Lord James Harrington and the Winter Mystery
Series: Lord James Harrington Mysteries, Book 1
By: Lynn Florkiewicz / Narrated By: David Thorpe
Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
Had its charm, but I do wonder about its definition of “Winter”
Seriously. Cuz it’s like this, see… Over here in Central Texas, Winter is having it’s laaaast gasp, and I did so wish to get in one last book to be chucked over into our Seasons’ Listens. So I was thrilled to be able to add this audiobook, esPECially as I’m kinda sorta starting to get the hang of Mystery listening (Usually I’m too big a dolt to tease clues out, am TOTALLY into falling for red herrings, kinda blithely listen along without wondering too terribly much about just Whodunnit).
But it’s 1957 in the tiny village of Cavendish. And it’s Winter… as in October… as in HUH?!? Maybe it’s just me, but I was preeeetty sure that was Autumn. And that mayhem occurs after a Halloween party? And then reeeeal mayhem occurs further on Guy Fawkes Night (Early November)? No, really. I’m awfully certain that’s, like, very very very much Autumn…
Okay, so lemme just stop with my self-indulgent quibbling and give ya the nitty gritty about what wound up as a fairly charming little listen.
Lord James Harrington is our smooth and debonair hero, living in Cavendish with his wife Beth. They’re the head of society, give all sorts of socials, hobnob with the hoi polloi. They like their entertainments, love a good murder mystery show on the radio, so when a neighboring farmer is found dead in his home, it’s almost like a nifty little story was dropped into their, or primarily, James’s lap. Tho’ the death is being ruled natural causes, James isn’t so sure; as a matter of fact, he’s drop dead positive ill-intent is behind it all.
As he starts looking into things, bringing his findings to his buddy Detective Chief Inspector George Lane, he gets in deeper and deeper, and things start to happen. Baaaad things; things that leave the new Vicar with a concussion, and a Guy Fawkes effigy to be burned as actually even more murder. George fights Harrington the whole way, until the whole Guy Fawkes thing, cuz yet another murder attempt is kinda sorta serious, and things hit a dizzying sort of climax only after a gazillion and six suspects are thrown into the mix. Motives abound, as NOOObody liked the farmer, and once some priceless artifacts are discovered all bets are off. There are shady dealings, shifty alibis, and all of this takes place as we’re drawn into the charm of village life with all its many and varied village kooks.
As I said, I’m tryyyyying to get more into mysteries, turn them more into a participation Listen rather than just rolling along and seeing how things turned out. And for the most part, I must say that I did, okay, if not well, then certainly better as I had a few ideas here and there as to who might’ve had a hand in each bout of mayhem. But I must say that I was pretty woefully wrong with my “hunches”, and I totally fell for each red herring. I know, I’m not very proud of that—I’m a mystery writer’s perfect audience as I obviously can be led by the nose. So I dunno how true avid fans of mysteries will like this audiobook, maybe it’s a bit cheesy on the fundamentals. Plus, NOW I'm starting to notice that ol’ device whereby, at the end, when our hero is in danger of being offed by the real killer/perpetrator, a huuuuge admission of guilt is proclaimed and all bits and pieces are drawn together, tied up in a neat little bow, and are handed to the protagonist before he is to meet his demise. So, is that lazy writing? Cheating? Is it harder to have all explained in other ways?
Dunno. All I can say is that perhaps I’m stiiiiill to be considered pretty gosh darned lazy as I was, like, all “AHA!!!” and fairly satisfied with the explanations.
David Thorpe was a jolly narrator of all of this, making Harrington all cool without being a cheesy “007” British knockoff. And I did so love his voice for George, making him all gruff and surly and hyper serious. I did wonder a bit about his voice for wife Beth, as she’s supposed to have a bit of a remnant of a Boston accent from over a decade and a half in that city, but oh well. One simply does NOT run across a Brit who’s spot on for American accents all the time, so I was willing to forgive him. Besides which, he performs each of the village characters with great aplomb, and I especially liked the Vicar’s wife who was soooo very titillated by murder on her doorstep—how unseemly in a Vicar’s wife!
A nice little ditty here then, when all is said and done. Plus, the ever-peckish Harrington’s dining habits made me pretty danged hungry.
I’ll definitely be heading on over to the next Lord James Harrington mystery; it’s a Spring one, so huzzah!
That said, however. I doooo wonder if, like, New Year’s Eve or something is going to be author Lynn Florkiewicz’s definition of Spring. If it is, trust me: I’ll be whining and quibbling about it… and THEN I’ll get to the review…!
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