Flipping Rich Bastards

By: Julie G. Murphy

Narrated by: Jill Priest

Lady Eleanor Albright has left her "brothel-loving, girl-seducing, entitlement-inflated husband with whom she can't believe she ever had sex" and is-again- living with her Irish mother, Lady Adele Darnley. With her daughter's marital woes unacceptable, Lady Adele schemes to end Eleanor's "problems" - one of which is her daughter's attachment to a man seven years her junior, a barrister named Lord Henry Faraday. To add insult to injury, Henry has included Eleanor as an expert chemist (and purveyor of women's creams) in the death of the sanctimonious Baron of Tweedmouth. To help her friend, the cherubic Baron's son, Eleanor must defy family, society, even the man she loves. Louis may well crack under the pressure of his harsh, bullying father.

©2019 Julie G Murphy (P)2021 Julie g Murphy

An addictive, well-crafted historical mystery

I am quite pleased with this solid historical mystery set among the upper class in a small town in the Cotswolds and some trips to London. The year is roughly 1905, which is early in the Edwardian era. The writing and dialogue seemed very historically accurate to me. I quite enjoyed this mystery as much as “Her Royal Spyness”, so I totally recommend it to Rhys Bowen fans and fans of dishy English mysteries. Like in Royal Spyness, the heroine’s grandfather was a police detective. There is a lot of gossip and many characters to remember. It is written in third person perspective most often from Eleanor’s point of view, but several other interesting characters each had one or two chapters in their perspective. I quickly became as obsessed as the heroine Lady Eleanor with the question of who killed Baron Tweedmouth. Nobody liked the baron, but who killed him, and could Eleanor and her friend Lord Faraday prove it? Eleanor faced social obstacles to her crime-solving from everyone, from her mother to the neighbors to the police inspector. There is hardly any romance in the story. Halfway through the audiobook, the writing and narration became more vibrant as both hit their stride, and the climax was exciting. Therefore, I am eagerly awaiting the next audiobook in the series.

By the way, I had been slightly concerned by the book description with whether the heroine committed adultery in the book. Thankfully, she did not. She only flirted with and kissed the barrister Lord Faraday one time. Actually, Eleanor is separated from her husband, who is a pedophile who rapes 12-year-old prostitutes, so her husband is a really awful, evil person. I suppose that upper class men of that era were not pursued for that crime if they only targeted poor people. Eleanor hasn’t decided on divorce yet, but it seems like just a matter of time.

The narrator, Jill Priest, did a great job. She was an expert at various English, Irish, and French accents. She did an excellent job with male and female voices and making each character sound distinctive. I wish her voice for Eleanor was more vibrant, so that’s why I gave her four stars. The narrator’s voice for Letty really shows off her comic timing and a quirky Northeast American accent. When there is action, Jill Priest has excellent pacing that increases the excitement. Edwardian mystery lovers should try this audiobook.


I requested and received a free audiobook copy via #AudiobookObsession, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
#AudiobookObsession Reviewer