Story: 2 starsNarration: 3 starsFull review at Tempting ReadsI can admit that I have wanted to read this book since first seeing the blurb in the Julia London newsletter. I hadn't read but one of her other Hadley Green series but the blurb stuck in my mind and wouldn't let go. Learning it was going to be simultaneously released in audio, narrated by one of my favorite narrators EVER--Justine Eyre--sealed the deal.However, it did not turn out as well as I had anticipated. I had several problems with and I'm not sure if it is because I listened to it and these issues just sounded worse when said out loud or if the book and myself never connected. I didn't like the grandmother. Although I don't condone corporal punishment upon the elderly, I wouldn't have blinked if that woman had gotten slapped. Hard. She came off as shifty and seriously whacked. Like two faces of Eve, medication is never going to fix this, eventually kill people in their sleep, whacked. The narration really brought out the faults in this story for me. Whether that was due to narrator interpretation or bad writing, I don't know. I personally don't think it was the narrator's fault. Eyre's performance was quite pleasant. I could tell the difference in the males and females, Scottish and English, and the main characters personalities (unfortunately) shown through clearly. Her pacing flowed, the pauses were natural and there were no noticeable inhalation of breaths. She was Morgan Freeman in a Mike Meyers movie, too cool to be contained...I don't know if I will read another Julia London title after this. I may if the library gets a copy and I can read it. I do know I won't be listening to any more of them if given the opportunity. It is sometimes easier to ignore a story's weaknesses when you read it; like in real life, it's much harder to ignore it when someone else points it out.
