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The first in an Italian crime series set in Rome. Whilst Sara Farnese pours over ancient texts in the silent and beautiful Vatican reading room, a crazed man enters carrying a bloodied bag. He walks up to Sara's desk. He has something he would like her to see. Sara is inextricably linked to a series of horrific murders, each one representative of the death of a martyr of the Church. Enter Detectives Costa and Rossi. They must protect Sara whilst hunting down the killer, and time is running short.
Anneliese Vos, 16-year-old daughter of detective Pieter Vos, disappeared three years ago. Her father's desperate search revealed nothing. One day, Laura Bakker, a trainee detective, visits to tell him that the daughter of local politician, Katja Prins, has gone missing in circumstances similar to Anneliese. Vos is drawn back into the life of a detective, hoping that somewhere will be a clue to his daughter’s fate….
Venice is a beautiful and mysterious city. Lucifer's Shadow combines two stories in the city, set centuries apart from one another, and both involving the shady but seductive characters of Venice. The stories involve an anonymous manuscript for a violin concerto, and run parallel, interweaving to lead listeners into a stunning double twisted ending.
Sarah Lund is looking forward to her last day as a detective with the Copenhagen Police department before moving to Sweden. But everything changes when nineteen-year-old student, Nanna Birk Larsen, is found raped and brutally murdered in the woods outside the city. Lund’s plans to relocate are put on hold as she leads the investigation, along with fellow detective Jan Meyer. While Nanna’s family struggles to cope with their loss, local politician Troels Hartmann is in the middle of an election campaign to become the new mayor of Copenhagen....
New York City is thrown into chaos by the assaults of the Bone Collector, a serial kidnapper and killer who gives the police a chance to save his victims from death by leaving obscure clues. The cops go to Lincoln Rhyme, an ex-NYPD forensics expert left paralysed after an accident on the job. Rhyme reluctantly postpones his ambitions towards suicide and puts together a forensic investigation team, enlisting as his eyes and ears young police officer Amelia Sachs.
It's February, and Carnival time in Venice. Bright blue skies and freezing temperatures welcome forensic pathologist Teresa Lupo to the city. Teresa has taken time out from her job to find her beloved bohemian aunt Sofia who has mysteriously disappeared. There seem to be no clues as to her whereabouts, but a visit to Sofia's very strange apartment in the Dorsoduro confirms Teresa’s suspicions that all is not well....
The first in an Italian crime series set in Rome. Whilst Sara Farnese pours over ancient texts in the silent and beautiful Vatican reading room, a crazed man enters carrying a bloodied bag. He walks up to Sara's desk. He has something he would like her to see. Sara is inextricably linked to a series of horrific murders, each one representative of the death of a martyr of the Church. Enter Detectives Costa and Rossi. They must protect Sara whilst hunting down the killer, and time is running short.
Anneliese Vos, 16-year-old daughter of detective Pieter Vos, disappeared three years ago. Her father's desperate search revealed nothing. One day, Laura Bakker, a trainee detective, visits to tell him that the daughter of local politician, Katja Prins, has gone missing in circumstances similar to Anneliese. Vos is drawn back into the life of a detective, hoping that somewhere will be a clue to his daughter’s fate….
Venice is a beautiful and mysterious city. Lucifer's Shadow combines two stories in the city, set centuries apart from one another, and both involving the shady but seductive characters of Venice. The stories involve an anonymous manuscript for a violin concerto, and run parallel, interweaving to lead listeners into a stunning double twisted ending.
Sarah Lund is looking forward to her last day as a detective with the Copenhagen Police department before moving to Sweden. But everything changes when nineteen-year-old student, Nanna Birk Larsen, is found raped and brutally murdered in the woods outside the city. Lund’s plans to relocate are put on hold as she leads the investigation, along with fellow detective Jan Meyer. While Nanna’s family struggles to cope with their loss, local politician Troels Hartmann is in the middle of an election campaign to become the new mayor of Copenhagen....
