The Twelve Saints of Christmas

Heathcliff Lennox, Book 12

By: Karen Baugh MENUHIN

Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton

Murder, mystery and a dog of distinction. Heathcliff Lennox investigates.

Twelve Saints, who are not true saints at all. They are the great and the good, although none are entirely great, nor good—indeed one is a murderer.

Temple House near Bath is built upon an old Roman Temple, the house bequeathed many centuries before to a secret order of old aristocracy. The 'Saints' are not true saints, they are remnants; the last of their line, they have wealth, but no heirs.

The Order may invite any such relict to join them. They will come to live in Temple House, they will become a revered and venerable Saint, and when they die all their wealth must go into the saints coffers.

Each Christmas these coffers are opened and the Saints—after much debate and contemplation—will donate a proportion of their wealth to a good and deserving cause.

This fine philanthropic task has followed the same line for hundreds of years—until now. It is Christmas 1923 and a Saint is found dead, murdered, and the killer is from within Temple House itself. The Order of the Saints is shrouded in secrecy and this dreadful deed cannot be allowed to expose them. And so their keeper of the books—the Dead Reckoner—suggests they call in Major Heathcliff Lennox and ex-Inspector Jonathan Swift to uncover the killer.

Major Heathcliff Lennox—ex WW1 war pilot, six feet, three inch, tousled dark blond hair, age around 30–named after the hero of Wuthering Heights by his romantically minded mother–much to his great annoyance.

©2024 Karen Baugh Menuhin (P)2025 Karen Baugh Menuhin

PLEASE BRING BACK SAM DEWHURST-PHILLIPS!!

I adore this series and the characters, but what a disappointment the new narrator is!! Mr. Boulton is fine I guess, if you never heard any of the earlier books, but the story is so flat without Sam Dewhurst-Phillips. The characters, especially Lennox, just don't come alive anymore. PLEASE try to bring Dewhurst-Phillips back!

Missing Sam Dewhurst-Phillips, and Tommy!

This story had a new narrator, and he did a fine job with many characters, especially the females. But I missed the deeper tones of the butler Greggs, which adds to his humorous side. The biggest disappointment was young Tommy the boot boy! He only had one brief phone call, and sounded like an adult. Tommy's endearing, breathless, childlike wonder and excitement are some of my favorite scenes! Also missed the sweet sound effects of Mr. Fogg's barks and whines. Maybe we need to hear some cat meows from Mr. Tubs as well! When I listen to a mystery series, I enjoy the connection to the familiar characters we know well. With Heathcliff and his butler Greggs ongoing friendship and rapport, I laugh out loud when "his chin wobbled." The humor with adorable Tommy should be more of a focus in the stories. I would love to see Tommy accompany Lenox and Swift on a case! Or have a case in their home village where he can participate. I hope Sam Dewhurst-Phillips may return next time, complete with the pets sound effects!

Where is Mr Dewhurst Phillips?

I didn’t like the new narrator so I had a hard time listening to the book. Because I am a fan of the series, I will listen to the book again to appreciate the book itself

Tell Me It Isn’t So

Why did you change the narrator?! What at surprise when I started listening to this as part of my Christmas audiobook marathon. The new narrator provides no character to Heathcliff and has him sounding like the narrator from a movie. Oddly the new narrator developed the supporting characters voice very well, but not the main character at all. SMH.

I couldn’t listen more than 15 minutes, but to be fair I tried several more times and just cringed when Heathcliff talked.

I returned this audiobook and bought the digital book to read instead. Highly disappointed as Sam does such a wonderful job narrating Heathcliff.

Not the best story in a great series

I found the story rather boring. Just simply not enough action. Too much talking. Not sure about the narrator yet. He really put me off at first and there is simply no replacing Sam Dewhurst but by the end of the book I had begun to make the adjustment. I can tell this narrator is very talented and will probably do since Sam is not available, apparently, but there are some things I wish he could adjust. First, slow down. One of the most entertaining aspects of this series are the barbs that fly, mostly between Swift and Lennox but there are some between others as well. The narrator didn't pause and let the audience absorb the humor in the barbs and let the listener really appreciate them. He just talked over it. Also, what I liked about Sam Dewhurst is that the voices were very distinct but not stereotypically English. I get tired of the snobby sounding women of the British aristocracy-it is very overdone. The butler as well. Make them more human, less a stereotype. The narrator's cadance at first reminded me of James T. Kirk of Star Trek-that over dramatic classic Shakespearian cadance that got William Shatner quite mocked for decades. Fortunately, toward the end of the book, the narrator seemed to have a more normal, conversational rhythm of speaking which helped a lot in being able to finish the book. Sam Dewhurst also had more passion in Swift's voice and and more commanding power in Lenox's. I miss that. I miss the slightly dangerous, I suffer no fools attitude in Lennox's voice, it went a long way in defining his character. As always, looking forward to more Lenox and Swift, but, hopefully, a more action packed, entertaining story. Also, I agree with the other comments about Mr. Fogg-where's the doggie bark?!? lol!