The Secret of the Lost Pearls

Useful Woman Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Darcie Wilde

Narrated by: Kitty Kelly

In Darcie Wilde's captivating mystery series inspired by the novels of Jane Austen, no one is better equipped to help ladies who find themselves wronged than "useful woman" Rosalind Thorne . . .

Rosalind Thorne may not have a grand fortune of her own, but she possesses virtues almost as prized by the haut ton: discretion, and a web of connections that enable her to discover just about anything about anyone. Known as a "most useful woman," Rosalind helps society ladies in need--for a modest fee, of course--and her client roster is steadily increasing.

Mrs. Gerald Douglas, nee Bethany Hodgeson, presents Rosalind with a particularly delicate predicament. A valuable pearl necklace has gone missing, and Bethany's husband believes the thief is Nora, Bethany's disgraced sister. Nora made a scandalous elopement at age sixteen and returned three years later, telling the family that her husband was dead.

But as Rosalind begins her investigations, under cover of helping the daughters of the house prepare for their first London season, she realizes that the family harbors even more secrets than scandals. The intrigue swirling around the Douglases includes fraud, forgery, blackmail, and soon, murder. And it will fall to Rosalind, aided by charming Bow Street officer Adam Harkness, to untangle the shocking truth and discover who is a thief-and who is a killer.

©2023 Sarah Zettel (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Great plot but narrator tough to hear

This was a well told story—complicated but interesting. I much prefer Pearl Hewitt’s narration, though. Consider getting her back!

Mixed bag

Story and characters were very interesting but narrator was vey difficult to understand. This was strange because her accents for some characters were fine but the narrative was almost incomprehensible.

Another great Rosalind Thorne mystery, despite poor narration

Another great story by Darcie Wilde. Rosalind Thorne has her usual challenges in solving multiple mysteries and this latest case proves entertaining and engaging. However, why or why did Audible change narrators??? Ms Kelly is not a great narrator and has a limited range, she seemed to only be able to do 3 voices, and so several characters sounded the same. In addition, she gave the young women low husky voices, making them sound like chain smokers. An old main sounded like a squeaky oil can. Not pleasant or believable. But if you can get past the narration, the story is a good one.

Wonderful as always

Thank you for my introduction to a London Estuary accent. It was a surprise for this American but I googled Kitty Kelly, who is lovely enough to play Rosalind on stage, and the origins of this particular accent. It was easier to appreciate after this sojourn, and think about the how society and language are continually changing.

Astounding

This story is so full of characters and aliases that I had trouble keeping everyone straight. A few failed to reach the end, but mostly all was well. The unsolved question is... what is Harkness going to do???