Alec Halsey solves past and present mysteries

After a long break, the 4th Alec Halsey audiobook has been out for a few weeks. The book was published some time ago but I am an audiobook addict and decided to wait for the audiobook. Alex Windham’s narration was a bonus to the story in the first three novels. To tell the truth, I was a bit disappointed to see that the 4th novel was narrated by someone else and I listened several times to the available excerpt before deciding to give it a go. If you hesitate because of the same reason, I can assure you that you shouldn’t. I did not regret one single moment my decision to listen to this audiobook. The voice and narrative style is very different from the previous narrator, but Matthew Lloyd Davis has a very pleasant voice and offers a good portrayal of characters through their voices. The pace of the narration is just right, sometimes accelerating when the tension builds up but never to a level of becoming incomprehensible. It is definitely a highly enjoyable 5 star narration.

And now a few words about the novel itself. I do not want to spoil anyone’s pleasure in discovering all the present and past intrigues, mysteries and false beliefs the characters and readers had about certain past events carefully built up and fuelled in the first three novels. There is always something interesting to find out about the 18th century England in Lucinda Brant’s novels. In this case it is about the inheritance law that existed in Kent, the gavelkind. This lays the basis of past and present mysteries in the novel. Besides the characters known from the previous novels, Alec Halsey and his now wife, Selina awaiting for the birth of their first child, the adorable and sometimes funny figure of Plantagenet Halsey, Selina’s brother and Alec’s former boss, Tam Fisher and many others, new characters come into the frontline of the intrigues and mysteries: the neighbours, among them Alec’s aunt, the household people and the villagers.

A strange motto graved in stone in the village. A collapsed floor exposes unknown parts in the basement of the old house now under renovation. Three village boys disappear. Alec gets venison for breakfast. These events raise several questions: Where does the venison come from? What happened to the missing village boys? Where they all murdered? Who is the murderer and why? What secrets are buried in the hidden place exposed in the basement? There is a collection of secrets and mysteries to be discover in this is a fast paced and gripping story of interwoven past and present secrets. lies and mysteries.

Attention: It might become addictive and will keep you awake at night because you will feel an urge to continue listening to it!

3 people found this helpful

Another great novel

I'm a period romance reader and previously ignored any other genre . However, I'm a big Lucinda Brant fan and thought her Salt series quite dark in places and I enjoyed them and so I thought I would give this series a go. I was not disappointed but really pleased to find as much humour in these books as her romantic Roxton Series. I burst out laughing over the orange peel up the nose. A SPOILER I know but wrote it on purpose to encourage other readers to read this book and look out for it! This is a new narrator for her books and I found the narration to be excellent as to be fair I did with her other books. I would be honoured to recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good writing you will not be disappointed .

2 people found this helpful

4th book in a superb series

Let me start by saying that Lucinda Brant is one of my all-time favourite authors, so my review is somewhat bias but appropriately so, as all her Georgian historical novels are outstanding.

The Alec Halsey Mystery series of novels are splendid, Deadly Kin being the 4th in the series. The book would read well on its own, but I think if you are new to her Halsey series, my advice would be to start with the first book and work your way through each one, a joy in itself. Lucky you!

Deadly Kin picks up Alec's life in the Kent countryside, as he inherits a monolith of an estate, complete with its local Kentish tenants and staff that have many dark secrets. Into the mix is of course a death or two and our intrepid hero applies his usual sophistication and skill to sort the wheat from the chaff, in order to solve the mystery. Along with his delightful uncle Plantagenet, Aunt Olivia, Selena, Tam, Haden Jefferies, and a slew of other fascinating characters, this book is an absolute delight.

Lucinda Brant always writes with such elegance, her main character Alec is by profession a Diplomat, and his personality & background are beautifully drawn. As well as a fascinating tale, this book also answers a few questions and ties up some loose ends from the previous books in the series.

I don't want to write too much detail as to spoil the story for you, but just to say that if you like historical accuracy in your stories, a bucketful of style & sophistication, a fascinating mystery set in Kent and a little more knowledge than when you started, then this is absolutely the book for you. Enjoy, you have a huge treat ahead,

2 people found this helpful

Another complex and intricate story!

