A Ransom for Two Roses

The Frankie Ransom Series, Book 1

By: James Philip

Narrated by: Lesley Parkin

A Ransom for Two Roses is the first full-length novel in the Frankie Ransom Series.

Detective Inspector Frankie Ransom prides herself on being third generation Met - her father was head of the old Flying Squad, her grandfather retired as deputy head of CID at Scotland Yard - but suspects the Force she loves has long since fallen out of love with her.

Her life has been spinning out of control for a long time and any day soon expects to be given an offer she can't afford to refuse; a choice of any job in the Met she doesn't really want.

Then in the early hours of a cold November morning she is called to the penthouse suite of a luxury West End hotel where the naked body of a woman has been discovered. Although she doesn't know it at the time her life is about to change forever in ways she simply couldn't have imagined days, or even hours before.

At first she suspects, and then she discovers with horrifying clarity that she has stumbled into somebody else's worst nightmare. Overnight she must question all her old loyalties.

What do you do when you wake up one morning and you don't know who you can trust? Nothing in Frankie's life has prepared her for her trial by fire and the terrifying ordeal that awaits her.

©2013 James P. Coldham writing as JAMES PHILIP (P)2016 James P. Coldham writing as JAMES PHILIP

length ruined it

way to long, other then that it would have been a four or five I don't know why an author thinks more is better more is boring

No editors on hand to rescue this book

My favorite genre - a British Isles detrctive book - disolves into 10 % mystery with 90% adolescent PMS littering the halls of senior homicide detection. Truly, the hysterical confusion of our lead cop, Frankie, is the only story told :-) This could have been a fine book... send the author out for coffee and let his subsequent books in this series be rewritten.

First and last of this series for me

Any additional comments?

I love a good mystery and for the most part, this was a good story. It was too long though and chapter 58 through the end was just too much.

There was a light touch to the editorial/narration early on and even though the subject was a murder, well, two murders actually, that light touch did not prepare me for the assault that happens in chapter 58.

The narrator was very good but I didn't like her American accents. It's probably how Brits feel when American's attempt their accents--it felt unnatural and forced.

If I knew how this story was going to end, I would not have stayed with it. It was such a long listen and I expected a better outcome. I didn't care for Frankie, the main character, (she was a bit hard to take,) but that ending was unjustified.

This is one and done for me with his series but I will look for other titles by this narrator.

Ransom

I tried,but I just could not finish this book.The narration was SO bad I found it hard to listen to at all.It seemed like it was read by a 3rd grader.Had the narrator just read it,compared to trying different voices it may have been tolerable.I was given this book free by the author,narrator or publisher.

Great narration of not such a great book

The narrator did a lovely job with this book unfortunately the narration was the only thing that I enjoyed about the novel. I was voluntarily provided a review copy from the publisher author or narrator

A Great Listen!

What made the experience of listening to A Ransom for Two Roses the most enjoyable?

I thought that Lesley did an amazing job with all of the varied characters in the book. Her voice was so versatile and really made the author's characters come to life!

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the fact that the main character, Frankie, was flawed. She made some stupid judgement calls, but that's life. We all do that from time to time, so it made her real.

What does Lesley Parkin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Lesley really brought the characters to life. The range of voices and accents was brilliant, and she has an easy quality about her voice. I will look for other books that she has narrated, and will certainly follow the rest of this series. I'm looking forward to the next book, The Plains of Waterloo.

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

Yes, the ending was not expected. I don't want to give it away, but I didn't see that coming.

Any additional comments?

I thought the match between the author and narrator was a great choice, and really want to listen to the rest of the series.