The Penhallow Train Incident

By: M. S. Spencer

Narrated by: Phoenix Emrys

In the sleepy coastal Maine town of Penhallow, a stranger dies on a train, drawing historical society director Rachel Tinker and curmudgeonly retired professor Griffin Tate into a spider’s web of archaeological obsession and greed.

With the help of the victim’s rival, they set out to locate the queen of Sheba’s tomb. Their plans are stymied when a tug-of-war erupts between the sheriff and a state police detective who wants to arrest the same man for different crimes.

It’s up to Rachel to solve a mystery that includes two more murders if she wants to unlock the soft heart that beats under Griffin’s hard crust.

©2016 M. S. Spencer (P)2018 M. S. Spencer

Quite enjoyable though at times a bit slow...

"The Penhallow Train Incident" is probably one of those books that you should rather read than listen to cause it may be confusing when you aren't able to follow the written text.

There are three investigations going on simultaneously - two criminal ones and one historical/archaeological:) There are so many threads to follow that I had to concentrate hard not to lose track of all of them, the more so in the archaeological parts with all those names of people and places from ancient history. This plotline would probably be much easier to follow when actually reading the book.
I also have confused feelings about the main characters - I still can't decide whether they are likeable or irritating. At times Rachel is brilliant and almost a genius detective, at others she acts like a teenager in love, careless and moody, almost forgetting there's a murder to solve. Griffin is even more irritating, with his strange attitude to the woman he supposedly is deeply in love with - and although we're given explanations as to why at the end of the story, his behaviour is still irksome...

The plot itself is quite interesting, with a lot of twists in the story, misleading threads and more than one possible murder suspect, and the part concerning the search for the tomb of the Queen of Sheba is intriguing (although a bit oversimplified - clues leading to other clues, discovered one by one without any greater obstacles...:)). When we finally get the solutions to all the crimes, they turn out to be logical and plausible, and there's also quite a satisfacory ending to Rachel and Griffin's romance, so overall it's an enjoyable book.

The narration by Ms Emrys is also good, with a nice pace and quite an array of voices given to particular characters. All of them are recognizable, though some are better done than others - the one voice I really didn't like was that of Griffin; he sounded too old, too tired, too condescending. But generally it's a very decent interpretation of this complicated cozy crime mystery.

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

Interesting Murder Mystery

To me, this book started off really slow, but later seemed to get better for me. I feel as if this might be one of those books that are much more enjoyable when you actually read vs listen to. I am planning on purchasing the actual book to do that, because I believe that the story line is really good


This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

Fun Cozy!

Rachel Tinker lives in a small town in Maine. She is a ticket seller and guide during a murder on an historic reenactment train ride. During the murder investigation, she becomes involved with retired professor Griffin Tate who gets her further involved with an archaeological mystery. Are these connected? There are additional interesting and fun characters. Many twists and turns. I enjoyed this mystery! I was gifted a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Starts slow but Enjoyable Mystery

I felt this one started rather slow and it took me a while to see where it was going. As I got farther into the story it became more clear and pulled me in. I would also say that I did find parts of it rather predictable. However, I did enjoy the story and the narrator definitely helped me to enjoy it. Overall it is a fairly clean book minus 2-3 scenes that the f-bomb was used a bit heavily.

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