And Then You Dye

Great story - Monica Ferris has done it again! The performance left a lot to be desired in my estimation. Susan Boyce put emphasis on the wrong words - used inappropriate inflections, and was, in my opinion, hard to listen to.

5 people found this helpful

Stilted narration spoils an okay story

What disappointed you about And Then You Dye?

The mystery itself was okay, but Susan Boyce presented almost all the characters as prissy and stilted. It was as if she was reading to a kindergarten class.



I added "And Then You Dye" to my library when Audible offered it on a reduced price--and I had a $10 coupon. Why not try a mystery series I hadn't known about? If I liked it, I could start at the beginning. I knew going in that starting with # 16 in the Needlecraft Mystery series would mean I'd be getting a lot of shorthand on development of long standing characters, but I was willing to give Monica Ferris the benefit of the doubt

What was most disappointing about Monica Ferris’s story?

.

How could the performance have been better?

The story was reasonably well plotted and included a couple of digressions to flesh out secondary relationships such as those of Godwin and Rafael and Jill and Lars Larson--the sort of thing that readers of mystery series want--and miss if they're left out (like the family dinners in Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series).So. Points for keeping up with the major and minor characters.

What character would you cut from And Then You Dye?

And points also for incorporating a *lot* of information about handicraft dying into the plot without overloading her readers with too much detail. She uses a standard device--bring in an expert to explain the essential points about natural dyes but punctuate her delivery with additional conversation. Further, after setting us up to expect a murder based on poisonous dyes and mordants (see I paid attention), she switches to a plain old death by gunshot. But the dye-ing demonstrations are not irrelevant, as the conclusion makes clear.

Any additional comments?

However, if Susan Boyce represents the way Ferris wants her characters to sound, then I won't be going back to the beginning of the series. ]Boyce. articulates. every. single. word. and. every. sentence. on. a. falling. tone. no. matter. how. complex. it. may. be. And, although Boyce does modulate her voice in an attempt to distinguish the characters, the result is that she sounds like a sheltered first grade teacher reading to a Sunday school class. I will not be listening to any other books she narrates.Just a note: The only way I could get paragraph breaks was to type my comments into the separate boxes. As you can see, the headers don't fit the comments.

2 people found this helpful

Great Story - not so great reading

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

This is the third book in the whole series I've listend to. The others I've read as paperbacks. This show's how much I love this series.
I don't like the narrating of Susan Boyce. She speaks kind of 'choppy' and there is no 'live' in any of the characters. Sorry to say so, but I guess the followings I will read as paperbacks again.

2 people found this helpful

Simply the best

This is the best book in the series. Betsy is clever and tenacious. The mystery is full of twists and turns that moves the plot at a nice pace. All of Betsy's friends are included and they add to the enjoyment of the story.

1 person found this helpful

My first by this author......and last....

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I bought this book because I like "Who done its" and because I'm from Minneapolis, but I wouldn't recommend it to Mpls people, for the reader doesn't know how to pronounce the names of the suburbs. Also, beyond that, I am a knitter and thought is sounded fun. It turned out to be agony just listening to the whole thing. Her characters were incorrectly portrayed; ie.: One may have a head injury but they don't go through such a dramatic personality change. (I'm a physician). Character development was ....Where?? These people were no more intelligent enough, especially the oh so sweet protagonist, to solve a crime and it's very doubtful the police would have appreciated the woman taking over the case. Utter nonsense! I finally just skipped the second half, to the very predictable ending. Don't waste your time. Agatha Christie the author is NOT.

What was most disappointing about Monica Ferris’s story?

The plot

How could the performance have been better?

A different author

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Discust

1 person found this helpful

love this serie!

I think this is book 16 & I can't wait for the next one. I have even dug out an old needlework book that I haven't looked at in ages. It's also fascinating that it's not usually the person I might think it is. I don't see a pattern to be able to pick the guilty out quickly. A true delight! (Beginners - start with the first book. It's worth it!)

I am not old enough for this book

Adding together the robotic narration, extremely elderly (or elderly-coded) characters, and no clue who was the main character was, I had to DNF.

Fan

Really enjoying the books and look forward to the other books. So glad that the original narrator is back

Interesting mystery

I have grown into a major fan of Monica Ferris' mysteries.

Story lines are interesting and characters are great.

Once you read one of her mysteries, you will hurry to get the next one.

Dying, Gardening and Sleuthing

A strong series continues with Book 16, in which a hand dying workshop taught by Hailey Brent, turns a little strange when sparks begin to fly between Hailey and Marge Shultz, the owner of a local garden center. Hailey, well known as a local artist and custom fabric dyer, is later found dead . . . shot to death in her workshop. And Marge comes to Betsy for help in clearing her name in the murder. Betsy is, for the first time, joined by best friend, retired cop, Jill Larson (now married to her cop husband with two small kids). Jill is missing the police department, but her husband wants another baby. 😉 Jill is considering getting her Private Investigators license so she can be of more help to Betsy as she investigates homicides. The book is interesting, with all the usual characters, including the Monday Bunch. I did not figure out who the killer was . . . and was beginning to think that, for the first time, Betsy wasn't going to figure it out either. Enjoyable installment to the series.