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  • Arcadia

  • A Case for Willows and Lane, Book 3
  • Written by: Peter Grainger
  • Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
  • Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)

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Arcadia

Written by: Peter Grainger
Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
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Publisher's Summary

Sir Roger Parkes is a man of some influence in the West Country. When he loses touch with his youngest daughter, he has a word with the Assistant Chief Constable of the local force. It's not a police matter, he is told, but if Sir Roger wants to pursue it privately, there is a lady who might be able to help-two of them, actually.

As far as Summer Lane is concerned, she has enough problems without going into the investigations business with her next door neighbor; Mrs. Emily Willows's problems all seem to center around the fact that her neighbor is refusing to go into the investigations business with her. They have reached, it seems, an impasse. Until, that is, Emily notices that someone has left a message on her answering machine . . .

©2022 Peter Grainger (P)2022 Tantor

What listeners say about Arcadia

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Best one yet in the series!

Another great book in the series! Can’t wait to read the next book of Lane and Willows

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Can’t wait for the next one!

Loved everything! Great story by Peter Grainger and great narration by Henrietta Meire! Bring on #4!

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Great Story

I’m so glad that Willow and Lane are back. The story is great and Henrietta Meire is my favorite female narrator. An other great book from Peter Grainger!

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Loved it

Great suspense Henrietta Meire shines again with different characters… Doors wide open for the next investigation Wishing you all the best for the New Year

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  • Sasha the book eater
  • 2022-12-30

Grainger is in his own class

Nobody combines vivid action sequences, broad sociopolitical arcs and deep dives into the thought streams of characters like Peter Grainger. This book brought Willows and Lane into sharper focus, even rivaling his extraordinary DC Smith series. I love British crime fiction, especially books masquerading as procedurals/adventures while exploring human nature deeply. Grainger comes out on top of this list.

3 people found this helpful

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  • wisconsinclark
  • 2022-12-29

Listened non-stop, really enjoyed book 3

Would like a sequel to this story, but either way looking forward to the next book. So interesting to learn a little more about Summer Lane, and the supporting cast of characters were equally interesting. I especially love authors who do not rehash previous books to give a new reader background, You could read this as a standalone, but I suggest starting at the beginning.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Regina
  • 2023-01-02

Book Three

Good continuation of this series. We don't learn anything new about Summer Lane, but a couple new characters are introduced who could potentially add to the series. But I still miss DC Smith...

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  • Donita
  • 2022-12-29

He’s done it again!

I LOVE D.C. Smith with Gildart Jackson narrating and thought I probably wouldn’t find another character so appealing, but with this book Peter Grainger brilliantly reveals the warrior part of Lane without endowing her with super hero abilities (something that distracts and annoys me when seen as part of a film or television program: a 5-foot female overpowering and manhandling a 6-foot male!?!). The story was engaging and the narration superb. I hope very much that he is hard at work on his next book!

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  • Lynn
  • 2022-12-29

Superb, Suspenseful, Satisfying in every way

Loved the two main characters Willows and Lane. Great contrasting strengths make great detective pairs.

Grainger concocts an all too probable horrendous dystopia masquerading as an anti-technology community. Willows and Lane take on the challenge of rescuing a young woman who may not want to be rescued.

Grainger reveals more of Lane's personality in this book as her courageous actions and psychological savvy take on dangerous and complex challenges.

Good narration keeps the well constructed book moving fast and furiously.

Great New Year present from Grainger to us fans who can hardly wait for each new book.

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  • Jonathan Berger
  • 2023-02-28

Not Grainger's best work

I loved the D.C. Smith and King's Lake books right up to the point where they became platforms for Grainger to spout off about the evils of evil evil drugs. I enjoyed the first Willows and Lane book, but they're quickly turning into platforms for spouting off about the extreme wondefulness of the glorious British military. I can tolerate that in small doses -- the D.C. Smith books that centered around Smith's military past were decent enough -- but it gets old real fast in large ones. Arcadia is absolutely drowning in that stuff. I did stick with it to the end, but there were moments when I considered bailing. Like the previous one, about half of the book is devoted to a VERY VERY VERY DETAILED description of what amounts to a military operation, complete with the apparently obligatory "look at all the research I did" descriptions of snazzy military hardware. I'd have preferred a lot less of that and a lot more, you know, plot. And a really serious problem is that we never do find out the answer to a question very much raised by the such plot as there was, basically "what the heck IS going on on that island, anyway?"

On the plus side, I'm very much enjoying the slow but steady development of the relationship between the two main characters. It would be very easy to slip into the Rex Stout paradigm where there are two mutually complementary detectives, one the thinker and the other the doer. Grainger is deftly avoiding that: Emily Willows isn't Miss Marple and Lane isn't Archie Goodwin, and that's a good thing. This aspect of the books is interesting enough that I'll probably give the next one a shot, but honestly, if it's more "military veterans are strong silent tormented manly heroes" for an hour at a time, I may move on. (And it probably will be, because the main veteran character might as well have "potential love interest for Lane" tattooed on his forehead, so I doubt if he's going anywhere.)

The narrator is ok. Not bad. She'd probably seem better if she weren't stuck in the enormous shadow cast by Gildart Jackson, the narrator of the D.C. Smith books and arguably the best narrator on Audible.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Leslie
  • 2023-03-02

Good addition to the series

The book had a bit of a slow start but as always it was a well planned story. It kept my interest up waiting for the next incident to happen. The only drawback was that the ending seemed rushed. I would have appreciated another chapter before the close of the story. Still, this was time well spent.

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  • walter f. morris
  • 2023-02-14

Better and Better

It’s easy for me to recommend each of Peter Grainger’s mysteries. Summer Lane is an intriguing heroine.

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  • Frances
  • 2023-02-07

Uniquely quirky and wonderful characters

At first I didn’t like the reader, but loved her by the end.
She captures the odd charm of the protagonists beautifully.

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  • Deborah
  • 2023-02-04

Outstanding with tantalizing hints for the future

While I dearly love DC Smith and his whole crew, I am enjoying the dynamic between Emily Willows and Summer Lane, especially as Emily is not consigned to the backwater of cozy elderly widow, but shows hidden depths, and there were tantalizing hints of developments to come. Live long and prosper, Peter Grainger, and thank you; we need many more books from you. The narrator’s rather stiff staccato takes a bit of getting used to, but in the end one can’t imagine anyone else for the job.