Murder On The Caledonian Queen

A Helen & Martha Cozy Mystery Series

By: Sigrid Vansandt

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Loved, loved this series! What a fun romp, a good twisty mystery and wonderful characters. Sad that this is the last of the series, as I have loved reading each one of them one after the other. Loved how the characters changed and grew over the series. I am hoping that the author will write more interesting stories with these characters." Carolyn P.

A DELIGHTFUL COZY MYSTERY FULL OF QUAINT VILLAGES, QUIRKY CHARACTERS, AND MADCAP ADVENTURES BY A BESTSELLING AUTHOR.

Helen Ryes and Martha Littleword, two Americans living in England, become fast friends and amateur sleuths when a murder lands them in hot water. Killers unfortunately rarely stop at just one murder and the tome-filled libraries, ivy-covered manor homes, and lush countryside of England can be decidedly deadly!

“There doesn’t seem to be a person on board he hasn’t inflicted hurt upon…”-Martha Littleword
What does a famous rock star, a wealthy software engineer, a Swedish boat captain and Helen Ryes-Cousins all have in common? Murder!

When a vicious extortionist and corporate blackguard, is killed aboard the elegant Luxemotor hotel barge, The Caledonian Queen, everyone is a suspect—especially Helen.

Invited for a luxury trip up the bewitching Caledonian canal, Martha and Helen are asked to assess the value of a rare sixteenth-century manuscript. But it’s all a ruse. Their chick trip goes deadly when someone stuffs a dead man in Helen’s closet and uses her clothes steamer to cosh him on the head.

The deep, mysterious lochs of Scotland may have fish, but none are as big as the one being used to bait in a monster.Grab a cup of tea, tuck yourself in somewhere cozy, and nibble on a few pieces of shortbread. The girls are on an adventure of Highland proportions.


A FUN, ADVENTURE-FILLED MURDER MYSTERY WITH PLENTY OF HEART.

Fans of Richard Osman, M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin, the Reverend Richard Coles, Ian Moore and Jane Adams will love this unputdownable mystery.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Two random American ladies turning into sleuthing buddies, lots of suspects and clues!” Tari H.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Lucy and Ethel in England.” Karen
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Cute easy mystery read.” Bonnie P.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Kept me turning the pages from page one!” Jonna M.

ALSO BY SIGRID VANSANDT

HELEN & MARTHA COZY MYSTERY SERIES:
Book 1: TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE
Book 2: MURDER TRAVELS IN THREES
Book 3: PUDDING, POISON, & PIE
Book 4: DEATH DRINKS DARJEELING
Book 5: MURDER ON THE CALEDONIAN QUEEN
Book 6: DEATH, DICE, & SOUTHERN SPICE

WILLOW VALLEY COZY MYSTERY SERIES:
Book 1: THE GHOST IN MR. PEPPER’S BED
Book 2: A GHOST’S TALE

Virtual Voice needs Improvement

Enunciation, pronunciation, sentence structure, emotion, and execution are important in storytelling. Virtual Voice misses the mark.

Couldn’t get past AI narration

Listened for 20 minutes and just couldn’t deal with the same voice - which lacked inflection and proper pronunciation - doing all the characters with no change in pitch. Story might have been good….

Virtual Voice narration is terrible! And the plot needs work.

Important characters are inconsistent, making the story less believable. The author makes a character’s motivation central to the action of the story, but the character’s actions are contrary psychologically to the motivation given. Were 2 characters combined, or…? There were several mistakes like this that spoiled this story for me. I was disappointed that there was not more development of the Book of Kells aspect of the plot, too.

The narrator downgraded this book

The narrator sounded like AI, perhaps was AI. The emphasis was continually misplaced so it made it difficult to follow the story.