Great listen!

Really enjoyed this book. Disappointed to only see books 1 and 2 of the series on Audible.

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A good listen

The story kept me interested. I was a little disappointed with the lack of appropriate transitions between sections; more of a pause by the narrator would be better to help the listener adjust to the new setting. Overall, I enjoyed it.

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1 person found this helpful

I thoroughly enjoyed this!

The story clips along at a good pace and the protagonists are very likable. The narration was very much to my taste: no attempt to assume different voices for different characters (one of my pet peeves with audiobooks; I find it distracting). A fun perk was that the story was set in my neighbourhood; I don't think I've read anything else set in Ottawa, let alone a five minute walk away. But I would have enjoyed it just as much were it set elsewhere. I have just started the second book in the series, and hope to find more!

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Cold Mourning

I loved this book. The story was engaging from the get go! The narrator was perfect and her intonation really brought the story to life. I will definitely read more from this talented iCanadian author.!

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A fun read.

This was a very fun book for anyone living in Ottawa. The frequent reference to local landmarks kept the story interesting and easily relatable.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good murder-mystery.

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disappointing to listen to

I think some books are supposed to be read instead of listened to and this is definitely one of them. The lady who read this did not have an gripping voice and this dye not help me stay focused and understand and follow the dialogue between characters properly. I also found the delivery, tone and cadence to be stilted and lacking flow. this is a pity because the content that I did glean from this was decent but because it didn't grip me I only could give it three stars.

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Good Read

I am glad I gave this book a try. Good story, nicely fleshed-out characters and a well thought out mystery. I think fans of Gail Bowen will enjoy this series.

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1 person found this helpful

Dripping With Realism

Doubtless residents of Ottawa will recognize landmarks, public activities, and the cultural events over the Christmas season described in this narrative - and that nostalgia may be enough to prompt a listen for some. Personally, I have only been to Ottawa to visit (The Canadian Museum Of Nature is incredible, btw) - but recognize the effort put into giving this Police Procedural a mind's-eye relatable setting.
Brenda Chapman paints an amazingly authentic picture of Southern Ontario in the depths of winter, populates it with relatable, flawed characters, and puts them in often uncomfortably vivid scenarios like rapes, alcoholism, infidelity, and terminal cancer in loved ones. The crime(s) is/are fairly routine and relatively uninteresting (and the investigation is by-the-book & feels oddly rushed much of the time), but the true stars of this book are the gritty setting and true-to-life characters anyway. The result is an imperfect but indisputably passable Crime Fiction offering.

Unfortunately, the story is let down somewhat by distinctly "average" narration from Michelle St John. To be certain, the sound quality courtesy of Dundurn Publishing is exemplary.. and St John delivers solidly professional diction, timbre, and pacing - but she reads with a notable monotone, has an irritating cadence with intermittent deep intakes of breath, and makes no effort at voice-acting at all (characters  - even male versus female - are virtually indistinguishable).

Altogether, I rate 'Cold Mourning' 5.5 stars out of 10. If (as I did) you can get this "adequate" recording as a 'Plus' selection, it's worth the time.
In fact - even if you're not Canadian - this strikingly realistic "this-could-happen" audiobook would rate a Credit if they asked for one.

(I will definitely be listening to Book Two in the 'Stonechild and Rouleau' series)

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An OK read

This book was OK and somewhat entertaining. A lot of filler, so was disappointing in that way. I would probably read another but would be prepared ahead of time as to what I was getting to.

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Hard to listen to

First chapter a rape and abuse scene of two young girls, not my thing. Skipped over it but couldn’t get past the weak writing and stilted reading. Disappointing.

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