Excellent British Mystery

Peter Grainger is a wonderful writer. His primary character. Detective Sergeant DS Smith is an older, former Detective Chief Inspector who now works to solve cases rather than supervise. He is interesting, smart, multi-faceted, and his interactions with his subordinate team members provide a window into his character. He's honest and a gentleman, with a unique way of looking at crimes.

I have actually read all 5 of Mr. Granger's books in this series. As with a number of other authors whose books I enjoy enough to read multiple times (Agatha Christie, PD James, Josephine Tey, Dick Francis, Jodi Taylor, Patricia Wentworth and others), I will buy his audiobooks as they become available and listen when I can't read. An excellent narrator makes for great company.

Gildart Jackson is a good choice as narrator. As everyone knows, the narrator can ruin an excellent book but that won't happen here.

For those who like classic British mysteries, I highly recommend this writer.

212 people found this helpful

An Accidental Read

Just happened on this first in a series and had no expectations when I started reading. A very satisfying read. The primary character, DC Smith is someone I am looking forward to getting to know better. While there is still a great deal of back story to fill in, this relatively short book introduces a complex hero who takes the form of a somewhat shabby, bumbling detective, well past his prime, whom everyone hopes will retire - immediately. I was very impressed with the character development, especially the use of the grown child of an ex-partner, someone Smith first knew as a very little boy, to illustrate just how long he has been around, yet how relevant he still is.

And as usual my favorite aspect of this British police procedural suspense novel is that a wonderful mystery is presented and then solved with very little violence and with no guns. So many US mystery writers have replaced plot with gratuitous and graphic violence and endless gun battles that do nothing to move the story forward.

I thought the narrator did an excellent job!

197 people found this helpful

Split decision

My husband and I listened to this book together. He liked it very well--while I found it okay or pretty good. I'm putting this into my review, because while we are often in agreement about books, obviously people's reactions differ, as ours did in this case. And they may well for others. He thought this story of DC Smith, an older policeman taking on a case of what at first appears to be an accidental drowning, and leads to danger for himself as he pursues the case, was well written, clear, and totally held his interest. On the other hand, I discovered my attention often drifted away. Something about it just didn't grab me in the same way. I felt the writing more or less just plodded along--even though lots of things happened in the story to keep it moving. At the level of narration, though, we both liked that very well. I thought that was the best part of the book. So even though I feel sort of lukewarm about the book, to be completely fair, I wanted to say the listening experience was shared with someone who thought it was excellent.

123 people found this helpful

What a great series!

For me, this series has it all: terrific characters with depth and humanness, great plotlines, no gratuitous violence, quirky language, and a narrator who fits it all perfectly. I love the tiny details that carry over from book to book.

As I storm through the series one after another, I can say it's definitely one of the best finds of the year. I've thought of Louise Penny's Gamache often during the listening. I have that same feeling about these books as I did when I first discovered Three Pines.

34 people found this helpful

yes, a 5

It's British, present day, police procedural, fine characters, unusual plot, surprise conclusion, intelligent and cohesive, violence free. There are more books in this series. I hope more find their way to the Audible holdins. Soon,

69 people found this helpful

DC Smith is someone I can relate to

Thanks Peter Grainger for giving us a detective who has and uses the institutional memory that the younger bosses and bureaucrats no longer value. It's great to not be forced out of a job you're good at because of age.

39 people found this helpful

Enter the detective

Where does An Accidental Death rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the better ones, with a great story, nice changes in points of view, and a narrator who makes it all work well.

What other book might you compare An Accidental Death to and why?

The Armand Gamache novels by Louise Penney. Being American, I enjoy NOT reading about car chases, how big the gun is and how many rounds were fired. I want a character I can admire, and stories that could happen to someone.

Which scene was your favorite?

Many good scenes, but the one that stands out to me at the moment is when Smith meets with the Superintendent and purposely misunderstands the "retirement" talk!

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

Smith remembering his late wife while deciding what music to listen to one evening.

Any additional comments?

I have read all the books out so far, and still wanted to get the audio version so I could enjoy the story again while commuting to work.

54 people found this helpful

Cozy mystery with great characters.

I hope Audible gets more DC Smith books. He reminds me of Penny's Gamache series. Really enjoyable. In fact, I didn't want it to end. Narration was stellar.

51 people found this helpful

Not great that’s for sure!

I don’t even know how to describe this novel, it was only okay. I would not waste money on this one. Maybe only it it’s on sale for a really good price, certainly don’t waste a credit on this one. I was mostly left in a state of confusion, too many weird things.

6 people found this helpful

Good Start to the Series

I'm always happy to discover a new fictional detective that appeals to me. Based on this first book of the series I believe I've found one in DC Smith. Five more books in this series have been published, and a sixth is scheduled for 2017.

As the story unfolds the listener learns more about DC Smith and the people that he works with. A young officer, Waters, is assigned to work with Smith. I found that part of the story revealed a lot about Smith. As the book ended I had a better sense of who Smith was, but also that there was much more to learn. How Smith solves the mystery may be more important than the mystery itself.

The pace of the story was steady. I appreciated the absence of excessive violence and crude language.

I'm fascinated by DC Smith and look forward to the next book in the series.

36 people found this helpful