Murder by Candlelight cover art

Murder by Candlelight

Val & Arbie Mysteries, Book 1

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Murder by Candlelight

By: Faith Martin
Narrated by: John Hopkins
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About this listen

One suspicious death. Two amateur sleuths. And an utterly impossible crime…

The NUMBER ONE ebook bestseller!

'Amuses and intrigues in equal measure… a splendid start to what promises to be a long-running series’ Daily Mail

**************************************************

The Cotswolds, 1924. At the Old Forge in the quiet village of Maybury-in-the-Marsh a cry of anguish rings out: lady of the house Amy Phelps has been discovered dead. But with all the windows and doors to her room locked from inside, how – and by whom – was she killed?

Arbuthnot ‘Arbie’ Swift finds himself in the unlikely position of detective. The celebrated author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Ghost-Hunting is staying at the Old Forge to investigate a suspected spectre, but now the more pressing matter of Amy’s murder falls to him too.

With old friend Val, he soon uncovers a sorry tale of altered wills, secret love affairs and tragic losses – and plenty of motives for murder. When events take another sinister turn, Arbie must find the killer, fast. And to do so will mean cracking a most perfectly plotted crime…

Perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, The Appeal and The Marlow Murder Club, don’t miss this stunning new series from the multi-million bestselling author!

©2024 Faith Martin (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Amateur Sleuths Cosy Crime Crime Fiction Detective Domestic Thrillers Fiction Historical Mystery Thriller & Suspense Murder Feel-Good Village

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I truly enjoyed this tale, I like Arbie and his uncle too! Arbie is written in the traditional self-effacing Englishman style that Hugh Grant used to pull off in his early movies. He essentially just wants to be left alone to loaf about, as a reticent English aristocrat.

However, his friends won’t let him. One has convinced/coerced him into writing a book, which turns out to be a bestseller - much to his dismay - it means being persuaded to pen a sequel.
The other friend (potential girlfriend), convinces/coerces him into solving the ghost mystery that is bothering the local “Lady of the Manor”, even more so when said lady ends up dead!

This is no bumbling or foolish amateur dramatics. The Detective assigned to the case is not an ineffectual, hapless, overwhelmed character. In fact, everyone is just right! Even the ones who are so wrong!

This is a lovely start to what I think will hopefully be an endearing series.

Unlike others, it took me a while to get accustomed to the narrator. It wasn’t the voice that I was expecting for such a youthful character, but he did a fine job and I acclimatised myself to his voice in due course. I have preordered book 2 - not due until January 2025.

Very Clever and Very Cute

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Enjoyed book very much and there were some red herrings. Look forward to more .The narrator excellent.

Wonderful narration

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I really enjoyed this audiobook, because it harks back to the golden age of mystery books from Agatha Christie, etc. Nothing gruesome or disturbing, but just a good old period mystery, that pits a supernatural sceptic against a spooky murderer... or so it seems. There are some great comic moments too that had me giggling to myself.

The narrator did a great job with the voices, differentiating between the various characters and the period accents were just so in tune with the book.

Very enjoyable and I look forward to future books in this series.

Good old fashioned murder mystery

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I enjoyed the performance very much snd lijed the characters.the conclusion came perhaps X bit too suddenly

the humor in it

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Enjoyed the relationship between the two main characters and the light hearted plot. Took a while to get going though.

The two likeable main characters

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What a lovely book. Very gentle, don't expect a fiendish plot, but the main characters are likeable and the narration by John Hopkins is really good EXCEPT that the young woman 'detective' sounds like Ian McKellern's Christmas dame! I've no idea where he got the idea from for that voice !!!!

Really enjoyable cosy mystery

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Interesting characters and storyline. Sometimes amusing and really very well narrated. Overall extremely enjoyable. Looking forward to more Val and Arbie mysteries.

Different and engaging

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Loved it!! I really enjoy Faith Martin.First one of these I’ve read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Was so English murder Mystery and Christiesque. The upper-class/middle-class and lower-class of the time and the RP English is hilarous! Loved it. 🥰

Murder by Candelight

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Good story and characters. the voice work on female characters was a tad off putting. If it's the same reader for the next one I'd probably buy the book.

well written cozy mystery

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Really enjoyed this book. Story line was captivating and the narrator did a fantastic job varying the voices of each character.

Great book, well delivered

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