The Marsh Madness

Book Collector Mystery Series #4

By: Victoria Abbott

Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer

Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jordan Bingham works hard to improve Vera Van Alst's collection of classic detective stories. So when Chadwick Kauffman - heir to the Kauffman fortune - offers a very good price on a fine collection of Ngaio Marsh first editions owned by his recently deceased stepfather, she is thrilled to meet with him at his fabled summer estate, Summerlea. The next day Jordan and Vera are shocked to read that Chadwick has died in a fall from the grand staircase at Summerlea. But when the picture in the paper is of a different man, it becomes clear that the ladies are victims of a scam. And they'll have to unmask the imposter fast because someone is trying to frame them for murder....

©2015 Penguin Group (USA) LLC (P)2015 Tantor

A fun story with lots of intrigue

This is the latest book in a series. The characters are interesting, particularly the formidable Vera. The heroine is a little too earnest, but other than that, I really enjoyed the story.

Great book and great recording.

I love this series and this is my favorite so far. I can't wait to hear the next one.

Another hit!

I love this series so much! All the characters are lovable & the narration of the Senora & Vera are my favorite! Kev is up to mischief as always & Jordan is trying to juggle her family on top of being set up to take the blame for a murder. This was a fun adventure & as always a real treat for this series!

Not bad, the ending kinda lost me

Perhaps I was too sleepy by the end but it got a little complex trying to keep up with what was going on and very complex and that's my only critique. Judge for yourself.
However, I do love a mystery where I'm given enough clues and I didn't even guess the antagonist!
Except for the intricate and slow ending (may just have been because I was falling asleep) this is in keeping with their other engaging and well performed books.

Potentially good story

I think the narrator missed opportunities to present better characterizations and paused too long for my tastes. I also prefer my heroines to be more realistic.... receiving dead roses would make me suspicious, not joyously curious. Not sure if I will try this author again.

Good, but not as much as previous books in series

I have listened to the other books in this series, and really enjoyed them a lot. This one, while still engaging, didn't quite seem up to the mark. I don't know how much of that is due to the narration, which I find off-putting. But this particular book, though still good (and recommended!) is not quite as satisfying as previous ones in the series (in my opinion).

In general, this is a fun cozy mystery series--in fact, overall, I think it is a cut above most of them. I love the premise--Jordan Bingham is a young woman whose job is to oversee the first edition mystery collection of the eccentric Vera Van Alst--an old lady who is a bit of a recluse, doesn't like most people, and forms one of the most interesting characters in all the stories. Jordan comes from a family of uncles who tend to operate on the wrong side of the law--but they are lovable and funny, and also form part of the delightful set of characters who people these stories.

In this one, I felt a little disappointed by the story itself--it just didn't move smoothly, and had too many places where it was just too much of a stretch for me. Yet--it holds its former charm--I still love the characters, and I still look forward to the next in the series. I do wish they might consider a different narrator, though.