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The Ghost of Christmas Past
- Molly Murphy Mysteries
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 7 hrs
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The Ghost of Christmas Past
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Murphy's Law
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- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Molly Murphy always knew she'd end up in trouble, just as her mother predicted. So, when she commits murder in self-defense, she flees her cherished Ireland, under cover of a false identity, for the anonymous shores of late 19th-century America. When she arrives in New York and sees the welcoming promise of freedom in the Statue of Liberty, Molly begins to breathe easier. But when a man is murdered on Ellis Island, a man Molly was seen arguing with, she becomes a prime suspect in the crime.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it!
- By MJ on 2019-10-26
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Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4 out of 5 stars 32
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Scam
- By Anonymous User on 2021-12-26
Written by: Rhys Bowen
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Evans Above
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Evan Evans is a young police constable who has traded in the violence of city life for idyllic Llanfair, a Welsh village tucked far away from trouble. Nestled among the Snowdonia mountain range, Llanfair looks to Constable Evans like a town forgotten by time, but he quickly learns that even the bucolic countryside has its share of eccentric - and deadly - characters.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A trip to Wales
- By annemarie on 2019-05-16
Written by: Rhys Bowen
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Cherringham - A Cosy Crime Series Compilation
- Cherringham 1-3
- Written by: Matthew Costello, Neil Richards
- Narrated by: Neil Dudgeon
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 127
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
Jack's a retired ex-cop from New York, seeking the simple life in Cherringham. Sarah's a Web designer who's moved back to the village find herself. But their lives are anything but quiet as the two team up to solve Cherringham's criminal mysteries. This compilation contains episodes 1 - 3: MURDER ON THAMES, MYSTERY AT THE MANOR and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Lots of fun!
- By Lucy on 2019-10-05
Written by: Matthew Costello, and others
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Above the Bay of Angels
- A Novel
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
Isabella Waverly only means to comfort the woman felled on a London street. In her final dying moments, she thrusts a letter into Bella’s hand. It’s an offer of employment in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace, and everything the budding young chef desperately wants: an escape from the constrictions of her life as a lowly servant. In the stranger’s stead, Bella can spread her wings. Arriving as Helen Barton from Yorkshire, she pursues her passion for creating culinary delights, served to the delighted Queen Victoria herself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Storyteller
- By patti on 2020-02-21
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The Victory Garden
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong 21-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage. When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. It’s here that Emily discovers the long-forgotten journals of a medicine woman who devoted her life to her herbal garden.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not this author's best work
- By Alissa on 2019-03-16
Written by: Rhys Bowen
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Murphy's Law
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Molly Murphy always knew she'd end up in trouble, just as her mother predicted. So, when she commits murder in self-defense, she flees her cherished Ireland, under cover of a false identity, for the anonymous shores of late 19th-century America. When she arrives in New York and sees the welcoming promise of freedom in the Statue of Liberty, Molly begins to breathe easier. But when a man is murdered on Ellis Island, a man Molly was seen arguing with, she becomes a prime suspect in the crime.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!
- By MJ on 2019-10-26
Written by: Rhys Bowen
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 32
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Scam
- By Anonymous User on 2021-12-26
Written by: Rhys Bowen
-
Evans Above
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Evan Evans is a young police constable who has traded in the violence of city life for idyllic Llanfair, a Welsh village tucked far away from trouble. Nestled among the Snowdonia mountain range, Llanfair looks to Constable Evans like a town forgotten by time, but he quickly learns that even the bucolic countryside has its share of eccentric - and deadly - characters.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A trip to Wales
- By annemarie on 2019-05-16
Written by: Rhys Bowen
-
Cherringham - A Cosy Crime Series Compilation
- Cherringham 1-3
- Written by: Matthew Costello, Neil Richards
- Narrated by: Neil Dudgeon
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 127
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
Jack's a retired ex-cop from New York, seeking the simple life in Cherringham. Sarah's a Web designer who's moved back to the village find herself. But their lives are anything but quiet as the two team up to solve Cherringham's criminal mysteries. This compilation contains episodes 1 - 3: MURDER ON THAMES, MYSTERY AT THE MANOR and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lots of fun!
- By Lucy on 2019-10-05
Written by: Matthew Costello, and others
-
Above the Bay of Angels
- A Novel
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
Isabella Waverly only means to comfort the woman felled on a London street. In her final dying moments, she thrusts a letter into Bella’s hand. It’s an offer of employment in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace, and everything the budding young chef desperately wants: an escape from the constrictions of her life as a lowly servant. In the stranger’s stead, Bella can spread her wings. Arriving as Helen Barton from Yorkshire, she pursues her passion for creating culinary delights, served to the delighted Queen Victoria herself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Storyteller
- By patti on 2020-02-21
Written by: Rhys Bowen
-
The Victory Garden
- Written by: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong 21-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage. When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. It’s here that Emily discovers the long-forgotten journals of a medicine woman who devoted her life to her herbal garden.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not this author's best work
- By Alissa on 2019-03-16
Written by: Rhys Bowen
Publisher's Summary
From Rhys Bowen, the author of In Farleigh Field, comes the next Molly Murphy mystery: The Ghost of Christmas Past.
