Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • A Monstrous Commotion

  • The Mysteries of Loch Ness
  • By: Gareth Williams
  • Narrated by: Andrew Cullum
  • Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
A Monstrous Commotion cover art

A Monstrous Commotion

By: Gareth Williams
Narrated by: Andrew Cullum
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Adventures in Cryptozoology cover art
The Book of Unexplained Mysteries cover art
Who Was Jack the Ripper? cover art
Sasquatch cover art
The Dragon Behind the Glass cover art
Becoming a Marine Biologist cover art
UFOs and Aliens cover art
Between Man and Beast cover art
Abominable Science! cover art
Cryptozoology cover art
Underwater Mysteries cover art
Finding Franklin cover art
Vaquita cover art
The Great Phonograph in the Sky cover art
Brave Companions cover art
Disneyland of the Gods cover art

Summary

The Loch Ness monster: a creature that should have died out with the dinosaurs or a legend built on hoaxes and wishful thinking?

Sir Peter Scott, internationally renowned naturalist and president of the World Wildlife Fund, was convinced that the monster existed. So were senior scientists at London's Natural History Museum and Chicago University; they lost their jobs because they refused to renounce their belief in the creature. For decades the scientific establishment was determined to quash attempts to investigate Loch Ness - until Nature, the world's greatest research journal, published an article by Peter Scott featuring underwater photographs of the monster.

Drawing extensively on new material, Gareth Williams takes a wholly original look at what really happened in Loch Ness. A Monstrous Commotion tells the story as never before: a gripping saga populated by colourful characters who do extraordinary things in pursuit of one of evolution's wildest cards.

Meticulously researched and dazzlingly written, this book will appeal to anyone fascinated by nature and its mysteries - and to everyone who enjoys a beautifully crafted detective story with a strong cast of heroes and villains, plenty of twists and an unexpected ending.

Read by Andrew Cullum and featuring a postscript narrated by the author.

©2015 Gareth Williams (P)2016 Orion Publishing Group
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about A Monstrous Commotion

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Intriguing, amusing, but a bit too long!

A very thorough journey through the history of Nessie 'sightings' mainly beginning in the 1930s when a spate of reports led to expeditions to the Loch, both academic and amateur, through surges of interest in the '60s and '90s. The characters in the chase to prove once-and-for-all the existence of a monster and just what it really was are examined in fine detail. Hopeful tourists continue to flood in, but Loch Ness is still holding on to its mystery.

Sir Peter Scott actually gave the monster a scientific name in the hope that it could be officially protected from over-enthusiastic hunters - a name with a rather unfortunate anagram.

Nessie hunters come in all guises, and some with ingenious ideas (and inventions). Careers and reputations have been made and lost for the cause. So many characters that, about two chapters from the end, my attention began to wander - there is only so much a reader can take in!


Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

It started out really good but....

I strongly recommend the guest 20% of the book. After that stop. It's soooooo boring and just rambles on with no point. I wish I'd stopped earlier so that I could have returned it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Monstrous Commotion about nothing.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If they like science and are interested in unexplained phenomenon then yes. Not sure otherwise.

What did you like best about this story?

It traced the history and then explained why the monster is unlikely to exist.

Which character – as performed by Andrew Cullum – was your favourite?

Don't have a favourite.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

no.

Any additional comments?

I found this book difficult to follow as there were so many characters and lots of information. will need to listen to it more to really get to grips with it all.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!