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Dead Water
- Narrated by: James Saxon
- Series: Roderick Alleyn, Book 23
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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What listeners say about Dead Water
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Performance
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- F. Baker
- 11-01-22
A magnificence rendering of a twisty tale.
Another favourite Ngaio Marsh tale well performed by James Saxon. His Miss Emily Price is excellent.
This has been one of my favourite detective novels for many years. I love sinking into her worlds and experiencing vicariously the action of the tales. This one with the bewitching Green Lady, spuriously magical spring, the falls, the mounting tension towards the festival, the uncertainty of the murderer's intended victim, all the scattered side issues, expertly gathered up by the author and climaxing into the splendidly dramatic denoument, is a very satisfying read and the audio book is also splendidly satisfying. No disappointment there! Very well done.
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- Tomboy
- 19-03-21
Not the best of Marsh.
Beautifully narrated by James Saxon whose presentation l cannot fault in any manner as some reviewers have done. Each character is drawn with vocal precision by an actor with a deeply rich voice. His mispronunciation of the protagonist's surname - as it should be pronounced purely on the basis of its spelling - is a reasonable mistake which doesn't detract if you know that it's author pronounced it Allen not "A-lane". The story itself, written with the usual sumptuous language, is more of a mild thriller than a whodunnit which explains my reduced number of stars. I concluded quite quickly who the killer is. A clue - it's not the butler.
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- DJDecca
- 25-01-16
Murder in the Highlands
Would you listen to Dead Water again? Why?
I would definitely listen again. It's one of my favorite of Ngaio Marsh's stories and is very well done.
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
I wasn't on the edge of my seat, but I did listen longer than I had planned because I was enjoying it so much.
What about James Saxon’s performance did you like?
I like his characterizations of Chief Inspector Alleyn and Miss Emily. Both were well done.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, but I had to space it out for a bit. It's a fun listen though. Great for a road trip or even your daily commute.
Any additional comments?
If you like this one, you might want to check out the wonderful performances by Benedict Cumberbatch on three of Dame Ngaio's novels. They're excellent.
4 people found this helpful
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- Brett
- 09-10-15
If it is what you want, it is just the ticket.
This is an English mystery of the old school. It's not quite a country house mystery, but set along the same lines. The mystery itself is not so mysterious, but the inspector and his side kicks are all present, and it has a satisfying ending. If you what you are looking for is a comfortable mystery with old friends, this book has it.
The narration itself is competent, transparent, and not at all stagey.
3 people found this helpful
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- notlad
- 12-05-19
Who is Elaine?
Again, a book that narrates the chief character as "Al ain. ' What a pain!! And twice it sounded very much like' Elaine" Even the author says that it is pronounced as" Allen. " I nearly turned it off and asked for a refund because it was so distracting. The story itself is not a favorite.
1 person found this helpful
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- SMB
- 28-03-17
Reasonable Book but Irritating Performance
Where does Dead Water rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It ranks among my ongoing pleasure with the Inspector Alleyn Mysteries.
What other book might you compare Dead Water to and why?
I would compare it to Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and Dorothy Sayers.
Would you listen to another book narrated by James Saxon?
Usually James Saxon is a competent narrator. However, like others, he mispronounces Alleyn's name throughout. I cannot believe that narrators have not been corrected on this by the publishing house. Saxon pronounces the name as "Allaine". Once again I wish someone would let the narrators know that Ngaio Marsh, herself, made it clear that the pronunciation is "Allen". This is just so irritating.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
A very strange group of people live on this island.
1 person found this helpful
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- Virginia
- 21-09-18
Good but for one detail
Narrator James Saxon is good. But it is so jarring when the main character who has appeared in 20 books previous to this has his name mispronounced . But the story is good; not Ngaio Marsh’s Best or her worst. And I do give Saxon credit for the wonderful way he does all of the many voices.