The Ruby Locket cover art

The Ruby Locket

The Belrose Abbey Mystery Series, Book 1

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The Ruby Locket

By: Anita Higman, Hillary McMullen
Narrated by: Michelle Babb
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About this listen

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 Cosy Detective Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Fiction Suspense

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A dark Gothic novella which is fun and quick to read, the Ruby Locket tells of the experiences of Anna and her mother when they move to Melrose Abbey. Dauphine, the mother, had been desolate following her husband's death just eight months before, until she met the suave and wealthy Ivan and accepted his marriage proposal one week later. Mother and daughter move to the Abbey expecting a large house in the country but instead find something more akin to a castle staffed by loyal retainers, and that they are virtual prisoners. Told mostly in the first person from Anna's point of view some chapters are also related from the mother's perspective giving a slightly more rounded view of the happenings. Despite this, the characters of the main protagonists remain insubstantial, just slightly more solid shadows in a blissfully of them.

There is a decidedly chilly atmosphere, one of danger (and stupidity!) permeating the whole story, with the desire for the reader to call out something like "look behind you", pantomime style. And, !like a pantomime, it is ridiculously enjoyable. This feeling of shuddering well-being is enhanced by Michelle Babb's narration, always clear, well paced and with separate voices for each of the protagonists. Her reading definitely enhances the enjoyment of the story.

Overall, an enjoyable, silly read, atmospheric from the beginning and perfect for something light and easy to fill a boring evening. If you like chilly thrills unrelated to real life, this is the book for you.

A woman in a wedding dress

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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!

Gothic mystery

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Is there anything you would change about this book?

I liked all the characters, they are all different and had there own characteristic. The scene also set the tune. I felt it had more of a Gothic setting. What I did not like was knowing without trying to hard who did and why. There was suspense (based on the scenes, like the catacombs) but no real mystery. which was a shame because it wasn't to bad a read. I believe with a little more work it would be a great read.
There is no sexual/language/violence/sexual content.
This could be (with work done) what I call a thriller. It had all the ingredients but it wasn't executed well unfortunately.

What aspect of Michelle Babb’s performance might you have changed?

Michelle had an OK performance based on other narrators that I have listened to. She changed her voice to suite the different characters which was OK. However I felt more emotion can be put in. So when the character was not sure then I want to hear so I know without being to told that the character is unsure/upset/angry, etc.

Could have been better.

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Absolutely loved this book a mystery adventure with christian overtures, will look forward to the next book in the series, narration was terrific

Brilliant mystery adventure with twists

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Listener received this title free

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

nice story

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