False Pretences

By: Veronica Heley

Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson

There’s nothing sinister about Zander’s request for Bea Abbott to accompany him on an errand to a grieving widow, but it’s an awkward situation. Zander exposed a scam that his boss Denzil had been running on the Tudor Housing Trust…after which Denzil had, unexpectedly, died. His widow wants to sue the Trust, while the paperwork that could have proved her husband’s guilt has gone missing. Oliver, Bea’s computer geek of an assistant, is delighted to delve into the mysteries left on Denzil’s computer.

Zander and Oliver find themselves suspected of murder, while Bea thinks up a novel way to rescue her son’s failing marriage. As the plot thickens, it emerges that although the first death may have appeared natural, those that follow definitely do not.

©2009 Veronica Heley (P)2010 Soundings

This book is sort of "fluff"

Would you try another book from Veronica Heley and/or Patience Tomlinson?

Probably not.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Patience Tomlinson?

Maybe--she has such a "peppy" way of reading, that I would hope she could change that in other narrative situations. I kind of think that the novel itself left her little choice--it evokes ideas (in me, at least) of something I'd give to a maiden aunt to read. Though about murder, somehow Tomlinson often keeps a very cheerful voice.

Did False Pretences inspire you to do anything?

Go to sleep. Cut my losses and find a different book.

Any additional comments?

I will admit, that I had the feeling I must have come into a book that is part of a series, which could explain why it felt as though the listener enters the story mid-stream. If that is the case, then please ignore most of my remarks, because they would be based on the listening to a single part of a greater whole, taken out of context. But, since this is the only book by this author I have read--this is my take on it as it stands alone.

There were several parts dealing with people going to church and Bea praying and talking to God--made me wonder if I was listening to literature written for people of faith. Not a turn off--just a little odd in a book of that sort, but would have made the entire thing more understandable. (As a lesson in how to live one's life as a Good Moral Person).

I think this book would be just great for some people. I personally don't like a lot of violence in books, and this promised to be that way. But it rather hit the extreme in terms of good vs evil (too exaggerated)--and that seemed to tie in with my feeling that it was meant to be a christian book maybe? I don't know.

There was one issue that could have made this book very good--racism was taken on as a major plot concern. But since the author lacks a subtle writing style, it felt more like I was being commanded to agree that racism is a terrible thing (which I've always believed anyway)--it was just too in-your-face as a topic. And that leaves me feeling sad, because it is an issue that the entire world needs to be more sensitive to--but I just felt like backing away--as though I was being hit over the head with it. I wanted to say, "All right, already--thanks for tackling a challenging topic, but back off a little and let the listener draw their own conclusions instead of its being so off-putting with over-the-top kinds of obvious situations and statements by the characters.

I KNOW that there are people who would love this book. I was not, alas, one of them.