I want to start off with the narration. For the past three books, the narrator was the brilliant Alex Wyndham. His portrayal of all of the various characters was exemplary! In fact, the only character voice I didn’t enjoy was Plantagenet - too loud! Matthew Lloyd Davies did that voice in a much better volume. However, that’s where it ends! I didn’t enjoy his portrayal of anyone else (Alec was ok...)! None of his female voices were acceptable to me, especially Selina’s or the Duchess’s. As for Tam’s voice - I truly couldn’t reconcile it to the‘young’ man he is! The truth is, we’ve gone through 3 adventures with Lucinda and Alex, and learned to love the characters as created by the former and brought into glorious technicolour by the latter, it’s a bit of a letdown, really. It’s not horrible, it’s just different. I think that it would only be noticeable if, like me, you’ve been binge listening to this series one after the other!

As for the story! Ms Brant is absolutely superb in her storytelling! Nothing twee, nothing tired and jaded, completely new and original plots, with perpetrators you never see coming!! Add to this the longest ‘imminent’ pregnancy ever, and you have a totally fascinating tale. With so many surprises!

A complete change of pace to the previous tale and an almost relaxing read - apart from when it isn’t!

I do hope that the next instalment sees the return of Alex Wyndham as the narrator, otherwise, as much as I enjoy this series, it’ll be a while before I return to it.

1 person found this helpful

Superb

An excellent mystery, slightly darker than I was expecting but an excellent read none the less. There were quite a few sweet and emotional scenes as the couple await the arrival of their first baby. Alec's family history added emotion and poignancy.
The new narrator had big boots to fill but he did a sterling job.

I voluntarily reviewed a review copy.

1 person found this helpful

New Narrator is PERFECT

With this story I have to admit that I got a bit lost here and there, there was such a lot going on with twists and turns and secrets being revealed. This definitely isn't a light story. You need to be able to concentrate to keep up with what is happening, no falling asleep if you are listening to the book in bed lol! That said, with a little rewinding here and there I managed to keep up. A couple of revelations really had me reeling. There were some very emotional moments that had me close to tears, but there were some lovely moments that had me smiling from ear to ear. I love a book that makes me run the gamut of emotions and this one truly did.

This is the first book in the series narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies. I worried that I wouldn't enjoy his narration as much as the previous narrator of the series. I am very happy to say that, if anything, I think Matthew does an even better job of it. He puts such enthusiasm into the scenes, he really brings them to life. It isn't anything like listening to a book, he gives a performance that makes you think you are listening to a play. Every single character has a distinctive voice: There is the gruff voice of Plantagenet Halsey, the feminine sweet tone of Selina, the suave sexy voice of Alec and to top them all off there was the fabulously unique voice of the London solicitor. Every single character from the smallest to the most important ones that he performed, Matthew nailed them, which made a fabulous story even more enjoyable. Lucinda chose the new narrator very well, he more than does justice to her writing. I very much look forward to the next book in the series being a collaboration of them both again!

1 person found this helpful

Excellent

Lucinda Brant's research is excellent as usual. I prefer her books narrated by Alex Wyndham but Matthew Lloyd Davies did a very good job.

enticing and entertaining ...

great story with an interesting plot .... not what you expect from a book written about this period...
the performance is most enjoyable, the storyline fascinating and you simply cannot stop until the end...

well done !!! Thank you Lucinda Brant .........but as we all know the reader makes it
Thank you Matthew Lloyd Davies!!!!

Everyone lies and keeps secrets.

As usual the Marquis goes through life, seemly oblivious of what is happening around him.
However, his colouring is finally explained. His grandfather had a "coloured" mistress who died and the children,two girls, are brought up with his two legitimate twin sons.
This is where I get confused, the eldest son falls in love with one of theses girls and marries her against the families wishes. The eldest son gives his title to the youngest, walks away with his son. His brother who is not interested in women has a "white" marriage with the brother's ex-wife. How come the young lovers didn't know they were half brother and sister despite their upbringing. I could have got it all wrong, but am not interested enough to re-listen to the story. Then the other sister married to someone else has a second son, who is brought up as heir to the title.

Lucinda Brant strikes gold yet again!

As a big Lucinda Brant fan, this 4th book in the Alec Halsey series didn’t disappoint and had me riveted from the start.
Matthew Lloyd Davies takes over as narrator and does a fabulous job in bringing the characters to life.
Heartily recommend this book and the entire series so far. So pleased to hear it’s not the end and another book is in the pipe line.