The Sayers Swindle

A Book Collector Mystery, Book 2

De: Victoria Abbott

Narrado por: Carla Mercer-Meyer

When Jordan manages to locate her boss' missing books, they are in the possession of Randolph Adams, an elderly man in a nearby town. Offering a valuable Hemingway first edition as an incentive, Jordan thinks she's about to seal the deal - but some of Randolph's relatives think he should hold out for more.Then the entire family disappears - and a dead body shows up. It's up to Jordan to collect the clues - and make sure a killer gets booked.

©2013 Penguin Group (USA) LLC. (P)2014 Tantor

Turning into a really fun series!

This is the second book in a new series by Victoria Abbott, starring Jordan Kelly, who has a job working as a research assistant in the library belonging to the universally hated Vera Van Alst. The setup begins in the book prior to this one, where we learn more about the comically cop-phobic uncles who raised her (they steal, do not commit more serious crimes, and are generally presented as warm and adoring of Jordan). In this book, as in the first, Jordan must locate a set of valuable mystery books--in this case first editions of the works of Dorothy Sayers.

These are not deep, they have many amusing moments, and like most cozies, pretty much exceed what could possibly pass for realistic situations/solutions. The charm in this one lies in the author's ability to create a set a characters whose chemistry works well together. Light enough not to be a taxing, heavy, intense read, yet filled with enough action to feel like a page turner at the same time. I best enjoy Jordan, her uncles and the unlikable Vera. I find Officer Smiley a bit weakly drawn.

This book sees Jordan tracking after an old man she met while seeking the Sayers books. Upon returning to the house, the whole family is missing, a murder has been committed and she tries to find out info from a woman cop who is on the scene. It all builds to a spectacular ending, and the reader (or at least I) enjoy the twists and turns along the way.

Don't expect this to be John Grishom. This is a cozy series, meant for fun, and among those that I am aware of, it has lots of charm, is a great read and I look forward to hearing the next in the series.

I love this series!

I love absolutely everything about this series. Vera is my favorite and she definitely does not disappoint. She has all of the sass in the world!

Wonderful books referred to and want to read

This is my second book that I've heard and I am enjoying it for all it's references and wonder. I want to go back and listen to the classics that this Mystery book refers to.

Fun Lite Mystery Read!

Abbot's "Jordan Bingham" novels are fun upbeat mysteries. I highly recommend these enjoyable reads that have you hankering for the next one!

LOVE

I adore how this series tied the old in with the new! It is not predictable and continues to be witty and fun! It has the elegance of the classics with the sassy freshness of cozy mysteries! LOVE!!

Fantastic!!

This was a great mystery book! Love the characters and how the story kept taking turns. Great narration! Gave a good image of the characters personalities.

"Wimsey"cal writing ;)9

Great story! Love her characters!! Can't wait to read the next book. I wish she'd write one with Sherlock in mind.

Enough glowering! Author needs to get a thesaurus

Would you consider the audio edition of The Sayers Swindle to be better than the print version?

I've not read the print version, so I can't say.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I wouldn't say it kept me on the edge of my seat. But it did intrigue me. It takes a good book to capture my attention. I've ditched on (not finished) books that didn't do that.

Have you listened to any of Carla Mercer-Meyer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Just listened to her reading the first book in this series. She's was good on that one, and she is getting better.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reaction, except my annoyance with the author's overuse of the word "glowering." She should search for this word in her manuscript and see how often she uses it -- often multiple times within a chapter. Sooner or later, every character in the book glowers. What's up with that? Buy a thesaurus and find another word. It becomes especially painful when you are listening to the audiobook; maybe it's not as noticeable in the print version.

Really very, very lightweight

Would you try another book from Victoria Abbott and/or Carla Mercer-Meyer?

No, this one was so frustrating for me because the characters were so unbelievable.

What could Victoria Abbott have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Made the plot interesting and the characters believable.

Any additional comments?

I wish I hadn't wasted a credit on this book.

Narrators Can Make or Break an Audiobook

I really wanted to like this audiobook. I had read the print version of the first book in the series and liked it. However, the narration in this book just wasn't that great. It was as if she just read it straight through, sometimes not pausing between sentences, or pausing when she shouldn't have. I agree with the reviewer on the word "glowering" which was overused.

There were several mispronunciations...the most notable for me was the car Audi, which is correctly pronounced "Ow-Dee" not "Aw-dee" as the narrator did repeatedly.

After the book was over, I listened (I was driving) to the same narrator give the credits. This was done with more skill than the actual narration of the book.

I've learned a lesson...go back to audiobooks where I enjoyed the narration and choose based on the narrator.