Loch Down Abbey

De: Beth Cowan-Erskine

Narrado por: Eilidh Beaton

Who killed Lord Inverkillen? Lockdown meets Downton Abbey in this playful, humorous mystery set in 1930s Scotland.

No one in. No one out.

Family can be murder....

It's the 1930s, and a mysterious illness is spreading over Scotland. But the noble and ancient family of Inverkillen, residents of Loch Down Abbey, are much more concerned with dwindling toilet roll supplies and who will look after the children now that Nanny has regretfully (and most inconveniently) departed this life.

Then Lord Inverkillen, earl and head of the family, is found dead in mysterious circumstances. The inspector declares it an accident but Mrs MacBain, the head housekeeper, isn't so convinced. As no one is allowed in or out because of the illness, the residents of the house - both upstairs and downstairs - are the only suspects. With the earl's own family too busy doing what can only be described as nothing, she decides to do some digging - in between chores, of course - and in doing so uncovers a whole host of long-hidden secrets, lies and betrayals that will alter the dynamics of the household for ever.

Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, Agatha Christie and Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club, Loch Down Abbey is a playful, humorous mystery that will keep you guessing!

©2021 Beth Cowan-Erskine (P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Great fun, great narration

Not what you’d expect from a crime novel. Not like Poirot at al… it’s more of a family tragedy. The book has a dose of humor and is always cosy and warm. The characters feel real and well formed. None of them are too complex though. It’s well paced and never lets you down.
It’s one of the rare occasions I laughed out loud AND was excited for the next twist to come along.
The sorry is very satisfying as is the execution on every level!

All in all we’d like more from both the writer and the narrator. So five stars it is!

Need a chart

Way too many characters to keep track of who’s who. Probably better to read it so you can flip back to remember the character. Many books with this many characters have charts!!

Fun but a couple of caveats

This book was fun and certainly on point for our times! I enjoyed it--but with a couple of caveats. (1) There are a million characters. OK, admittedly that's a rough estimate, not an accurate count. But what I would have appreciated was access to a character list. I struggled to remember who was who and how that person was related to other characters. I understand that the print book has a character list; but I searched the internet in vain. (2) I guess this is a recording issue: frequently through the book there was not the smallest breath between scenes. Usually when a book is changing location or characters, there is some pause to indicate that this scene is done and now we're doing something else. I found that disconcerting. Other than those two things, this is a pretty good book.

ok story

This was just an ok story. A bit convoluted at the beginning. Good performance though.

Fantastic

I loved the characters in this book! I laughed so much. It’s exactly the kind of story I like to listen to and I hope the author writes many more books! It was just great.

Lots of fun

Very fun and full of twists. The abbey itself is as important as any human character.

Great Fun!!!

Great fun are 2 words that were absent from my description of the covid lockdowns... This author has managed to raise my spirits ( pun intended) with her novel approach to finding a way to see it from another era and through fictional characters!!

This is a very good book, well narrated, with some real characters as the dramatis personae!!

Fabulous

Very humorous and cleverly written. I hope to see more from this author. Very funny.

Bits of dark humor with heaps of absurd fun

There’s so much absurdity and outrageousness in the characters of this story that I quite forgot I had opted for it in the expectation of listening to a mystery. I am not a fan of the ilk of Downton Abbey, and though this is a story primarily about the mores of the British aristocracy, the matter is dealt with in such a manner - dark humor to portray the more seamier side of an outwardly sparkling stratosphere of society - that the result is both interesting and side-splitting hilarious. There is so much in this vein that the only danger I could perceive was of a vague sense that perhaps the story too wasn’t taking itself seriously at all. Either way this is an entertainer.

Candy

Love, Love, Love this book! Wish there was a second book but haven’t seen one yet! I listened to it twice within 4 days so I could really understand The Who was who as there are quite a few characters! It has such a brilliant sense of humor throughout which I just loved! Excellent narrator in my opinion!!!