The Poisoned Quill

The Detective Lavender Mysteries, Book 8

By: Karen Charlton

Narrated by: Russ Williams

Ealing: August 1814

Detective Stephen Lavender's wife and children are spending a glorious summer in the picturesque village of Ealing. When the vicar's wife is poisoned, Lavender is asked to review the case. He soon realizes something rotten is festering at the heart of this rural idyll.

Convinced the wrong man has been arrested and the killer is still at large, Lavender is also disturbed to discover someone is sending the local gentry vile letters containing outrageous accusations. Could the same hand that drips such poison from their quill also have administered that fatal dose of arsenic?

Fortunately, Constable Ned Woods and his family are visiting nearby Brentford to solve a perplexing family mystery of their own. When the body of a second woman is found, Lavender seeks Woods' help to unravel the tangled web of lies and deceit spun by the killer.

Distracted by these crimes, the two men are unaware of the sinister danger stalking their own children—until it's almost too late. But help comes from an unlikely source, bringing with it resolution to a question that has haunted Woods since childhood and reminding Lavender that family must always come first.

©2025 Karen Charlton (P)2026 Tantor Media

Ok

It was really hard to have a new narrator So used to the other one. It Will take some time to get used to the story was good though.

Author never disappoints but narration lacking on this one

Prefer previous narrator, not as much range of voice and feeling with this one but it was a good book.

Latest detective Lavender novel

This book was well worth the wait. Thank you Ms Charlton. Will there be more?

Woods and Lavender are the dynamic duo of the early 20th century

I first fell in love with this series when it created a personal live for Lavender and Woods outside their work relationship. This book brought together the lives of the two detectives interspersed in their pursuit of the true murderer. I would welcome another book where the personal lives of Woods and Lavender were the central theme and the mystery to solve was incidental to the story.

Abyssal Narrator

Narrator ruined the book however the story was wonderful. I agree with other reviewers about why change the great narration of the previous books with someone who just doesn’t have the knowledge of reading comprehension