Jury of One

Lindenshaw Mysteries, Book 2

De: Charlie Cochrane

Narrado por: David Maxwell

A Lindenshaw Mysteries Novel

Inspector Robin Bright is enjoying a quiet Saturday with his lover, Adam Matthews, when murder strikes in nearby Abbotston, and he’s called in to investigate. He hopes for a quick resolution, but as the case builds, he’s drawn into a tangled web of crimes, new and old, that threatens to ensnare him and destroy his fledgling relationship.

Adam is enjoying his final term teaching at Lindenshaw School, and is also delighted to be settling down with Robin at last. Only Robin doesn’t seem so thrilled. Then an old crush of Adam’s shows up in the murder investigation, and suddenly Adam is yet again fighting to stay out of one of Robin’s cases, to say nothing of trying to keep their relationship from falling apart.

Between murder, stabbings, robberies, and a suspect with a charming smile, the case threatens to ruin everything both Robin and Adam hold dear. What does it take to realize where your heart really lies, and can a big, black dog hold the key?

©2016 Charlie Cochrane (P)2020 Riptide Publishing

Entertaining cozy mystery

Inspector Robin Bright and Adam Matthews might not have met under the most ideal – or romantic of circumstances, but it worked for them. About a year later they are very much in love an enjoying life together in their English small town. That is until another murder happens nearby and stirs up trouble, not only with a murderer on the loose, but also in the form of an ex-lover making his re-appearance.

The mystery, or rather mysteries in this book were great. There were many twists and turns and clues to follow. At times it kind of reminded me of the Midsomer Murder Mysteries with the many, many crimes happening in an English small town, but that’s also the charm of it. You know, in the way that murder and mayhem is charming and makes you cuddle up on the couch and just having a great time. As for Adam and Robin I kind of like that they aren’t perfect, that they still have to work for what they have. What is it that they say, falling in love is easy, but staying in love takes work. And this book was a great mix of cozy mystery with a dash of romance thrown in.

This story was, like the first book in the series, performed by David Maxwell, someone I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for. He has such a great voice and it’s easy to get lost in it and the story. He captured the characters just right and made you feel like you know them.

There are times where you overlook minor flaws in the narration or the production, that one mistake that while annoying at the time is quickly forgotten in the scheme of things. This time I cannot, and while it was a one-time thing it’s also something that makes me wonder if the file uploaded was a pre-edited version. Towards the end Robin is on the phone with someone. Now I’ve loved the previous phone calls in this book, there was this distance with the person on the other side, where Maxwell really made it sound like it came through a phone. But for this call, the distance is still there, but the dialogues are overlapping and the two people are speaking at the same time (and not intentionally in the story). And it’s not a word or two that overlap, it’s sentences. Added to it there are long pauses between the lines as well, pauses that shouldn’t have been there. Now, this only happens on that one phone-call, but it’s not something that’s easily overlooked. I actually had to re-listen to that section on different devices just to make sure it wasn’t my phone that had screwed up the file or gone wonky on me. (Edited to add: the publisher is working on this and hopefully a new version will be uploaded shortly)

I still loved the narration of this book and I still recommend listening to it, Maxwell is widely talented and makes this book a great experience. And maybe the audio file will be updated to another version in the future. Who knows? I do know that I will be listening to any future books released in this series, because I’m hooked.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

Another great entry in this fun yet mayhem mystery

Original Audiobook Review September 2022:
Can't believe it's been 6 years since I read Jury of One. 6 YEARS?!?!?! How is that possible? Where does the time go? Well, let's be honest, time and life go by faster and faster with each year😉😉. In regard to Jury of One, I can't believe it's been 6 years because 1. I love this series so much and 2. I remember the culprit like it was yesterday. As for the whys, that was sort of hazy which actually was a plus because that helped bring back a little of the adrenaline rush I got the first time around.

I really love the balance of mystery and romance the author brings to this series. Lindenshaw Mysteries is definitely a mystery-centric story but Robin and Adam's romantic journey is strong but not overshadowing. Of course as it is with mystery romances the two paths cross no matter how hard Adam tries to stay away the mayhem powers-that-be have other plans. As with my original review, this is as much of the plot that I'm going to give😉😉.

As for the narration, David Maxwell once again brings life to Charlie Cochrane's characters perfectly. Could someone else done as good a job? Sure but for me his take on Robin, Adam, and the whole Lindenshaw cast is spot-on. The combination of voice and words is a delightfully entertaining gem and leaves no doubt in my mind that life in an English village is one of the most dangerous places to find yourself.


Original Review March 2016:
Once again Charlie Cochrane reminds me why I love English murder mysteries so much. The relationship between Robin and Anderson, his sergeant is reminiscent of Barnaby and Troy/Scott/Jones(Midsomer Murders), Morse and Lewis(Inspector Morse), and many more. I enjoyed seeing how Robin and Adam have grown since The Best Corpse for the Job and Adam may not be at the center of this mystery but he is drawn into it and not just because he is living with Robin. As for the mystery, it may not have been as heart pounding as book one but it still managed to keep me on my toes guessing the outcome. A true gem that is well deserving of the English murder mystery genre that has left me hungry for further adventures from the apparently dangerous Lindenshaw countryside.

Too many characters

I like the idea of the cozy mystery in the small town. The main characters of Robin and Adam are likable. But, there are so many characters swimming around that it’s hard to keep track of them. The other thing that happens is the author changes from using last names to first names so you have to keep a running list of everyone. The end of this particular story felt like it wrapped up too quickly, and had very little to do with the actual murder they were investigating.