The Circle

By: Peter Lovesey

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Widowed van driver Bob Naylor is prodded into joining the Chichester Writers' Circle by his teenage daughter. Bob writes limericks and jingles, and fears he will be out of his class amongst the literati. But the members of the circle come from all walks of life and practice many forms of writing, from fantasy to household hints. There seems to be nothing about any of them to incite a serial killer. However, there is an arsonist in their midst, burning his victims to death, and Bob becomes a suspect. To clear himself, he must cooperate with formidable Detective Chief Inspector Henrietta Mallin.

©2005 by Peter Lovesey. All rights reserved. (P)2010 BBC Audio

Classic whodunit, outstanding performance

Lovesey tells a good, old-fashioned mystery with humor, great character development. Very engaging narration from Prebble. I'm definitely going to listen to more.

perfectly crafted cosy mystery

expertly narrated and wonderful storyline all while crafting a surprising plot. this what Thursday murder was aiming for, but fell very short.

It took awhile to get into it.

After a slow start, I finally developed enough interest in the story to stick with it, and then I really enjoyed it It was a good mystery filled with odd characters and red heret, and the end surprised me I think a major reason I enjoyed it was Simon Prebble, who is one of the best narrators around

many twists and turns..

That was another great Peter Lovesey book. I have read all of the Detective Diamond books and they were great. I hope this is another series. He brings to life such wonderful characters and tells such wonderful mysteries. I love both the stories and the humor. Everyone that enjoys a mystery will enjoy any of Peter Lovesey's books.

I plan to listen to another by this author

I don't know if any of the characters will carry over. Some of these characters are surprisingly selfish.I will look for book two.

Liked it a lot

Great characters.. plot writing a new writer to listen too ., I did figure out the culprit.. that’s why I gave story a 4

No blood, no guts, but very satisfying!

Loved the real locations, the switcheroos, and the reader is perfect! Pick up on every clue; most are helpful. One may even want to take notes. So enjoyable!

Great Book

A well written and performed book that was filled with fun, excitement and mystery.

Nice Audible Catalogue listen

I listened to three of the titles in this series. They were available in the Audible Catalogue.

Simon Prebble narrated all three. He uses his voice well to define each character. Fortunately for the listener Simon Prebble doesn’t detract from the story by committing the many faux pas of inferior narrators. He doesn’t use exaggerated, dramatic, incorrect or inconsistent accents that can potentially ruin an audio recording of a story. His inflection is spot on and his voice lends itself well to both the male and female characters.

The plot wasn’t immediately obvious or overly complicated. The questions relevant to the story were answered. Thankfully absent were unrelated distractions and a cliffhanger ending. I don’t know if the complete series is available as part of The Audible Catalog. If not save your credit for something you prefer. Regardless of whether or not they are listed in any particular order my advice is listen to this book first. I enjoyed it the most of the three.

Melodramatic...

I have loved Peter Lovesey and his whole series with Peter diamond is great. This first in the spin-off character series was disappointing and I probably would not have completed were it not for the genius work of Simon Preble. your mileage may vary.🤔