The Mute of Pendywick Place: And the River Thames

By: Alydia Rackham

Narrated by: Bill Schafer

Book three of the romantic Victorian mystery...

An intruder has broken into Pendywick Place, attempting to steal back Victoria’s torn page. This spurs Basil and Victoria to strike up an alliance with Lord Fred Brody and his siblings - and it sweeps them to the bustling city of Bath in pursuit of the menacing Professor Winchester. But while they attempt to navigate the treacherous social waters, the tenuous bond between Basil and Victoria may be strained to breaking. And the looming confrontation with the increasingly-volatile Winchester - even with help from the denizens of Baker Street - if approached without heed, could prove to be fatal.

©2017 Alydia Rackham (P)2021 Alydia Rackham

Historical Suspense and Growi Romance Delighted Me

After the shocking and dangerous encounter at the Christmas ball, things have been rather tame for the denizens of Pendywick Place until a hot lead stirs the pot to the boiling point. Engaging setting, plot, characters, and narrator pull me back in each and every time for more of this serialized historical mystery set in Victorian times and including appearances from the great detective at 221B himself.

Victoria has learned sign language and is settling into her situation at Pendywick Place with Basil, his dog, and the warm housekeeper. She has pushed thoughts of the wicked professor far away, but knows it is only a matter of time until they are back on the chase. The professor swore he would go after Basil if she didn’t do what she could to call off the chase for the missing manuscript and to scotching the professor’s attempts to sell her language code to the highest bidder among the enemies of her country.

But, added to the chase, Victoria discovers that she has a rival for Basil in the gorgeous, intelligent, and sparkling Lady Maria Brody. At first, she is sickened that Basil has a love interest and someone far out of her league, but then she straightens her spine and gets angry at being ignored and even shunted away by Maria’s machinations.

I have been wanting to see a few things happen in this series and one was some edgier conflict and advancement in Victoria and Basil’s partnership and their mission, but I also really wanted them to finally have a scene with Sherlock Holmes whose involvement has been hinted at up until now. I got it all and I couldn’t be more pleased. But, shazam, the heart in my throat climax has left me reeling and I want the next installment pronto.

Bill Schafer continues to delight as the series narrator and I love the way he voices Basil and Victoria, but a whole slew of other characters including Holmes and Watson. Sensational storytelling and good production on the audiobook edition.

All in all, the series has built the tension to the snapping point and I am hooked on this fabulous Victorian Mystery series. Definitely recommend!

Great story!

Loved the book. Had some difficulties with the volume variation, but overall this was a great book.

Best Book Out of Series

Really fun and engaging series and by far this book is my favorite of them so far. This one has a faster pace with the mystery/adventure really kicked up in this installment. If my reviews sound similar it's because in my opinion these should probably should be one or two larger books. This is a fun and unique tale with the mystery & drama behind the beautiful mute girl in an era that would hide away imperfections and disabilities. The books tend to end abruptly and then pick up right where the last book left off. Don't let this deter you from reading it, but just know that you'll need the full series as the books are like episodes in a mini series. They continue to remained very clean and free of bad language, overly intimate content, and the violence is minimal.

The narrator does a great job. You can tell he had fun narrating it and he is fun to listen to, but I felt it did sound a bit slow. I found normal pace to be at 1.3-1.4x speed which fixed the issue completely.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.