds very real and comfortable, but the random comma-pauses, like between an adjective and its noun, and the strange emphases on the wrong words in a sentence make it seem like its digital before you realize it actually is.

too long

This was an okay book, but it was too long and drawn out. The language was not bad, but could have been better. no f bombs, but other mild words. Also, it was read by AI and there were several words that were mispronounced. it was in an English, British accent but wasn't robotic or hard to understand. I will probably not listen to the sequels.

Nice story, not so nice narrator

The story was easy listening, but the AI narrator drove me crazy with the voice inflection in the word places. It's literally like listening to a robot read to you.

Decent story

Decent story but AI narration didn’t really sit well with me. Narration is just as important as the story and the narration definitely affected the overall quality of the book

Marginal writing; Virtual Voice is Horrendous

I wondered why I should care about the characters from the first page. Nothing drew me in. I persisted to the end because I had made the purchase and needed light drivel. Writing describes unrealistic and hard to picture activity and has a flat overall feel.
Virtual Voice mispronounces homonyms, and leaves you gasping for human intonations, variations in tone and volume, any attempt to change voices between character, and pauses. It does a good job of destroying the flow of a story even just as much if not more than poor writing. Easy boycott for me from here forward.

The Wiltshire village setting with establishments like the Giggling Goat and the Drowsy Duck.

The AI generated narration was dreadful and largely ruined what was probably a decent story.