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Caroline Minuscule

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About this listen

 William Dougal, a post-graduate expert in the medieval script of Caroline Minuscule, stumbles on the garroted corpse of his tutor and finds himself embroiled in a hunt for a cache of diamonds, in a deadly fairy story in which no one obeys the rules. Least of all Dougal's girlfriend Amanda.

As the body count rises, the couple pursue the diamonds from London to an East Anglian cathedral close, from Cambridge to a wintry Suffolk estuary.

©1982 Andrew Taylor (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Crime Fiction Mystery Fiction Suspense Crime
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Ludicrous ending but a good story till then. Some great characterisation and lovely subtlety. Wasn’t convinced on the accents adopted but thankfully there was plenty of narrative.

Good pace

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I really enjoy these rather old-fashioned crime books - and this one was very good. On to second-in-series.

Great stuff

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Haven’t read (listened) to a book before this one where I never liked any of the characters. Slow, daft plot read in a similar fashion.

Dreary

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Simon Shepherd performs this audiobook with skill and understanding. His voice characterisations are well done and his ability to change between the moods of various scenes is excellently done. The novel, Andrew Taylor's first, is an adventure where the main hero, William Dougal, has to face a number of situations including mortal ones. His pursuit of a mystery with riches to be obtained is equalled only by the pursuit of him and his girl friend. The novel has an energy and it reminded me of some of Jonathan Coe's work, but quick to note Coe came after. I mention it only to characterise the feel of the novel. Why did I read this novel, someone might ask. It is because i have become quite hooked on Andrew Taylor's writing, and I wanted to see how he started out. It was instructive to see how he has so substantially developed. The ending to this novel is telegraphed ahead, but it is still rich to see how William Dougal meets it. A cautionary note, the Dougal novels are not fully available as an audiobook, more the pity.

A well Performed Pursuit and Pursued Novel

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If, like me, you were tempted to buy this book after your experience of Andrew Taylor's excellent historical novels, don't bother. The plot is ridiculous, the characters are stupid and irritating, the attempts at humour are cringeworthy and the writing is frequently toe-curling! I can't believe it is the same writer who produced the 'Ashes of London' series. I felt sorry for the narrator, but he wasn't great either. In particular, his attempt at a Northern Irish accent sounded half-hearted. Maybe he'd lost the will to live!

Truly dreadful!

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