Dead Old: Book 2 Bev Morriss series

 
Written by: Maureen Carter
Narrated by: Clare Corbett
Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:12-01-14
Publisher: Creative Content
Available from Audible
5 STAR REVIEW
Publishers Summary
From the author of Working Girls - A new Bev Morriss crime noveI.
Flowers are the language of love, what does it mean when a retired, elderly doctor is found dead with a bunch of daffodils callously thrust down her throat?
Murder squad detectives believe Sophia Carrington is the latest victim of a gang of teenagers who have been preying on the old and vulnerable. But Detective Sergeant Bev Morriss reads the message differently...
Squaring up against a vindictive new boss and out of line with most of her colleagues, Bev is convinced the bizarre bouquet carries a far more personal message. Just how personal, she has no idea – until the killing gets closer to home.
©2005 Maureen Carter (P)2014 Creative Content
My Review
Back in May 2015 I reviewed the wonderfully entertaining "Working Girls", the first book in Maureen Carters D.S. Bev Morriss series. Dead Old is the second, I enjoyed the first book so much that I was a bit hesitant to start listening, I feared I'd be disappointed. I needn't have worried, this is a great story.
The book begins with Bev being called out to a case, she is not happy as it's supposedly her day off but there's no one else available. Suffering the effects of a night of heavy drinking with her friends, landing a murder investigation is the last thing she wants.
Arriving on the scene of the crime only serves to make her hangover feel much worse, an old lady lay dead, the bunch of daffodils pushed down her throat proving that this was no accident. At first glance Sophia Carrington appears to be a bag lady, but she is, in fact, a retired doctor.
There are some dark and disturbing aspects to the plot and normally I don't find this good reading but Maureen Carter lightens it with little sprinkles of humour. I also enjoy her ability to describe her characters so well, especially Bev's mum, described as "Delia with a Dyson". Bev is temporarily living with her mother and it's driving Bev mad, when a junior colleague arrives to drive her to work, Bevs mum runs out with a packed lunch for her- in a pink Barbie lunch box! It's little touches like this that improve the readers relationship with the characters.
Another aspect of this particular story is that of the authors ability to convey the human condition such as the invisibility of the elderly, and of how it must feel to go almost unnoticed and disregarded.
I look forward to book three.
Narrator
I hadn't noticed that this book has a different narrator to the first and it was quite a shock to hear something I hadn't expected. I really dislike a change of narrator in a series, all those characters I had come to know now have different voices, completely different voices at that! However, about half way through I got used to Clare, who is a well respected and polished narrator of many books.
Once I adapted to a new reader I thoroughly enjoyed her narration, her voice is easy on the ear, very pleasant, and the pace and rhythm perfect.
The only negative is that her voice just lacked a bit of that "badass" edge, but that's merely an opinion and certainly won't stop me from listening to more of her excellent work.
This is a high quality production with not one noticeable edit, which makes it a first rate product.
Audiobook provided by Creative Content in return for an honest review
 
 

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