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  • Booked for Murder

  • Lindsay Gordon, Book 5
  • By: Val McDermid
  • Narrated by: Caroline Guthrie
  • Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (157 ratings)
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Booked for Murder cover art

Booked for Murder

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Caroline Guthrie
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Summary

Why would anyone want to kill Penny Varnavides, bestselling author of the 'Teen Dreams' series? Her demise can't be the freak accident it first appeared – it's an exact replica of the murder method in her forthcoming book. 

Only three people knew the plot of Penny's unpublished novel: her literary agent, her editor and her ex-girlfriend Meredith. In an effort to clear Meredith, Lindsay Gordon delves beneath the glittering facade of the seemingly glamorous world of London publishing in search of a murderer. 

While hobnobbing with industry notables, Lindsay encounters an unsavoury mix of soured relationships, desperate power plays, underhanded fraud, and seething rivalries. Who, amongst this sordid group, wanted Penny Varnavides dead?  

©1996 Val McDermid (P)2018 W. F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

“Funny and scary by turns; always sharp.” (Daily Telegraph

“The writing is tough and colourful, the scene setting excellent.” (Times Literary Supplement)   

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What listeners say about Booked for Murder

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Narration makes Dick Can Dyck in Mary Poppins look as if he went to RADA

These accents are THE WORST have ever heard! How did Val Mc Dermid agree to this version? The narrator is Scottish she cannot manage the Liverpudlian, Belfast, London, East London or Californian accents at all. Additionally she repeatedly relapse into Scottish.
The story line is simple yet continually over explained.
Who Dunnit? Fairly obvious.
Very very disappointing audio book.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, narrators attempted accents lamentable

Usual great storyline and quality of writing from Val Mcdermid but the narrators attempt at accents were very distracting. in her favour, her intonation and punctuation was good, so story still flowed in the way the author wrote it

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed Val McDermid fan

I found the narration absolutely dreadful and the attempts at American & Liverpool accents became so annoying that I could not finish the book. The plot was simply sub standard and this is coming from a big Val McDermid fan. Extremely disappointing.

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3 people found this helpful

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

ruined by awful narration

Please don't try to do accents again, Caroline G. So distracting. Worse than my ex-husbands awful impressions.And that's pretty bad.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Below expectations

Having read many other Val McDermid publications, this came as an unpleasant surprise.
Unfortunately, I can find nothing to recommend this book. Simple plot, lack of variety of characters, lacking narration, all added to a tedious listen.
My first, and, if I can’t find exceptionally encouraging reviews, my last Lindsay Gordon tale.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Accents by narrator ruin this

This is not one of Val's best stories but it was thoroughly spoilt by the atrocious accents of the narrator.
I did make it to the end but honestly felt the narration took away from what was an OK story.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

not recommended

really not engaging enough for me. Quite full in places. About 100 pages too long. Dated and didn't enjoy it.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Narration

I was actually laughing out loud at the narrators accents. It was so off putting and not for me at all. Sorry everyone involved.

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

Not her best

I got confused by who the largely female cast were and found the narrator's grasp of accents laughable. Quite well plotted but I felt I really didn't care about the characters or how the story turned out.

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

Not a great crime drama

I found the narrator irritating in her attempts to fi accents. The story seemed to relay too much on the relationships between the mainly women involved. Not enough about the crimes.

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