• The Royal Wulff Murders

  • By: Keith McCafferty
  • Narrated by: Rick Holmes
  • Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (828 ratings)

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The Royal Wulff Murders  By  cover art

The Royal Wulff Murders

By: Keith McCafferty
Narrated by: Rick Holmes
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Publisher's summary

An award-winning editor for Field & Stream magazine, Keith McCafferty presents his debut novel, The Royal Wulff Murders. A local fisherman lands more than he bargained for when he pulls a dead body out of Montana’s Madison River. Sheriff Martha Ettinger takes on the case and soon comes into the company of reclusive artist, Montana newcomer, and ex-PI Sean Stranahan. After teaming up to investigate, Martha and Sean soon uncover evidence that the murder has ties to one of the state’s biggest industries: fly fishing.

©2012 Keith McCafferty (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about The Royal Wulff Murders

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Performance
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I like this series set in Montana

This is first book of a Montana-based mystery series led by Sheriff Martha Ettinger and "private detective" Sean Stranahan. I like all the characters (except for the ridiculous Velvet Lafayette). The setting along the Madison River is written so beautifully, I have looked up the location and hope to get there some day. The story is told mostly from Stranahan's perspective. He is a young, good man with sharp intellect and instincts. There is some art, lots of fishing and some good dialog. I will definitely use a credit to purchase the next book in the series.

If you enjoy Walt Longmire or Joe Pickett mysteries, this will be a good listen for you.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Get to know the state you’re writing about.

The story was an average mystery. Author has taken a lot of poetic license with Montana geography. His blatant political statement at the end berating mining and agriculture for harming his recreational pursuits lead me to believe that he thinks the pristine beauty of Montana and its environment compared to other states was by accident rather than the efforts of many generations of Montana residents who have lived here much longer than he or any of his progeny will. We protect it because we love it and depend on a healthy environment to produce healthy crops and livestock. We open our land and our streams to recreational users because we know how lucky we are and want to share with others. Maybe the author should step out of the water and actually get acquainted with the business owners he openly criticized rather than just feeling good about himself for donating to causes with paid staff to do the work that we do every day.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Found a new series

Listened to the fourth book and enjoyed it so much had to start at the beginning. If you like Longmire or Joe Pickett you'll like this. Good character, tough talking female , and politically incorrect friend. The best part is the narrator. So good you don't notice him. His voices are done well and are not irritating.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Heavy on fly fishing

What did you like best about The Royal Wulff Murders? What did you like least?

Perhaps a cut above average story and a good, sound performance. I'm not a fisherman, but the fly fishing details and threat to trout were interesting; nonetheless, I wouldn't welcome a steady diet of that much detail. I found the several physical injuries to the protagonist a bit overdone.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The who-done-it aspect was most interesting. The on-again-off-again romance episodes would hardly capture one's attention very effectively. If I had been reading, rather than listening, I would probably have skipped much of that.

Which character – as performed by Rick Holmes – was your favorite?

Hard to say what character was performed best. Rick Holmes was so practiced and adroit he became invisible as the reader. All one hears is the characters, and the performance becomes transparent, as it should with a really professional job.

Did The Royal Wulff Murders inspire you to do anything?

Well, . . . I'm not going to take up fly fishing for trout, if that's what you're asking; however, I am going to check on the author's latest book.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good book but not as good as Longmire Series

I am a fan of Craigslist Johnson and after reading all his Longmire Series was looking for a authentic in a simular vien. This author is good but seems to be lacking the spark maybe humor of Mr. Johnson. I do not expect 2 author to write the same, but this author was sort of dark and depressing. I do not mine dark if there is enough amusement or humor to balance it. That I believe is the mark if a truly great author capturing that delicate balance.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fishing For Compliments

This book is a sleeper of a "detective" novel. Sean Stranahan is a former private investigator and tries to resist getting pulled back into it. Fly fishing is clearly Keith McCafferty's love and his story evokes a ton of fishing imagery. The mystery evolves slowly as though the reader is fishing for it. McCafferty's best characters are those with the small parts. Pay attention to the English inn owner - he has some interesting things to say. I am afraid that the women characters, who figure strongly in the story are the weak point, especially Velvet Lafayette. She is a completely unbelievable character.

Anyway, having read another Stranahan book before this, the first book in the series, I'd say McCafferty started well and didn't lose much enthusiasm over time. Highly recommend.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Local color into local headache

I don't mind about the fishing. The writer seems to know a lot about fly fishing, and that part is at least marginally interesting, even for a person with little affinity for the subject.

What got me is the approach to characters. Each one goes on and on about his/her background. Listening to this story is like being trapped on a bus by a bore. He/she is hell-bent on telling you everything he/she ever experienced - the life story. Please. I'm still breathing here, and wanted this writer to get on with the story before boredom made me stop. Barely made it to the end.

Narrator deserves better.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Entertaining Fly Fishing Mystery

I enjoyed the descriptions of fly fishing tremendously. The mystery was compelling and there were some interesting characters. What I didn't like was the handling of the obligatory romantic angle of the story. I felt that our hero's relationship with the women was too male fantasy, and too manipulated to suit a formula, to ring at all true.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Couldn't finish it

You really have to LOVE fly fishing to read this. The novel wasn't interspersed with references to fishing so much as this is a book about fly fishing interspersed with a mystery. The flashbacks for the back-story overloaded the beginning of the novel also.
Maybe it got better, since it received a great review in a magazine I read. You will have to judge for yourself.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good Easy Read....er listen

If you could sum up The Royal Wulff Murders in three words, what would they be?

Good easy read.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Royal Wulff Murders?

The almost near drowning of Stranahan by the murderer.

Have you listened to any of Rick Holmes’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really-the book is an enjoyable, easy read, mystery.

Any additional comments?

If there is a negative the character which is the actual murderer is not introduced in the book until you are halfway into the book. I personally like for all the characters to be introduced up front. Let the games begin!

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3 people found this helpful