A favourite Narrator performing a excellent book

Where does The Sans Pareil Mystery rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would rank this in my top ten. I enjoy murder mystery books with some relational depth to and between the characters, the combination of Karen Charlton's writing and imagination with Michael Page's excellent narration is a great find. I have a job that has more than enough tension and real life concerns, so it is therapeutic to get lost in a good book.

What other book might you compare The Sans Pareil Mystery to, and why?

There is a warmth and depth to the book, just enough edge and murder mystery, but warmth in the unfolding of the key characters. I would compare it to the Max Tudor series, different century, but the characters have a steady reflective no nonsense approach, but with a nod to their romantic and family lives.

What does Michael Page bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Michael Page is an excellent narrator and performer. He gives depth to the characters, I've enjoyed his narration of all the Max Tudor series, and Elizabeth Edmonson's final three books. It has been a pleasure to find him narrating the Inspector Lavender series

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Gentle tension at times, and occasional laughter.

Any additional comments?

Karen Charlton is an excellent writer, it is a great pleasure to find her books being read by some one as skillful as Michael Page.

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5 people found this helpful

Gripping story populated by interesting characters

This is the third book I've listened to in the inspector Lavender series and won't be the last. I enjoy the emphasis on developing the characters and, in this book, was engaged in a gripping story of French spy-rings at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Lavender and his trusty sidekick Constable Woods are sympathetic characters around whose lives the stories are told.

The narrator does a great job creating all the different accents and portraying convincing female voices.

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2 people found this helpful

Good and fast paced

An enjoyable story with interesting characters based at the time of Bonaparte's rampage across Europe, the book gives a bit of insight of what it was like to live at that time. If you like mystery and history, you will probably enjoy this book.

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2 people found this helpful

Sans Pareil

Karen Charlton is a wonderful writer I have read all of her 5 books 📚 hope it is not too long before her next one

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Brilliant listen

The reader for this story really made it come to life. The storyline was gripping and very well written. Would highly recommend. Now onto the next Detective Lavender book.

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A brilliant start to this series

For an audio book of just over 10 hours, not a single minute was dragged out or spent filling out the plot. Each character was given the right amount of detail and the story was great in the attention to historic detail.

I loved the use of period slang peppering the tex. The narrator's different character voices meant I could easily tell who was 'speaking'.

I'm looking forward to more in the series, especially as I've realised Stephen Lavender was a real Principal Officer with the Bow Street Magistrates Court.

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Lavender is on the case

I'm really hooked on this series. The research that has gone into the book has made it feel Victorian, because the attitudes of Victorian society not lost in the the story. Wonderful

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London 1810

Interesting story of an early detective in Bow Street, Coventry Garden, a very different place than the touristy place it is today. The story evokes something of the dirt, poverty and harshness of life in England during the wars with Napoleon's forces.

Lavender and Wood make a good detective duo and it will be interesting to see how these characters are developed in future stories.

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4 people found this helpful

Excellent

Just fallen in love with the main characters this is the 2 nd in series and I read both books in 4 days seriously good fun brilliant plots

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2 people found this helpful

Just as enjoyable as the first book!

The author and narrator make a second great outing for Lavender.
Murder, suspense and romance in a novel of this period are rare to find.

Thoroughly enjoyable and worth every penny! I am off to immediately buy the next book in the series and sincerely hope, that it doesn't prove to be the last outing for the brilliant duo Lavender and Woods or the brilliant duo Charlton and Page!!

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