Semi-retired private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is suffering from depression after a miscarriage following her adventure in San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. She and her husband, Daniel, are invited for Christmas at a mansion on the Hudson, and they gratefully accept, expecting a peaceful and relaxing holiday season. Not long after they arrive, however, they start to feel the tension in the house's atmosphere. Then they learn that the host couple's young daughter wandered out into the snow ten years ago and was never seen again.
Molly can identify with the mother's pain at never knowing what happened to her child and wants to help, but there is so little to go on. No ransom note. No body ever found. But Molly slowly begins to suspect that the occupants of the house know more than they are letting on. Then, on Christmas Eve, there is a knock at the door and a young girl stands there. "I'm Charlotte," she says. "I've come home."
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What listeners say about The Ghost of Christmas Past
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Wayne
- 2017-12-23
Wonderful light historical mystery!
I must start by admitting there is a very special place in my heart for the historical mystery novels of author Janet Quin-Harkin writing using the pen name of Rhys Bowen. First there was her Constable Evan Evans series beginning in 1999 followed by her Molly Murphy series beginning in 2001of which this novel is the 17th then followed by Her Royal Spyness series with the 12th novel to be published next summer and finally this year's possible standalone WWII novel In Farleigh Field. The lady is 76 years old and she continues to prolifically write wonderful historical mystery novels.
The Molly Murphy series starts with Molly being a very young private detective in Great Britain. The early novels were light and fun, but then she moves to the US and gets married to policeman Daniel Sullivan and has a son. Then she and her family are caught in the San Francisco earthquake in a harrowing experience. The Ghost of Christmas Past finds Molly and their two year old son in New York with her husband just returning from a brief assignment with the federal government in Washington DC to hopefully his police captains job in New York. The year is likely 1908, but the novel does not make the year clear. Molly is deeply depressed grieving a miscarriage and it is the Christmas season. The Sullivan family along with their Irish governess are invited to spend the holiday with a wealthy family outside NYC. This novel is not so much about Christmas as about a complex web of criminal issues related to the family they are visiting for the holiday. Molly Murphy Sullivan quickly adapts to her detective self and works toward resolving the issues helping her overcome her grieving.
Rhys Bowen packs a lot of action and complexity into this shorter than usual 7 hour audio novel. As always with this series British voice over actress Nicola Barber narrates superbly. All of Bowen's series have different narrators and all are great, but Her Royal Spyness narrator Katherine Kellgren is my favorite.
Each novel and each short story in her series are standalone, but to fully appreciate one of her series read the novels in order.
29 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sundance
- 2017-12-22
Great Molly Murphy!
Rhys Bowen writes a more upbeat story with this book than some of her other recent works. Some of her other Molly Murphy mysteries are too upsetting and disturbing. This one has the vibrant Molly and her family and friends without too much angst. It was more enjoyable to read.
11 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Simone
- 2017-12-21
Enjoyable
A cute, satisfying, entertaining chapter in the life of Molly Murphy.
Looking forward to more.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dtmurphy1
- 2017-12-21
too short
the story is only 7 hours long. I it was good and the narration was excellent . but I feel cheated. I like a more in-depth mystery and antagonist development.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Diane tippens
- 2017-12-22
Another good Molly adventure!
always enjoy these stories about Molly and her adventures...and the narration is excellent! Also adds to the enjoyment..Looking forward to the book..
..
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- D. Dlux
- 2017-12-24
Christmas Treat
Loved it! Perfect Christmas read that focuses more on the a satisfying mystery rather than the Sullivans. Please keep more Molly Murphy series booking coming.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Deborah Discenza
- 2023-02-16
Another delightful Molly Murphy mystery
Really enjoyed this one. The character development, the setting, the history. It’s all a very satisfying read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anna O
- 2023-02-03
Interesting cold case - worth the investment
My first ever Molly Murphy Mystery. I loved the narration, beautiful accent and nicely paced. A lot of the history of Molly and her husband, Daniel, from earlier books is taken as understood. However Molly's monologue exploring her depression gives a synopsis of earlier events. The story builds slowly, lots of domestic details as Molly and her family travel to a mansion on the Hudson to join her mother-in-law and friend for Christmas.
The three year old daughter of the host family disappeared into the snow one Christmas 10 years earlier. No body was ever found and no ransom note sent. As a semi-retired private investigator, Molly's interest is piqued in this cold case. I enjoyed the atmospheric details of times past in the lives of the privileged, especially the meals served (had me salivating) and the Christmas rituals. I loved the secondary characters, especially the ladies. The outcome is bitter sweet. Have tissues handy.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J. Perez
- 2023-01-22
One of my favorites
A really good story now rated perfectly. I highly recommend it. It Was like watching a movie
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mystery Fan
- 2023-01-21
Fluff
Fluff but fun. A well constructed story with appropriate villains and heroes. Got it on sale and was good value.