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Magpie Lane
- Narrated by: Susie Riddell
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
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Magpie Lane
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Summary
When the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers.
As Dee looks back over her time in the Master's Lodging - an eerie and ancient house - a picture of a high achieving but dysfunctional family emerges: Nick, the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife Mariah, pregnant with their child; and the lost little girl, Felicity, almost mute, seeing ghosts, grieving her dead mother.
But is Dee telling the whole story? Is her growing friendship with the eccentric house historian, Linklater, any cause for concern? And most of all, why was Felicity silent?
Roaming Oxford's secret passages and hidden graveyards, Magpie Lane explores the true meaning of family - and what it is to be denied one.
Critic reviews
"Enthralling...creepy and compelling." (The Times)
"Deliciously dark." (Alexandra Shulman)
"A gorgeously satisfying triumph." (Lucy Mangan)
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What listeners say about Magpie Lane
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rachel Redford
- 02-05-20
Really fresh and original
Categorising this book as a thriller , or even a crime novel, does it a great dis-service. There are certainly some intriguing mysteries, but above all it's a story of the healing power of love. I loved it.
The setting is in the house of an Oxford College Master, with its sinister priest's hole and prized William Morris wallpaper, where Dee, rootless in Oxford and far from her Scottish home, is looking after Felicity, the 8 year-old daughter of the authoritarian Master who lives with his blonde, pregnant Danish second wife, Mariah, who fails utterly to understand Felicity. They are hopelessly negligent parents to Felicity who, traumatised by the death of her mother (more of that mystery ensues), has been an elective mute for the last 4 years.
The gradual trust, love and finally speech between Dee and Felicity is endearingly developed, as is the growing relationship between Dee and Mr Linklater, the local historian who is researching the past of the Master's rambling house. Crimes have been and are committed. How did Felicity's mother die if not from cancer as her husband claimed? What happened to Dee's baby girl? Answers to similar questions are drip fed seamlessly and unshockingly into the narrative, merging with the crimes committed in previous centuries in the Master's secret-holding old house. We're constantly being pressed to question crime and punishment.
Right at the beginning Felicity has gone missing and the story weaves backwards and forwards, taking in the police investigation. It's not until the Epilogue when we're rooting for the 'crime' to go unpunished that the mystery if Felicity's disappearance is solved.
I liked the narration: Dee's Scots accent and Mariah's Danish, which becomes slightly more manic as her life disintegrates, are well done. Unusual and absorbing!
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17 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Diane Carrington
- 03-05-20
Disappointed
What a cop out ending! Let the reader make their own minds up - v disappointing
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- V. O'Regan
- 04-04-20
Excellent atmospheric tale
This was a highly atmospheric novel that was well suited to the audiobook adaptation given its format of an internal dialogue by its lead. The name given to Dee by the Daily Mail was totally on point
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alice
- 13-09-20
Just Fantastic
This book is brilliant, you feel everyone’s torture, especially Felicity! The narration is good, I loved the descriptions of Oxford, and the character of Linklater is wonderful, I so liked him.
However you end up, not knowing if you like any of them by the end!
A superb thriller!
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SandraL
- 05-05-20
Fabulous - one of my favourite books this year
This is my first book by Lucy Atkins and is one of my favourite listens so far this year.
It's the story of the disappearance of a young girl, told by her nanny in flashbacks during police interviews. The writing is brilliant. The cast of characters is fascinating - the maths obsessed nanny, the selectively mute girl, the arrogant College Master, the pregnant Danish stepmother, the wonderfully eccentric House Detective, and there's even a cat called Fibonacci. The setting of Oxford is described beautifully, and the house is creepy and has a priests hole.
To top all this, the narration by Susie Riddell was superb! I will definitely be listening to more by this author. Highly recommended!
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mollyeyre
- 19-04-20
Really enjoyed this
I was so involved in this story that I felt very stressed at certain points!
This was so well written, I certainly got to know the characters of those involved, a brilliant story well written and well narrated! I did actually guess the ending, but it was no less enjoyable for all that.
There were quite a few fine nuances throughout the book, things that one could surmise, but with no proof one didn't go there, so there was a bit of 'did she? or didn't she?' about several things in the history of the characters, but it was OK to just pass over and get on with the current tale. Very tense in places. I'm off to look for more by this writer.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lavalier Season
- 24-03-21
Brilliant from the first page to the last
Magpie Lane is one of the rare books that drew me in from the very beginning. I've never read any of Lucy Atkin's books before and her descriptions of the narcissistic and anachronistic rituals of Oxford life were spot on. The mystery was atmospheric without being overly spooky and the format in which it was told was great - I really enjoyed seeing the tale unravel.
Kudos has to go to the narrator for her stunning performance - I'll definitely be seeking out other books read by her.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 03-06-20
brilliant
loved it! couldn't stop listening to it. Got me hooked. didn't want it to end.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AndyT
- 01-03-21
A true page turner
keeps you guessing, chapter after chapter. Sensational writing. leaves you wanting to visit magpie lane.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fee
- 26-02-21
Unexpectedly enjoyable
A little different in the main though some parts were a little cliched especially Linklater. I liked the narration.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- PodkaneofMars
- 22-02-22
What a lovely lovely book
A ( possibly) unreliable narrator, a lonely traumatized child, secrets that slowly reveal themselves, and a superb voice actor make this a remarkable listening experience. Wonderful.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bitten and Seven Are The Best Kitties In Heaven
- 04-06-21
Perfection
This is as good as it gets.
I finished it in a day because I was utterly riveted from word one.
Lucy Atkins is quite possibly the most talented and original voice in this genre.
I fell in love with everything about this book.
Narration is pitch perfect.
Five Stars all the way ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Best book I’ve read in ages.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cat L.
- 03-07-23
Ten stars if I could
Top marks across the board - great story, building nicely to the reveals, fantastic setting and packed with fun details about Oxford, all spectacularly brought together by a first-
rate narrator. Wow. Going to be hard to find something to listen to next - anything will pale in comparison!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kate
- 10-02-23
Good, but makes me feel sick
It’s really well written and the narrator is amazing! However, the story is creepy and I am 2/3 in and need to take a break from it. I do plan to finish, but I don’t exactly enjoy it due to the nature of the plot. So I think it is really good, but also not for me as I don’t enjoy grimness.
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