The Love Talker

By: Elizabeth Peters

Narrated by: Grace Conlin

Surely Aunt Ida couldn't really have meant it what she said: "I only hope I will be taken before my mind fails. Fairies in the woods, indeed!" But when Laurie and her brother Doug visit her at Idlewood, they discover that Aunt Ida may indeed have something to fear in the woods.©1980 Elizabeth Peters (P)1995 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Best one

My favorite one of Ms Peters of all. Great twists and turns. Had me fooled till the end.

Not her best

Any additional comments?

I normally love to listen to Elizabeth Peters' books, but this one falls a bit short of her normally fun listens.

The story is a bit far fetched and felt very contrived. It was even quite confusing at the end. I listened to the "climax" 3 times but couldn't find the continuity of the storyline. The "mystery" was somewhat (very) predictable and the love interest just wasn't plausible. It felt like a 'C' movie.

The narrator was great, as usual, but the material just wasn't there for her.

Ms Peters was evidently having a rough patch. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're a 15 year old - maybe.

Funny and good story

I enjoyed the story. I had some trouble with the narration but I can't even tell you what the problem was. Good characters, even the silent uncle. I would have liked more of the silly old aunt. She was interesting.

Unusually good performance by Grace Conlin

I usually give poor marks to Grace Conlin because I love, love, love Barbara Rosenblat's readings of Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters books and Conlin loses by comparison. In this book, she did a much better job of differentiating the speech of the characters. She doesn't do myriad voices as Rosenblat does, but the characters were distinct -- via accents and speed of speaking and so on. Best Conlin performance I've heard to date.
Also really liked the story. Laurie, the heroine, exchanges the usual witty banter leading to romance with her half brother and another love interest appears. The mystery concerns an elderly aunt, living with another aunt and uncle, whose behavior is increasingly erratic and worrisome. It is soon revealed she believes in fairies -- living in the nearby woods -- and she has picture proof. I am quite familiar with the story of Alfred Conan Doyle and the fairy pictures and was charmed to find it referenced in this book...
The book moved rapidly and was entertaining throughout. Only near the end did I find myself exhorting, "NO! Don't GO THERE, YOU IDIOT!" and similar warnings. The heroine has to do something stupid to bring the story to a climax, I guess. The revelations after the climax enhanced the story even further.

Are There Really Ferries?

This is quite a different book, for me at least, by Elizabeth Peters . It seemed more eary and definitely took a twist at the end !
As usual, a very good read.