Riverwatcher

A Fly-Fishing Mystery, Book 1

By: Ronald Weber

Narrated by: Steven Menasche

A terrific whodunit set in an angler’s paradise.

Lottery winner and ex-journalist Donal Fitzgerald joins forces with his girlfriend, DNR conservation officer Mercy Virdon, to solve the mysterious death of a beloved angler, Charlie, who was murdered in his tent in a state campground and who was known by all - and who may have known too much. Set in the engaging small town of Ossning on the Borchard River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula - an angler’s dream, filled with eccentric, believable, sympathetic, and unforgettable characters - Riverwatcher is a classic whodunit.

Fitzgerald and Mercy’s investigation to discover the deadly secret among the locals leads to dead ends until a surprisingly bookish theory surfaces. Weber expertly weaves this character-driven novel with a strong sense of place, creating a great yarn for anglers and mystery lovers and, as it turns out, a literally literary mystery.

©2013 Ronald Weber (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Interesting combination-fishing and murder

The story was interesting and engaging. I would have enjoyed it more with a different narrator.

Interesting Mystery

I'll listen to another of Mr Weber's mysteries, hoping that there will be smoother forward motion. While the characters are realistic, they're communications are often wordy without clarity. This setting is beautiful and well described, as is the fishing village.
I did not enjoy Mr Menasche's narration, especially his mispronunciation of a well known city in northwestern Michigan, Traverse City was correctly pronounced perhaps 4 of the many times it was read. Those, who are unaware of TRAAversCItee might not have noticed the mispronunciation of TruhVERSE City. However, proper pronunciation is a key to a good narration. Mr Menasche's narration was more as if he were reading rather than being the characters and seemed stilted and over-enunciated. I listen to audio books most of the time, and if I hadn't been interested in the outcome of this story, I would have closed the book without completing it due to the narration. I do understand the challenges of narrating since a very dear friend, a narrator, and I have discussed them.

Good background on poaching in N Michigan rivers.

This is a good story and the details about fly fishing for trout are interesting. The audible version is deeply flawed by the narrator’s pronunciation of Michigan locations. Except for perhaps two times, he mispronounces Traverse City. And the commits the unforgivable by pronouncing Mackinac with a hard c at the end. This should have been caught by the editor(s) as well.

Long winded and not much plot

The narrator often spoke too fast and without much voice inflection to help discern different character. Did not use proper pronunciation of towns and Michigan geography. Really irritating to native Michiganders.

Author was very verbose on several occasions. He would describe items in great detail repeatedly ad nausium.

Michigan

I love stories set in my home state. But you Gotta pronounce the names correctly> somebody got really lazy.

Average mystery

I am not sure about the copyright listed under Publishers review. The author refers to cassette recording for taping in law enforcement offices. I say average as to me it is slightly better than a cozy but not quite up to novel standards. If there were another in the series I would only purchase at a sale price, not a full credit. Since this is an audible plus book definitely worth a listen. Thank you audible plus

River watcher

Interesting story, as someone from the great state of Michigan. Proper pronunciation of Michigan towns should have been researched. All in all the story suspenseful and enjoyable.

dull never captures your interest

not sure if it is the narrator or the writing it is just very dull. every days they're upset about the death of the mcguffin but man they said don't act it. Judy completely missed with me

Missed the mark

This story was less a mystery and more a community gossiping until they finally uncovered the killer. There were too many characters and the narrator did not distinguish between their voices making it hard to follow. I liked the description of the Michigan landscape. If nothing else, it helped me look forward to fishing season.

Predictable and a hard listen

The story line was very predictable with zero twists and the narrator was hard to follow as he has no inflection for character change.