New York City is thrown into chaos by the assaults of the Bone Collector, a serial kidnapper and killer who gives the police a chance to save his victims from death by leaving obscure clues. The cops go to Lincoln Rhyme, an ex-NYPD forensics expert left paralysed after an accident on the job. Rhyme reluctantly postpones his ambitions towards suicide and puts together a forensic investigation team, enlisting as his eyes and ears young police officer Amelia Sachs.
It's February, and Carnival time in Venice. Bright blue skies and freezing temperatures welcome forensic pathologist Teresa Lupo to the city. Teresa has taken time out from her job to find her beloved bohemian aunt Sofia who has mysteriously disappeared. There seem to be no clues as to her whereabouts, but a visit to Sofia's very strange apartment in the Dorsoduro confirms Teresa’s suspicions that all is not well....
Husband and wife Niamh and Ruairidh Macfarlane co-own Ranish Tweed: a Hebridean company that weaves its own special variety of Harris cloth, which has become a sought-after brand in the world of high fashion. But when Niamh learns of Ruairidh's affair with Russian designer Irina Vetrov, then witnesses the pair killed by a car bomb in Paris, her life is left in ruins. Along with her husband's remains, she returns home to the Isle of Lewis bereft.
Ex-cop Bierce has been in prison for over 20 years, following his conviction for the murders of his wife and son. He has no memory of the tragedy and has never been able to say with certainty that he didn't do it - except he cannot imagine why on earth he would have killed his beloved family.
For James Bond and the British Secret Service, the stakes couldn’t be higher. 007’s mission is to neutralise the Russian operative Le Chiffre by ruining him at the baccarat table, forcing his Soviet masters to ‘retire’ him. When Le Chiffre hits a losing streak, Bond discovers his luck is in – that is, until he meets Vesper Lynd, a glamorous agent who might yet prove to be his downfall.
Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island seeking sanctuary when he is forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective. A few days before Christmas, his peace is shattered, and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby priory. When former local girl Dr. Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface, making her confront her difficult past.
Filled with startling twists, Whiteout is the ultimate knife-edge drama from Ken Follett - an international best-selling author who is in a class of his own. As a blizzard whips down from the north on Christmas Eve, several people converge on a remote family house. Stanley Oxenford, director of a pharmaceutical research company, has everything riding on a drug he is developing to fight a lethal virus.
Florence, 1986: A seemingly inexplicable attack on a church fresco of Adam and Eve brings together an unlikely couple: Julia Wellbeloved, an art student, and Pino Fratelli, a semi-retired detective who longs to be back in the field. Their investigation leads them to the secret society that underpins the city, and back to the darkness in Florence’s past: the night of the great flood in 1966…
On a mild autumn afternoon in 1882, William Trenchard sits smoking his pipe in the garden of his comfortable family home. When the creak of the garden gate heralds the arrival of an unexpected stranger, he is puzzled but not alarmed. He cannot know the destruction this man will wreak on all he holds most dear.
Yorkshire 1969. At a rock concert a murdered woman is found in a sleeping bag. The detective assigned to the case, Stanley Chadwick...
At Christmas 1975 a group of Californian students experiment with LSD. One of them, Michael Quinn kidnaps the son of an English professor. When he is released from jail twenty years later, a mysterious young English woman named Joni Lascelles begins to ask questions that will unravel the past.
When DI Vera Stanhope finds the body of a woman in the sauna room of her local gym, she wonders briefly if she’s uncovered a simple death from natural causes. But a closer inspection reveals ligature marks around the victim’s throat…Vera pulls her team together and sets them interviewing those connected to the victim, while she and colleague, Sergeant Joe Ashworth, work to find a motive.
It's December, and the Shannon family are returning home to their clifftop mansion. However, a century ago Archibald Shannon stole the land upon which he built their home, and his descendants have been cursed ever since. When heavy snow cuts off Kintyre, DCI Jim Daley and DS Brian Scott are assigned to protect their illustrious visitors. As an ancient society emerges from the blizzards, ghosts of the past come to haunt the Shannons. As the curse decrees, death is coming. But for whom, and from what?
