Title Wave

Booktown Mystery Series, Book 10

By: Lorna Barrett

Narrated by: Karen White

Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

While her bookstore, Haven't Got a Clue, is rebuilt following a devastating fire, Tricia Miles and her sister, Angelica, decide to book a cruise for some much needed R&R. Naturally they choose a Mystery Lovers cruise, where they can ponder whodunnit in deck chairs while sipping colorful drinks and soaking up some rays.

But the fun is cut short when a fellow passenger is murdered for real. Is the killer a famous mystery author, one of his fans, or a member of the ship's crew? As Tricia tries to find the killer before they reach port, she may be cruising for a bruising...

©2016 Penguin Random House LLC (P)2016 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Diverting entertainment…an engaging story line, an intrepid heroine... good for lovers of intrigue." ( Richmond Times-Dispatch)

A personal twist I did not see coming

I enjoy reading cozy mysteries during my downtime. This is a series that I've come to enjoy with the cast of characters who I feel as though I know. While the murder mystery in this book is not the best one I have read in the series, readers will not be disappointed. For anyone who was surprised at the ending of one of the earlier books of Trisha's ex-husband being killed will especially appreciate the ending of this book.

Bad narrator

Too much information!! Boring, not enough meat. Mystery was lost in the useless chatter. Did not enjoy and did not finish

Made myself finish it.

The storyline of this book was okay. Nothing great or exciting. Usually a cozy type of mystery is something I enjoy but something just didn't work with this one. The narrator made this very hard to listen to. I thought something was wrong with the audible player on my phone or my phone settings themselves when she first began to read the book. Her speech and method of reading is disturbing. The reader pauses often during mid sentence in halting steps. I thought it seemed as if she had lost her place in the reading. I did not enjoy it.

Addictive!!

I have listened to the ENTIRE series 5 times and I love it more eachtime. This volume didn't disappoint! I love all the characters and the narrator's voice is perfect for this series. Going by the sounds of the ending there's still more to come...Woohoo Lorna Barrett😀😀😀

Lorna delivers again!

I've listened to every book in this series & in each review I always mention what an insufferable, grumpy, wet blanket Tricia is. Angelica is the star of this series & is so lovable. She, along with the other supporting characters are what kept me coming back. But now, FINALLY, we get to learn about Tricia's relationship with her mother & events which occurred that made Tricia how she is. It all makes sense now! I'm glad that the pieces of the puzzle got clarified, and as the reader we got to poke behind the curtain to get deeper into the story. I love the slow transformation of Tricia that we begin to see.. She loosens up, starts to enjoy life & I'm excited to see how this change takes shape in the upcoming book.

The mystery & story line itself is wonderful, as usual. Each of these books have so many different small plot pieces running along side the main murder mystery. Does Tricia have a secret admirer? Was Mary sabotaged in the competition? Who will take over EM's empire? What will happen with Tricia & her family? If you can, I recommend listening to these in order to get the whole experience. Overall, i loved this installment & the ending was just as fulfilling/suspenseful as always. This was probably my favorite book in the series in terms of character development & a strong storyline!

I couldn't finish it

Would you try another book from Lorna Barrett and/or Karen White?

I may read a book, but I can't listen to one anymore . This is only the second book I have ever bought and not finished.

Would you ever listen to anything by Lorna Barrett again?

No

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Karen White?

Anyone else..everyone sounded the same

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I can't think of any

Any additional comments?

This book sounded like the Love Boat with exaggerated and made up names. The characters relationships were hard to follow. I thought it would get better when the character was murdered, but I lost interest even more. At the beginning I was at least trying to follow along, but by then I was so uninterested that I quit listening even though it was still playing. I don't understand how this got good reviews.

Very Disappointing

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Better writing and a better performer

Has Title Wave turned you off from other books in this genre?

Just from this author

Would you be willing to try another one of Karen White’s performances?

Absolutely not

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment for sure. The setting was very promising--a cruise with authors and readers. Heck, I would sign up for that. But the characters were so over the top. I suspect a lot of this was due to the performer--almost every character was delivered in a haughty voice, except for the Italians, who sounded like they'd walked out of 1950s Central Casting. Such heavy accents! But the writing was also very overdone. It's enough to tell me that one character sat at the table with another. I don't need to know that she pulled out the chair, smoothed her dress, and sat down. The whole book is full of these unnecessary details, except when it comes to the mystery, which is only solved after a vital piece of information is revealed in the last few chapters. So disappointing, and frustrating, are the reactions the book sparked.

Any additional comments?

I guess one positive is that I keep listening till the end. And another is that the central characters grew on me a little bit. But not enough to follow their further adventures.

Cruise Mystery Grabs Your Attention

Narrator sounds bored. I would have liked her to have a little more enthusiasm as she read the story.

One of my favorite series

This is a very good book. I enjoy watching the sisterly bond between Tricia and Angelica grow and deepen. As always, the story is well written and flows nicely. Tricia's parents make an appearance in this book and I look forward to seeing how this plays out in future books.

Drowned by the tidal wave

Disappointing. I really expected more. The premise was weak. It just didn't work that a bookseller would care about a rude, obnoxious author to endanger her life as well as the safety of her friends and family to discover her murderer. I wanted to see more romance and a more realistic reason for the protagonist to actively engage in the resolution of a murder. The most interesting part was the parental conflict and cliffhanger.