A bit of fun, with a twist.

I enjoyed this book, both listening and reading. I can see this as the beginning of a series. Great to see retired people being recognised as being able bodied and mentally on the mark.
So often I wish there was a way to encourage the younger generation to value the years of hard work that's been done. Also in some cases when there wasn't the internet and electronic wizardry of today
Let's never forget that the people who lived before us prepared the way for us. Ok, now I've got that off my chest!
Enjoy the book and the naration.

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1 person found this helpful

It's not a plagiarised copy

Ignore the one star reviews accusing the author of plagiarism. This book has very few things in common with the book people think has been plagiarised

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Enjoyable Story

I really enjoyed this book - nicely written and read - well written characters with interesting backstories that are still not fully understood - will be searching for more by this author now!!

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poor narration.

As said by others very similar feel to the Richard Osman book. Well written and keeps you engaged. Unfortunately the narrator has terrible pronunciation constantly mispronouncing word. Padeo instead of Patio, Philap for Philip most T's are replaced by D's. It really starts to distract from the book. Think I would recommend reading the book over narration.

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Good plot, narrator struggles..

The narrator struggles with some English pronunciations. She called the MET Office the M. E. T. Office for example. Four of characters are from London and were police in the MET. It grates when things are pronounced incorrectly.

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Great storyline

Loved the storyline and characters. The narration was ok but the way the narrator finished her words sometimes was strange and a little off putting. All in all a good read. I will definitely listen to the next in the series.

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Great book - awful performance

I loved this book but the narrator was awful. She obviously isn't English or American and can't do either accent well. Certain words began to grate on me early on because her diction and pronunciation was awful. Plus one of the characters was constantly feeling queasy which was intensely irritating in a strong woman. I'd love to hear something from this author read by someone else.

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narration leaves a lot to be desired

Enjoyed the story but the narration spoiled it. one of the main characters is Philip but the narrator says Philup every time and it drove me mad. is she British or American. at times she got totally confused and so did I. Would live to listen to more books I this series but need to see if the narrator has changed.

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Great story and characterisation.

Please never use this narrator again. The accent was irritating in the extreme and I had to check if one character was really called Fill-up! He wasn't. His name was of course Philip.

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Death in the Sunshine - This is NOT The Thursday Murder Club!

Don’t Compare Them.

I understand why there’s the comparison between this title and both of The Thursday Murder Club books.
However, whilst I haven’t read the negative reviews and don’t know what they say. I can understand why there would be negative comparisons. I shall deal with those first.

The 4 people are former law enforcement. Therefore between them there should be an inherent level of organisation, discipline, methodology. They display none of that. The lead character, Moira, is a former DCI, however she thinks nothing of leaving her colleague/partner in the lurch and running off to chase someone! She is not a septuagenarian (only Phillip is), as the murder club team are, so I’m sure that she thinks she can run after a person of interest who is 30 years her junior! But she shouldn’t, because she can’t and she should know better!

They don’t work together as a team, because there are 2 former DCI’s (Moira and Philip), who can’t take orders - both of whom have secret pasts.
Let’s talk about those secrets, because no one else is talking: I think that it’s a bad plot point to repeatedly harp on about an issue or secret or stumbling block if there’s to be no enlightenment. Mention it strategically and then let it go! To continually go on about it (whilst not saying anything about it), in every chapter, is not mysterious, it’s annoying and distracting. Leave it out. (With the lead character in TTMC, you know that there’s a mystery to her past, it’s been hinted at, but it doesn’t take over the whole book).

My third ‘gripe’ is the unlikelihood that a group of SENIOR LEVEL former Law Enforcement, who are dealing with a Murder, would write their Murder Board on a Patio Door, in full view of Anyone who happens to be in the area. (Thus potentially giving away any strategy they may have). Especially given that prior to the creation of the Murder Board, it was known that Moira was being followed and had indeed been followed to that location! (Everything TTMC did was discrete).

Communication. Sharing information is highly subjective with this group. Obviously both trust issues and god complexes. By chapter 25, there’s little engaging activity, so this is a slower burner that The Thursday Murder Club, which itself is not a speedy narrative, but DOES have more engaging characters and a more compelling plot.

(The blurb does not inform us that 3 of the former law enforcement officers are British and just 1 is American. Neither does it hint at antagonisms among them - which is seriously misplaced). The fact that there are English characters, do also lend themselves to the comparisons being made.

But this is NOT The Thursday Murder Club! If you can, move away from that thought - then you may enjoy the narrative for its own sake and in my opinion, it doesn’t need the comparison in order to be found wanting - there are enough plot discrepancies to do that for itself.

So, here’s my review based on its own merits.

It’s an interesting first novel and the characters have a long way to go in terms of development.
Throughout the whole, there is only one truly likeable character (on both good and bad sides of the fence)! The ‘amateur’ investigation has the air of officialdom but the characters don’t fulfil the role as you would expect. The official Detective in charge is totally unbelievable (as is the former DCI, Phillip), the official police are written as Keystone Cops (or are portrayed as we unfortunately too often see on YouTube videos of the behaviours of cops in small towns).

The plot meanders, vacillating between the oft mentioned past secrets of two of the characters and the incidental progression towards finding out what happened – with much farcical police interjections. Even the denouement is done in a very amateur fashion, resulting in an unnecessary injury. (Why not pull the car in front of the pick up truck)?

Whilst I didn’t overly enjoy this ‘episode’, I will probably read the next one to see if there are any improvements. If there aren’t, then I won’t progress beyond book 2. I’ve not read anything by this author before - I don’t know if it’s her first - if so (another TTMC comparison), it could do with developing. The narrator, Sarah Zimmerman, was not too bad, but she let slip a few Americanisms in her portrayal of the English (& some pronunciations were definitely ‘wrong’! We pronounce ‘quay’ as ‘key’), but overall, she did well.

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