It is in Semana Santa - Holy Week - in Southern Spain, and the heat is building up in the city. When a hideous double murder is discovered on the first day, the men of the force - and a visiting female academic, Maria Gutierrez - know they are in for a long week.
Police pathologist Teresa Lupo is Nic's colleague, friend, and his only equal when it comes to breaking the rules to get results, whatever the cost. Now, after years of living with the dead, Teresa insists that her superiors move quickly to save a life. Poring over the body of the girl in the morgue, she has found too many similarities between the girls, including a unique, leering tattoo. Lupo is sure that the vanished girl is headed for a bizarre ancient Bacchanalia involving virgins and sacrificial murder - a ritual that is only days away.
As Nic and Teresa claw at the case from two sides - and as Nic finds himself at once puzzled and beguiled by the missing girl's seductive mother - a chilling picture is beginning to emerge of secret relationships and sexual depravity, organized crime and unimaginable corruption. With the clock ticking down on a young girl's life, Nic and Teresa are about to make the most horrifying discovery of all - in a pit of human darkness, where an age-old malevolence still endures, evil has consumed innocence. And a very modern vengeance has begun...
I just want to echo everything that Gwen has said about this book. It is the first audiobook I have actually given up on. I cannot listen to any more of it.
Having listened to and really enjoyed the later Nic Costa books narrated by Saul Reichlin I was delighted when three earlier David Hewson books appeared recently on Audiobooks but I am very disappointed. The narration is so terrible on this one I shall not bother with the other two.
Hopefully Saul Reichlin will narrate any future audiobooks by David Hewson. His narration is brilliant.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful
Well if I thought the first book in the Rome series was narrated badly, then this one is awful. I am about an hour from finishing it. The listener will have to endure all of the Italian characters (i.e. most of the characters in the book) being narrated in an accent like 'oh shuddup-a-ya-face'.
I do not know how much this has detracted from this book but I am also disappointed by the main thread of this story - a story often related by less able authors and dirty old men. I also really disliked Eyes Wide Shut for similar reasons.
I am going to proceed to listen to the 5th in the Rome series, safe in the knowledge that Saul Reichlin is reading it, and hope that it will be much less gratuitous than this, the second.
I am aware that this has disturbed me much more than any of the violence in other books - this may be true for other female listeners.
20 of 21 people found this review helpful
I cannot but agree with several other reviewers. The Chico Marx accent that the reader uses for every Italian character (the majority) detracts so much from the novel that it is almost impossible to listen through. A waste of money ... unless you think you will like the combination of a crime-novel with Chico Marx.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
A relaxing way of enjoying a marvellous detective story, read by an excellent actor.The places referred to in and around Rome are spot on and precise.The only blemish was having Kay "Italianise" the pronunciation of the various Italian characters. It was tiring and disturbing, especially for those who actually speak Italian!They should have spoken English with an anglophone accent to convey the impression that for them their accents were "normal".
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
What would have made The Villa of Mysteries better?
Saul Reichlin reading it would have made it better! Or any reader who didn't use caricature Italian accents! And if you are going to try Italian accents (please not again!) at least pronounce Italian words correctly eg Machiato is not pronounced 'ch' but 'k'. The reader of the first book was good I thought with his regional English accents but I am just going to move on to Book three which I know is in Saul Reichlin's safe pair of hands. Poor Christopher Kay; it must be awful to receive these reviews but really he gave an awful performance. I too was immensely irritated throughout and also the weird pronunciation of 'cadaver' drove me crazy. I can't imagine why readers don't look up any pronunciations they are not sure of ... they should do their homework first.
Would you be willing to try another book from David Hewson? Why or why not?
Yes. I have 'read' three and like them with a good reader.
Would you be willing to try another one of Christopher Kay’s performances?
