Decent listen

The basic premise was good, along with the storyline. Feel it could have been executed better however, but the characters were likable if not a little unbelievable.

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An enjoyable listen

I enjoyed the book and the narrator. I will look for other books by this author

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Not what I expected!

It was a very interesting book exploring some very difficult topics. Should we be more interested in our neighbours? Is it acceptable to 'help' someone to end their own life? Difficult topics, and a little dark in places.

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Better listened to than read - that's what I think

I had already bought this book at a reduced price in e-book form for my Amazon Kindle when I spotted it on the Audible website.

I tend to buy biographies and autobiographies and other nonfiction on Audible but with my monthly credit I have sometimes bought the more expensive fiction - especially when there is three books making up a trilogy by buying one book a month with my credits.

This then is not as expensive as some fictional audio books I have bought.

I don't want to spoil the plot of this book for other readers so not too much here about the story's plot.

The narrator (female) takes the parts of both male and female characters.

The main character is a female crime analyst working with percentages more than criminals or people. She notices a rise in the number bodies being found usually in domestic circumstances where there is no crime suspected. She informs her superiors but no one seems to realise what she is saying. The deceased are not all elderly people.

One night she goes home and her cat decides it wants to go out. It does not come back right away and as she wants to go to bed she goes out to find it. She follows it into the garden next door and notices flies on the window. She knocks on the glass of the door and somehow the glass breaks. She goes in the house and discovers a body. The lady neighbour seems to have sat in her chair and died.

Our narrator goes on to become in their turn, civilian colleagues, police colleagues, friends and acquaintances and others.

These people of course converse with each other too which is where the audio aspect of the book aided my enjoyment of the mystery as it is not always the main character who is speaking.

The person responsible is an acquaintance of an acquaintance who is befriending the lonely and the depressed.

I am going to stop here as I don't want to reveal any more to spoil the story for others.

This book is definitely not for young teens or those of a very squeamish nature and I have to say that I enjoyed it.

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Different.....dark and compelling

This was my first encounter with Elizabeth Haynes and I know that it will not be my last. Most of the book was listened to on a sun-lounger in Italy but my idyllic surroundings faded completely as I was caught up into the dark world of the novel. I had no problem with the structure (criticised by others) once I had adjusted to the format, and found Annabelle to be a sympathetic character about whom I cared.

I disagree with much of the criticism of the narrator's voice. I felt that Karen Cass generally produced a good contrast between the female and male voices, there was variety in her delivery and she certainly captured the intensity and the cold, unnerving quality of Colin in his lack of empathy and understanding. My criticism - such as it was - lay more in the repetitious nature of the narrative as Colin engaged with each of his victims. His words, his thoughts, his responses became rather 'samey' and at times I felt "Oh, not again!" A different approach with different victims would have helped to sustain reader interest. But overall, I found the book compelling and the workings of the mind of this disturbed man were entirely plausible. I particularly enjoyed his rationalizing of the situation once he had been arrested and found myself wondering whether it would actually be possible to convict him of murder. It provided an interesting and different perspective.

Elizabeth Haynes (and Karen Cass) built the tension most effectively and I certainly wanted to keep listening. I look forward now to exploring Elizabeth's other novels. If they are as good as "Human Remains", I shall thoroughly enjoy them.

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Gruesome but good!

REALLY enjoyed this book! Highly recommend, though a bit gross a points, will read another by this author for sure!

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Fantastic

This was gripping from the opening chapter, loved the different perspectives given in order to enhance the story. Made the long drive to and from work a pleasure during the dreary winter months. An author I hadn't read before but will most certainly read/hear again. So glad I took a chance from the blurb.

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Was going to give this 2 stars

This book won a last minute extra star for the ending but up till then it was a great disappointment.

I was going to give it only 2 stars which I awarded for the authentic police background and for creating the criminal mind of Colin. No more because the book is dragged down by a totally inadequate narrator. Unfortunately the book is structured as a stream of consciousness from two main characters - male and female - and a string of minor characters. The narrator has only one voice for all the female voices and one, only slightly different voice, for all the male characters. To make things worse the author also appears to use identical phrasing and speech patterns for everyone regardless of age, background and gender. Maybe if I had read rather than listened to the book I would have enjoyed it more as I could have created different "voices" for myself. As it was only the dreadful weather outside meant that I kept picking it up again after vowing I just couldn't be bothered to carry on. The ending redeemed the book a little and so I have grudgingly given it 3 stars.

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4 people found this helpful

menacing and plausibly scary. Great characters.

My first Elizabeth Haynes, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.



I found myself very curious about the characters, including the enigmatic Policeman..



Was left wanting more, so although the story was concluded, was there a whiff of more to come?

Hope so!

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2 people found this helpful

Good story but a disappointing ending!

A very good story well read and absorbing but a weak ending full of loose ends!

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