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The Custard Corpses

A Delicious 1940s Mystery

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About this listen

A delicious 1940s mystery.

Birmingham, England, 1943.

While the whine of the air raid sirens might no longer be rousing him from bed every night, a two-decade-old unsolved murder case will ensure that Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is about to suffer more sleepless nights.

Young Robert McFarlane’s body was found outside the local church hall on 30th September 1923. But, his cause of death was drowning, and he’d been missing for three days before his body was found. No one was ever arrested for the crime. No answers could ever be given to the grieving family. The unsolved case has haunted Mason ever since.

But, the chance discovery of another victim, with worrying parallels, sets Mason, and his constable, O’Rourke, on a journey that will take them back over 25 years, the chance to finally solve the case, while all around them the uncertainty of war continues, impossible to ignore.

©2021 M J Porter (P)2023 M J Porter Detective Fiction Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Crime Cold Case
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Listener received this title free

loved the period story line very good narration , will read others by this author .

excellent storyline

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The emphasis in this book is on the characters. The plot is satisfying but there’s no major twist or underlying conspiracy (both of which I enjoy when they are suited) just a solid plot in which the police solve a crime by putting the evidence together. If you’re from the Black Country you may question the narrator’s southern accent but having heard the one Brummie woman in the book, it was probably for the best.

Enjoyable new series

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Listener received this title free

Really well written, nostalgic and descriptive, great storyline and characters and very well narrated would highly recommend

Great

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The cover was what attracted me to the book in the first place. Which is something that's more pertinent than you would think until you've read it.

The story was gripping, and it took effort to not listen to it in one sitting. A good story is riveting. A good story that has ties to your own town, with places and things you know, is even more so. The plot is believable and incredibly well thought out. The characters are likeable, ordinary, people with, for the 1940s, a lot of biscuits. Matt Coles did a fabulous job of the narration, although his accents need work.

My family live in Weston, so as soon as I heard the words 'Weston Mercury' the story took on a whole new relevance. My granddaughter, who is of a similar age to Antony, goes to Walliscote Road School.... In the 1940s, my grandmother would have been a young mother with four small children, with her husband away fighting in the war, and bombs dropping around her.

All of these facts brought atmosphere and an added shiver to the story for me but, even without them, this is a brilliant book.

I do hope M J Porter writes more mysteries because, with this as their first attempt, further books will be unmissable.....

Captivating story....

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Good story but narrative was too melodramatic and did not flow to make comfortable listening, after a while this became a major distraction, along with over use of adjectives and poor accented dialogue.

Narrative a distraction.

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