A Very English Murder

A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery, Book 1

By: Verity Bright

Narrated by: Karen Cass

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

An absolutely gripping cozy murder mystery

Move over Miss Marple, there’s a new sleuth in town! Meet Eleanor Swift: distinguished adventurer, dog lover, dignified lady…daring detective?

England, 1920. Eleanor Swift has spent the last few years travelling the world: taking tea in China, tasting alligators in Peru, escaping bandits in Persia and she has just arrived in England after a chaotic 45-day flight from South Africa. Chipstone is about the sleepiest town you could have the misfortune to meet. And to add to these indignities - she’s now a Lady.

Lady Eleanor, as she would prefer not to be known, reluctantly returns to her uncle’s home, Henley Hall. Now Lord Henley is gone, she is the owner of the cold and musty manor. What’s a girl to do? Well, befriend the household dog, Gladstone, for a start, and head straight out for a walk in the English countryside, even though a storm is brewing....

But then, from the edge of a quarry, through the driving rain, Eleanor is shocked to see a man shot and killed in the distance. Before she can climb down to the spot, the villain is gone and the body has vanished. With no victim and the local police convinced she’s stirring up trouble, Eleanor vows to solve this affair by herself. And when her brakes are mysteriously cut, one thing seems sure: someone in this quiet country town has Lady Eleanor Swift in their murderous sights....

If you enjoy witty dialogue, glamorous intrigue, and the very best of Golden Age mysteries, then you will adore Verity Bright’s whodunit, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey, and Downton Abbey!

©2020 Verity Bright (P)2020 Bookouture

Detestable Leasing Lady

I wanted to love this, but sadly the lead character is positively unbearable - and so sucked the air right out from under the supporting characters and even the plot.

Cute and entertaining story

A cute little murder mystery made absolutely delightful by the narrator. The likeable, good-natured characters provided a fun little escape. I look forward to listening to more.

Excellent Historical Cozy Mystery

I love cozy mysteries, so I decided to give this series a chance. It was smart, witty, and well-written. The narrator did an awesome job narrating all of the characters. I immediately bought the rest of the audiobooks available. I highly recommend this series!

You have to stick with it.

I must agree with at least one of the other reviewers on the necessity of having to pushing through the first two thirds of the listen to get to the much better last third.

Its not that the story is bad in itself. Its just that the main characters (especially the female protagonist) are generally quite unlikable until they finally work through their many issues both past and present. After they’re quite lovely people worth hanging around with.

I’m probably being a bit hard on the narrator who I’m sure is doing the best she can with what she has to work with. Its likely I’m just spoiled by the Lady H and Daisy D (the last narrator of Daisy D, not so much the first two) series and only need to get used to a new voice.

I’m just not sure book two is credit-worthy.

A Very Fun Whodunit

This light bit of British mystery writing was a fun and fine audio romp. The characters are most endearing and the excellent narration/voices held my attention the entire time. Definitely worth a listen for British mystery fans!👍

Simply delightful!

This book was so charming. I loved the character development and the plot was engaging. I loved that I could listen while cleaning or cooking and not worry if one of my kids walked in. There is nothing salacious or untoward. I was thrilled to see there was another book in the series. Well done by author and narrator!

Juvenile

I love listening to mysteries but this one was difficult to listen to, let alone finish. The main character was flighty, immature and yet supposedly very well traveled and wise. It stretched credulity. The book is juvenile, in my opinion and I have no intention of purchasing anything else written by this author.

This is just the start!

I would like to start by saying I am writing this review after already being into the series (like 11 books in). I love this series! It’s cute, it’s cozy, it’s funny. My husband even listens to this series with me. He likes the butler.

This is the first book and you are being introduced to Lady Swift who isn’t your average upper class bred woman. She’s learning as she goes. This is probably what I would consider “slow to start” since it’s the first book and an introduction to the series.

Verity Bright is a wizard with trying to keep us guessing at who the villains are and keeping us giggling at the antics of Lady Swift and her ever awesome butler.

I can’t wait to listen to the newest addition in the series.

Love it

I love the character s, story lines and the narrator. I especially loved Master Gladstone.

Good beginning

I love series and am excited to see how the characters are developed.

The narration is done well.