Murder of Magpies

By: Judith Flanders

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

It's just another day at the office for book editor Samantha Clair. Checking jacket copy for howlers, wondering how to break it to her star novelist that her latest effort is utterly unpublishable, lunch scheduled with gossipy author Kit Lowell, whose new book will deliciously dish the dirt on the fashion industry. But little does she know how much trouble Kit's book is about to be. Before it even goes to print. When police inspector Field turns up at the venerable offices of Timmins and Ross, asking questions about an undelivered package that was addressed to Sam, she knows something is wrong. The messenger sent to deliver the package was murdered, and then Kit goes missing. Suddenly Sam's nine-to-five life is turned upside down, and she is propelled into a criminal investigation. Someone doesn't want Kit's scandalous manuscript published, and unless Sam can put the pieces together in time they'll do anything to stop it.

With her deliciously fun, cleverly written debut novel, acclaimed author Judith Flanders introduces readers to an enormously enjoyable, too-smart-for-her-own-good new amateur sleuth as well as a colorful cast of characters, including Sam's witty assistant, her effortlessly glamorous mother, and the handsome Inspector Field. A whipsmart, impeccably crafted mystery, this tremendously entertaining novel will have readers flying through the pages.

©2015 © Recorded by arrangement with St. Martin's Press (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Hilarious, big-hearted, clever, whip-smart and devious. A truly wonderful crime novel by a brilliant writer.... Judith Flanders has found that difficult, magical ground between humor and crime, where the death is never trivialized, but the territory is hysterically pilloried. Brava!" (Louise Penny, number-one New York Times best-selling author of How the Light Gets In)
"Deadly funny. Judith Flanders' wry take on publishing and murder should be on everybody's wish list." (Donna Leon, New York Times best-selling author of By Its Cover)
"Wickedly funny...the perfect storm of an entertaining read.... Loved it." ( London Times)

Witty well written...

Laugh out loud funny in parts and always dryly humorous this cozy is a well written and well plotted mystery. It was a refreshing read after a long dry spell of lackluster domestic thrillers ( my usual genre)
Highly recommended.

Not very engaging

Seemed a little trite and predictable. It doesn't have depth or a lot of character development. Keeps mind busy but not thinking.

A very interesting mystery with great humor.

This is my first novel that I have read by Judith Flanders. Laurie R. King recommended her and this series. The writing is excellent. The humor is quite funny. The plot is very engaging.

Fairly decent story, HORRIBLE narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book itself may be worthy of a read, but certainly not a listen. It sounds like they've gotten Siri to narrate the book.

Great storyline

Fun listen with engaging characters and wonderfully woven mystery storyline. Recommend for literary “nerds.” (You’ll know what that means when you hear it.)

Narration chased me away

This seems like a good book and I tolerated the reader until chapter 4, hoping she would wise up and stop the sing-song, but no. Every single sentence was intoned exactly the same with a weird downward sigh at the end that was inextricably also a question.
If I had paid for this I would have endured a phone call to demand a refund, simply on principle.

A fun read

Story was entertaining and humorous. Narrator’s intonation had an annoying quality to it though, but I enjoyed the book anyway.

So so breathy!

Listening to this book was difficult for a couple of reasons. The first -and foremost - is the narrator had such a breathy voice. It was so annoying and difficult to get past. Second there were so many characters. It was very difficult to follow when listening. When you’re reading it it probably isn’t so bad but I was beginning to think I should’ve made a list!

Excellent novel, horrible narrator

Although the text, like all by this author is enthralling and extremely well written - the narrator, reading every line as if it was a question, with no additional inflections is unbearable. paid way too much for an audio book that I am having to delete after an hour of listening to narration that is the aural equivalent of nails in a chalkboard. Forgo this selection.

Very disappointing narration

After listening to a chapter I tried to figure out how to return the book. The narrator’s choice to have the protagonist speak monotone and singsong, lapsing into normal speech only for dialogue was a disaster. It ruined the book for me. It was a clever story but unnecessarily it was just very uncomfortable to listen to the horrible narration. Not a clever tactic to deliberately speak like a twit throughout the narrative! Not in any way enjoyable to read on Audible. Do not buy this format. Read as a paperback or ebook or just pass it up!