Thirty and a Half Excuses

Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 3

By: Denise Grover Swank

Narrated by: Frances Fuller

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Life in Henryetta, Arkansas is turned upside down with the arrival of a televangelist, but it's the death of a little old lady on Rose's street that catches her attention. The Henryetta police deem her death natural causes, but Rose suspects foul play and so does an unlikely supporter - the president of the Busy Body Club, her eighty-two year old neighbor Mildred.

But Rose is in the middle of opening her nursery with her sister Violet, who's separated from her husband Mike, as well as stalling her boyfriend Joe's family, rich socialites who are determined to meet her. Along with her multiple encounters with Fenton County's new assistant DA, Mason Deveraux III, it's just another day in the life of Rose Gardner -chaos.

©2013 Denise Swank (P)2014 Denise Swank

Questionable pronunciations by the narrator.

What made the experience of listening to Thirty and a Half Excuses the most enjoyable?

I enjoy this series very much. It is fun and keeps me interested.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the fact that Rose is learning to be strong, independent, and empowered.

How could the performance have been better?

I have not read the written versions of the first three books in this series, so I am not sure if the narrator mispronounces numerous words or if the books are written in this manner. By the third book, I started writing down some of the mistakes:"Besirch" instead of besmirch "Seniortitis" instead of senior-itis, "Conscious" instead of conscientious, and "Tenively" instead of tentatively. These words are a very small representation of what I believe are errors by the narrator in all three books that I have listened to in this series. The narrator pauses inappropriately and reads awkwardly. However, I like her voices for the different characters and her accents.

The Series is Beginning to Lose Me

Enjoyed books 1 and 2 but the whining and "I love yous" are beginning to fray my nerves. I suppose it's all part of the main character's maturity but the plot seemed to drag because of it. I'm going to hang in for one more book because I'm invested in whether this girl can develop more backbone...come to think of it that may have been the author's design all along.

Love this series and this book.

I love this series and the narrator isn’t horrible but will someone please teach her how to pronounce words with more than 3 syllables properly. It’s maddening! Otherwise, no complaints.

Underwhelming story so poorly narrated.

I am not entirely sure if its the absolutely terrible narrator or the story that left me so underwhelmed with book three of the Rose Gardner mysteries. I don't understand how they could leave this version up on audible. The narrator might be the one of the worst I have ever heard. She sounds like a pack a day smoker in late middle age, not exactly like the sheltered inexperienced 24 year old Rose is supposed to be. If that wasn't bad enough the narrator mispronounced so many words that it became extremely distracting, and repeatedly takes you out of the story.

Bored with this Narrator

Glad to see this is the last book in the series with this narrator, which is the only reason I've powered through. I like the overall story, but find myself bored by the narrator's performance.

good

I'm officially addicted to this series. :-) I love the narrator, she does a great job

Love this Rose Gardner series...

This a very entertaining series. I'm on book 3 and I'm thoroughly enjoying the ride. I think Frances Fuller is a good fit as narrator, however, she does mispronounce quite a number of words which I do find bothersome.

Narrator ruined it.

So glad they are going back to the original narrator going forward. This was a bad choice for this character. Or any. Husky older adult voice for a young woman doesn’t work. Or the odd pauses before words and that every character has the same way of talking. Terrible narrator.

Narrator is distracting

The story in the series is good. They are interesting.
The Narrator is not.
She cannot pronounce certain words and her cadence is terrible. It is very distracting.

I started my travels with Rose Gardner with Family Jewels - which was awesome. That narrator was excellent. But I wanted to start this series at the beginning but holy cow

Best series ever!!! Read in order!!

Love. Love and Love. I don’t know if another series I love more! The Rose Gardner series has been so much fun to read. I just wish there were more!!