The Statue Was Weeping

Ladies in Danger Series, Book 1

By: Deborah Diaz

Narrated by: Joe Messina

Miss Sophie Tennant was a girl of 19, of sweet, if a bit sickly, disposition, and golden curls. She had been confined to her invalid's chair since her childhood after a bad fall. Her health had deteriorated rapidly following her parents' deaths, and she'd hardly risen from it since.

Sophie was waiting for her ladies' maid to wheel her to her bedchamber, when she screamed. In front of her she sees a dead body, white and pale in the candlelight. She reaches out a hand and touches its cheek.

It's hard like stone to the touch, but it's warm too, as though it hasn't been dead for a long time. She trembled. In the darkness, the statue whispered the word 'Aphrodite'.

What is the mystery of weeping statue?

©2016 Chong Teck Chuan (P)2016 Chong Teck Chuan

Short and easy

The story took a few chapters to pick up it's pace, but when it got started, it managed to keep my interest. It's a quick and easy book that doesn't demand too much to be able to follow. There were few big surprises, but I didn't really mind. Some of the characters are a little undeveloped for me, and I feel like the story could have made room for a little more background on the 'detective' (he doesn't actually do much detecting).

The narration is okay. The flow of the reading isn't as natural as I would like, with some stumbles, extraneous noises and misplaced pauses. He did a good job in the important scenes, however, and made me want to keep listening when the story got going.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

A nice, short read.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I did enjoy this story and I will probably check out the rest of the series when I get time.

Would you recommend The Statue Was Weeping to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend it to anyone who wants an easy short read and for anyone who likes historical mysteries.

What didn’t you like about Joe Messina’s performance?

My main criticism is that the story wasn't performed per se but was rather a recording of the story being read aloud.

Also, at different points in the recording there was clattering or noise in the background unrelated to the story.

Any additional comments?

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book 1

Any additional comments?

This is a short novella type book and I listened to it in a day. A light mystery that is easy to get involve in the story. Narration is good and clear

Terrible reader

The story was ok, but was ruined by a bad performance. The reader wooden and amateurish.

introduces a detective I want to learn more about

Mixed review here: This is a "regency" mystery that introduces a Marquess as a sort-of detective. I say "sort-of" because he doesn't do much investigation but he does some. He is an interesting character, not necessarily likeable but intelligent and one I would like to read more about. I put "regency" in quotes because other than a reference to Pride and Prejudice being recently published and calling a wheelchair a Bath chair there was precious little of the traditional regency genre flavor to this. I liked the mystery and the inclusion of an invalid in the story.

The narration was fair. There were several instances of extraneous noises and a few mispronunciations. However, the narrator did a great job in the crucial scene and I was hanging on his every word.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

A lot of story for such a short book

I really thought I had this book figured out from the get-go and I was only partially right. The characters are fairly shallow but the plot moved along at a good pace. I was doing my share of eye-rolling with some of the see-through antics. However the ending was far more complex than what I was expecting and saved the book for me.
The narration was good - pleasing voice.
I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review. I would give this series another go and re-assess afterwards.