Audiobook review: Ghosts in the Abbey by Emily L. Finch Picking up about three months after the conclusion of the previous title, Ghosts in the Abbey finds Samantha living in the country with new friend Madge and her husband....
Audiobook review: Ghosts in the Abbey by Emily L. Finch
Picking up about three months after the conclusion of the previous title, Ghosts in the Abbey finds Samantha living in the country with new friend Madge and her husband. There have been guests all summer, but with the famous Winter Ball coming, the house is filling with all sorts, including a few men who want to court Samantha for her money and several more people interested in gossip over her whereabouts during the summer which concluded with the scandalous death of her childhood friend. The one person Samantha hasn’t heard from is Wyatt, who has been keeping his distance in hopes of protecting her reputation.
Ghosts in the Abbey is an exciting adventure, with a mystery that kept me guessing until nearly the end. There are two parallel problems at hand. First, Lord Rupert, a self-made industrialist with dreams of integrating with the upper crust of London, tasks Wyatt to discreetly discover what happened to his investors’ gold that went missing from its shipping crate. Second, Samantha finds a dead body on Madge’s property and works with Wyatt to figure out who did it. Both mysteries are engaging and well-written. Clues are inserted throughout the narrative, and you never know which lead to the instigator. I enjoyed following along as the pair tries to solve the crimes. Alternating POVs gives the reader a broader interpretation of the clues and allows for a in-depth thought process while following along.
Now that the reader has gotten to know both Samantha and Wyatt, the author takes time to delve deeper into what makes each tick. Samatha is dealing with nightmares and questions her own intuition after Charles’s betrayal and murder. She has trouble trusting Wyatt, especially after he’s stayed away all fall. I loved seeing Samantha deal with her fears and gain back her fortitude. I adore the friendships she’s build with Madge and Lord Aston (Bingo). And for all my romance fans… Wyatt realizes he’s fallen for Samantha and doesn’t know what to do. I adore how Madge always gives it to him straight.
Narration: The story is shared via the alternating third person POVs of Samantha and Wyatt. Lee uses what I would call a proper English accent for the narrator, using the same feminine voice for both POVs. She continues with that voice for Samantha, but alters all other dialogue based on gender and age. Each main character and significant supporting characters are unique and identifiable. I am not an expert on accents, but to my ears, the narrator does a good job altering the voices to suit the social class of each character. Lee also does wonderful job of infusing emotion into to her performance.
Ghosts in the Abbey is a delightful, standalone mystery balance with a personal connection to the MCs; however the series-arching plot regarding Charles’s murder remains open. And with how this one ended, I am eager for the next title to be released.
My Ratings
Story: A-
Narration: A-
Jen
About the Book:
She can’t escape her past . . .
Derbyshire, December 1861. Haunted by the events of the summer, Samantha Kingston has found her retreat to the country less restful than she hoped. When a house party reintroduces V. T. Wyatt into her life after a three-month absence, she has mixed feelings. It doesn’t help that they must keep their distance to stop the gossip mill running. But when Samantha stumbles across the body of someone she recognizes and in whose death she fears she may have played a part, keeping their distance becomes impossible. Working together once again, Samantha and Wyatt must solve a murder that grows more complicated with every clue they uncover. But how does one find a killer who seems to have vanished without a trace?
Author: Emily L. Finch
Narrator: Polly Lee
Series: Samantha and Wyatt Mysteries #2
Genre: Historical Mystery
Audiobook Release Date: November 21, 2023
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Length: 8 hrs; 18 min
Source: publisher
Audio Speed: 1.4x