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The Ruby Locket cover art

The Ruby Locket

By: Anita Higman, Hillary McMullen
Narrated by: Michelle Babb
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Summary

When Anne's mother agrees to marry a wealthy, mysterious man, she expects a nice mansion in the hills. But their new home, Belrose Abbey, is more like a castle - imposing, cold, and full of shadows. The more Anne explores the corridors and vacant rooms and dusty crannies, the more she discovers about the abbey's master - her soon-to-be stepfather - Ivan Helsburg. As her mother's wedding draws closer, Anne begins to harbor a creeping suspicion that all is not well at Belrose Abbey.

©2016 Anita Higman (P)2017 Anita Higman

What listeners say about The Ruby Locket

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Gothic mystery

This was a different read for me but as always the narrator is excellent. There were plenty of suspicious characters and goings on in this Abbey to keep you interested. Twists and turns that keep you on your toes. I would recommend this book and I have already downloaded book 2!

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The Ruby Locket

Murder, mystery and suspense at Belrose Abbey, a great listen and excellent narration by Michelle Babb who expertly brings the characters to life

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The Ruby Locket

A most entertaining listen, The story is told in the first instance by Anna and her mother Dauphine, each giving their own perspective on what is happening. The story is not so much mysterious as you know who the good guys are and the bad guy sticks out a mile but predicting what happens at the end would be virtually impossible, you know it ain't going to be good for our heroins but.... Michelle Babb does her usual brilliant job of narrating the story and her voices for each character are first class. Highly recommended. Now, straight on to book 2! ☺
I was given this free copy of the book and have left this honest and voluntary review.

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Enjoyable mystery

The Ruby Locket is part 1 (of 2) of the Belrose series, and stars teenager Anne and her mother Dauphine, who have been invited to live in the eponymous abbey where Dauphine is due to marry the owner onsite in the next few days. Straight away we have almost haunting-like moments where they see and hear strange occurrences in the surrounding woodlands to set the tone. The story tries to evoke an almost Poe feeling of dread at times, and the author (among other horror and mystery writers) are name dropped throughout the story.

The abbey is a great place in that it has a lot of secrets, and I do like the exploration of such. I'd have enjoyed to see even more, but hope that is what part 2 will reveal. My favourite moments were the dark journeys through Belrose and the evidence of past misdeeds which have occurred. The author wrote these really well, and the feeling of isolation helps to set in both in these moments and around the abbey grounds. There is something hiding in the woods, a supposed staff member is seen stealing, another is rude and odd, and the husband-to-be also has a deserving level of suspicion about him whilst also having what appears to be a loving and romantic side which is further explored as the characters dig deeper.

The cast of characters is smaller than I expected, but this does fit the shorter length of the story. If you disregard the nameless background people I can recall about 8 people who are given names. The book is easy to follow, and at no point did I misplace any of the characters or forget who they were.

I only have 2 criticisms. The first are a scant few sentences. At one point we get "gilded in gold", but the word gilded means to be coated in gold, so it's essentially like saying "covered in gold in gold". I also didn't enjoy the ending that much. Trying to be vague to not spoil it I think the reveal of the nastiness near the end was too swift of a personality change in the characters, and the motives involved. There are great moments leading up to it though.

The narrator was Michelle Babb, whom I have listened to before this story. Their narration is great, and they perform a lovely range of emotions for the characters and their predicaments. The audio recording/editing quality itself was also very nice to the experience.
I enjoyed this, I look forward to re-entering Belrose Abbey again in part 2.

Disclaimer: Book was given to me, though I was not requested to write any review. I choose to do this however as thanks to them.

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nice story

i like the story, the mystery was well built though i felt the ending was a tad rushed. performance was good, but i felt like it was lacking emotion in some parts where the scene required a more intense delivery

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Another great listen

So this is a completely different genre for me but it worked and it turned into a listen which I had to finish in one go - helped by the fact that it was a short read and the brilliant narration.

The story is a young adult but it worked for me and I can see it appealing to my teenage daughter who is really into this genre.

I was given a free copy by the narrator but the review is entirely my own.

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Brilliant audiobook

Brilliant audiobook the narrater made everything come to life
When Anne's mother agrees to marry a wealthy, mysterious man

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  • Overall
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Interesting and Intriguing Story

This one starts off a little slow for me, but finds its pace quickly and becomes a story of intrigue. It was a good listen, well thought out and written and I look forward to exploring the authors other work(s.)

The story was well read by Michelle and she has a very calming voice, very easy on the ears. I’ve enjoyed other works by this narrator and again I look forward to listening to more in future!

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Surprising Novella.

The Ruby Locket was surprisingly gripping, as a stand alone story it wasn't as dark or convoluted as I was expecting, but as an opening book for a series of mysteries it hit the nail on the head. The introduction of the protagonists has been well thought out and conveyed brilliantly, deep characters with their own histories and flaws help bring the story to life.
The hints of Belrose Abbeys dark history and hidden secrets tease a dark future for our heroes in upcoming books and I can't wait to continue.
Well written and narrated, Michelle Babb brings each character to life with unique voices and personality while rolling the story on at a rapid pace.

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Loved it!

I really enjoyed this gothic-themed cozy mystery! In many ways it reminded me of a Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels book. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it held my interest throughout and I thought the romance element was quite sweet. The narration was great as well. It was a fun, short read!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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