I'm afraid not if it contained foreign voices. If all are English, he could be fine perhaps.
What character would you cut from The Villa of Mysteries?
I don't think this is his best book and several of the characters are too caricature so I can't really pick one that stands out.
Any additional comments?
Stop calling 'crazy Teresa' Crazy Teresa. It's irritating to go on and on. We've got the message! She's a reasonable character without the silly name.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Story excellent as with all David Hewson books
Who was your favorite character and why?
No particular favourite character
Did Christopher Kay do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?
Christopher Kay ruined the listening pleasure by insisting on giving virtually every character a really naff, bad Italian accent. The falseness of the accents ruined the listening pleasure for me
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It was an intriguing, complex story which I always enjoy
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
The narration of this book is so awful.... I'm about one and a half hours into listening and have to give up. Sadly, because the book seems really good so far, but I wish the narrator hadn't attempted an Italian accent.- his pronunciation even of Italian places like Trestevere is so wrong. And why doesn't he know how to say cadaver????! What a shame, I think I might actually have to buy the book if I want to continue with the Rome Series.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Very well written book slightly marred by comedy Italian accents.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Unlike your other reviewers I thought the book was excellent in plot and telling. I fail to see how people that only stick 30 or 40 minutes with a book can make any comment at all. The story line was good and we all despise violence, especially against women, but it happens. The Italian accents of the reader were a bit off the cuff but it's the story, not the accent that's under review.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoy David Hewson's books, but this narrator is ridiculous. His annoying Italian 'accent' completely detracts from the story, so much so that I have deleted the whole book without listening to more than 10 minutes. Hopefully Saul Reichlin will narrate this one in future.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Hewson's books are great, but I far prefer the other narrator, the one who read The Sacred Cut and The Seventh Sacrament. This one, in addition to mispronouncing Italian words (which the other guy also did), reads all the dialogues with an Italian accent. This is absurd! Italians do not speak to each other in English with an Italian accent! Obviously they would speak in Italian and without a foreign accent, and since the book is in English, can't we just assume we are reading a translation into English of what they said, and dismiss the silly accents, please? As they stand, the accents are very distracting and make a caricature of what are otherwise excellent dialogues. Do listen anyway, though, because these are great books, engaging at every level and far better written than Dan Brown's.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Engaging, amusing characters. Plenty of surprises that keep you guessing until the end. A mystery with special pleasures for archaeology buffs and anyone who has ever visited Rome.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
...then this book is a pretty good mystery. Why they chose to do the main characters (all Italian) with REALLY bad Italian accented English is beyond me, maybe because there were one or two English speaking characters?
I do plan to keep up with the series, but will probably read the rest.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
After starting with, and very much enjoying, the most recent book (The Garden of Evil) in this series, I decided to go back to the begining. The first book was great and so was this one, but the Itallian accents!! Eek. The narrator is actaully pretty good, but the accent he uses for the Italians is not only the same for all characters, but it sounds like Triumph the insult comic dog. Awful!! It was difficult to take the characters seriously. And most annoying was that it was VERY difficult to tell who was speaking when the characters were all Italian. I still recommend the book, but I think a new reader is called for. Be aware of what you are getting when you download this book.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Despite the accent which at first makes the characters sound silly,(you get used to it)the story is engaging and the characters interesting. I found this book very entertaining.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
This is my third Hewson book. I wondered during the first book why a story set in Venice with Rome police would use a heavily British accent. I got used to the British accent and idioms in the second book. The third book, The Villa of Mysteries, answered all my questions. The narrator used the fakest of all fake Italian accents and the accents used speaking the British idiom almost ruined the book for me. The story fit the Hewson's style, seems well researched and follows familiar characters of the Rome police department. A major feature of the book involving a 7 year old boy strains the reader's ability to swallow a premise but huge jumps of acceptance are the hallmark of this genre. If you can get past the narration, and that is a big if, the story is worth the effort.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful