I've never returned an Audible book before...

First impression was that the writing was of very poor quality; sounds like it was written by a middle school student. I kept thinking that I wanted to edit the writing despite the fact that I'm neither a writing teacher nor a writer. But I can put up with that easily enough. The narrator was probably OK, but I don't think there was any way for her to make the stilted writing flow nicely, so I won't blame her for the fact that the narration isn't that great. Next I noticed that the woman the story was about had a somewhat weird relationship with her daughter, not that bad but just "off." But that was a small part of the story, so not such a problem. BTW, the story is about a woman and her detective husband who solve murder mysteries. The worst part of the story was how she and her husband bullied everyone they questioned about the murder. They were extremely nasty when had no observable reason to be nasty at all. It didn't appear that the author was writing the story as a way to critique them; it seems she was clueless as to the fact that her main characters were horrible people that were extremely rude and had no social skills. I know that the police can be nasty and that some police are really bad characters, but it is generally the bad guy police in mystery stories that are belligerent and offensive, not the main characters; they are usually the heroes and are reasonably pleasant people. I listen to murder mysteries when life is too hectic for me to have the motivation to listen to anything more informative. I generally find them relaxing. Not so this series, at least so far. Even the solution to the first mystery was boring, providing no satisfaction. I managed to get through the first story, hoping against hope that there would be some redeeming reason the main characters had been so awful so far. I haven't come across that reason yet, so perhaps the author might just be a belligerent person herself, one who doesn't realize how inappropriate it is to act like a jerk all the time; I can only speculate on her motivation for creating these two characters, but that is the only theory I've come up with so far. The main message in the stories seems to be that it is justifiable to be nasty to people for no reason since, who knows, they just might be guilty of something even though you have reason to be lead to that conclusion. The main characters in the story were the kind of people you definitely don't need in your life, the kind you should go out of your way to avoid. In my 68 years, I've only met a few of these types of people, fortunately, but there definitely are some of them around. However, I can't fathom why the author wanted to make them her main characters since she offers no way for the reader to understand the choice, at least not in the first book or first part of the second one. I don't think I can listen to this super untalented and unpleasant writer long enough to get through the second story. I did give it a try just to see if her storytelling and her characters had improved. No sign of it so far, and I've gotten really bored with the second story. I'm going to try to return this set of books.

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Awful

The narration is so boring I’m returning the book. The writing is also very bland. Don’t bother.

1 person found this helpful

Extremely enjoyable

I found this six book set to be an extremely enjoyable listen. It has a great combination of mystery, murder, suspense and humor. I have absolutely enjoyed every book from Meredith Potts that I have read or listened to.

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Mysteries of Treasure Cove Series

Murder and Chocolate Fudge Cake--One of Sabrina's oldest friends is murdered and she's on the case with her husband. What makes it particularly difficult is that he has a 19 yr old daughter whose mother passed years before and she isn't on good terms with her step mother. His current wife is a suspect because they were in a bitter divorce. It was completely perplexing that her friend is dead. Now she needs to find who did the deed. Carrie Burgess brings each character to life. Her voice draws you into the story and the emotional turmoil that Sabrina is going through.
Fantastic audio!!


Murder and Layer Cake---Sabrina and David are trying to find the murderer of a friend. There are as usual too many suspects and the finding of the murder is a long route for both of them. The biggest problem is that all the suspects all act suspicious. David and Sabrina are tired and discouraged...until Sabrina gets an idea.


Murder and Chocolate Cake--David and Sabrina Carlson are on the case once again. The killer of her sister 17 yrs before has escaped. She's very concerned about this convict coming after her family to get even for being put into prison. Their daughter is sent off while Sabrina and David go about trying to find Wade. They encounter testy suspects and non suspects who seem intent on just causing them inconvenience. Slow but sure will find the escaped convict.
Carrie is a remarkable narrator who will bring the story to life with her tones and her voices for the characters. I especially like how she makes David sound like a put upon husband and policeman.
In all this is a fantastic story!!


Murder and Citrus Cream Cake--a good friend is killed and the suspect is the man's wife. Can Sabrina and David find the murderer to make him pay?


Murder and Cherry Cake--Sabrina and David are out to dinner with their friends, Gavin and Angela. Then the next morning Sabrina gets a frantic call from Gavin letting her know that Angela had disappeared. She calls David and they head to Angela's place. This disappearance brings back bad memories of the time decades before when her sister went missing and then years later her body was found. Now her and David are on the hunt for the perpetrator with hope that Angela would still be alive.Carrie Burgess is a great narrator. Her voice takes on each character and brings them to life.
Fantastic audio and story.


Murder and Vanilla Cake--just when things seem to be quiet all heck breaks loose. There's been a murder and the near-suspects are coming out little by little. The murdered man's girlfriend, his ex wife and his girlfriend's soon are heading the list. Who killed him?The narrator is fantastic and brings the characters to life with pizzazz and emotion.
Fantastic audio!!

1 person found this helpful

I didn't much care for these books

These stories were hard to get into, I feel like I missed an important part of one of the stories so I went back and re-listened and I hadn't. The narrator felt like she was just reading instead of bringing the characters to life. I really wanted to like this set since I love cozy mysteries. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic Box Set

Mysteries of Treasure Cove Series: Six Book Bundle was a great read by Meredith Potts. This book bundle consists of; Murder and Chocolate Fudge Cake, Murder and Layer Cake, Murder and Chocolate Cake, Murder and Citrus Cream Cake, Murder and Cherry Cake, and Murder and Vanilla Cake. Sabrina Carlson is an amateur sleuth who starts investigating the deaths that start happening in Treasure Cove. I really loved reading these books by Meredith Potts and believe that Carrie Burgess did a great job of narrating these great stories.

1 person found this helpful

Another great Meredith Potts read!

Murder & Chocolate Fudge Cake, A cute, well-written & enjoyable clean cozy mystery, my fourth read in this series.
Murder and Layer Cake. Anpther cute, well-written clean cozy mystery., the first in the series.
Murder and Chocolate Cake, Anothercute, well-written clean cozy mystery, the second in this series.
Murder and Citrus Cream Cake, Another cute, well-written & enjoyable clean cozy mystery, the third in this series.
Murder and Cherry Cake, Anpther cute, well-written & enjoyable clean cozy mystery, the fourth in this series.
Murder and Vanilla Cake My seventeenth short read from author Meredith Potts, Another cute, well-written & enjoyable clean cozy mystery, the sixth in this series. I I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. I was impressed and enjoyed the vocal variety & inflections of narrator Carrie Burgess. I look forward to reading more from this author. So good that I just went out & added 2 more books in the series to my TBR list! (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

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Almost 18hs of enjoyment

Murder and Chocolate Fudge Cake
This is the first book in a new series, in which Sabrina and David are married, and they have a 10 years old daughter.
What I really enjoyed (aside of the mystery!) was the glimpse in their everyday life. It was really lovely =D And we get to see most of the old friends we met in the previous series, and see how they are doing \o/
But the calm is soon broken by a murder, and not a stranger's murder, but the one of a dear Sabrina's friend. She and David must find the murderer, not only to their own closure but for the daughter of his friend, too.
The narration was really good, and adds to the enjoyment of the book.
Another nice story that will be enjoyed for those who like clean cosy mysteries =D

Murder and Layer Cake
Oh, Sabrina, married to David, and with a daughter! Still sleuthing, still brave and witty, and still at Treasure Cove!
And we know quite a bit about the characters in this book, so it's easy to understand them and follow the plot.
Another nice and quick listen, ideal for the lovers of the genre.
And the reading was great, too.

Murder and Chocolate Cake
This story feels more thrilling because this time is personal. The two most violent murderers that David and Sabrina have previously incarcerated have escaped from prison, and one of them is the man that murdered Sabrina's sister. I love how the first thing they do is send everybody in their family well far away, to keep them as safe as possible :)
This is yet another wonderful book by Meredith Potts, and a must for lovers of the genre.
The narration was really good, although for some reason, this time I didn't love it.

Murder and Citrus Cream Cake
I love Sabrina and David solving cases together. I love the little glimpses into their private lives... when they are not chasing after suspects :P
This is yet another lovely story that would enchant to those who enjoy clean cosies mysteries.
As always, the narrator does a superb job.

Murder and Cherry Cake
This one begins with a shock, when a former suspect shows up, drunk and aggressive, at Sabrina's home while David is at work, and she and her daughter are there. Talk about a bad moment! And I bet Sabrina was really grateful to her pepper spray :P
And when everything seems to be going well again, Sabrina's friend, Angela, disappears. Of course, this brings memories of Jessica, making the search for Angela even more frantic. And the end! What a surprising twist!
As always, this is an entertaining, clean read and Carrie Burgess does a splendid job with the narration.

Murder and Vanilla Cake
Sabrina and her husband David are again solving a murder together. With familiar characters and the usual fun, this is an easy to listen book.
Another nice addition to the series.

1 person found this helpful

Horrible Narrator

Struggled to listen to this. T he narrator was not a good reader. She could not follow the punctuation correctly and she was monotone. She only changed a few voices. I made it hard to follow characters.
Also the author changed her style. David was very nasty to every suspect and the suspects all acted the same. why did we need to be told he was 47 all the time?
I only listened to this collection be cause I had already listened to the first 8. I was ininvested in the chatacters.

I said, she said, he said

Narration surrounding conversation gets very frustrating. I find I'm filling in what words will come next simply because the author can't move into a smooth dialogue. I'm having a difficult time enjoying a story because it is so distracting. If I'm playing out loud even my husband has started to fill in the blanks during dialogues. Stories seem passible but not realistic with a lot of good cop bad cop posturing. As for the narrator I believe she must be Canadian reading about a California woman. I keep hearing Canadian English pop out so that also adds to the distraction for me. I want to like it but I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish.