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Before the Poison

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Before the Poison

By: Peter Robinson
Narrated by: Simon Slater, Sandra Duncan, Al Senter
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About this listen

Through years of success in Hollywood composing music for Oscar-winning films, Chris Lowndes always imagined he would come full circle, home to Yorkshire with his beloved wife, Laura. Now he’s back in the Yorkshire Dales, but Laura is dead, and Chris needs to make a new life for himself.

The isolated house he buys sight unseen should give him the space to come to terms with his grief and the quiet to allow to him to work. Kilnsgate House turns out to be rather more than he expected, however. A man died there, 60 years ago. His wife was convicted of murder. And something is pulling Chris deeper and deeper into the story of Grace Elizabeth Fox, who was hanged by the neck until she was dead….

Peter Robinson’s first departure from the Banks series in over 20 years is a poignant exploration of guilt, self-sacrifice, and redemption ,and a novel of unsettling psychological suspense. Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and now divides his time between Richmond and Canada.

©2011 Peter Robinson (P)2011 Hodder & Stoughton Crime Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Exciting Tear-jerking England Murder Marriage

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All stars
Most relevant  
My first foray into the world of Peter Robinson and thought that this was quite unique in the manner the story unfolded. I agree with another listener; as I also found the reading was a little slow and on occasions unnecessarily drawn out (Helped me drop of to sleep and had to keep rewinding!). The female voices were not brilliant, but did not detract from the enjoyment. The character of Dr Fox was portrayed so dourly and Grace so differently; it feels somewhat unbelievable, that they were a married couple, as there was no sense of connection between them within the story. This is a well thought out tale, with lots of twists and turns and as can be seen from some of the reviews – was enjoyed by many. However, I never really connected with the main character and for reasons which I can not put my finger on - for me the elusive X factor was missing.

Good, but not great....

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I think this book suffers from too many themes trying to vie for attention... and some pretty poor writing - especially the totally unconvincing romantic thread. It would have been stronger without quite so many red herrings, and totally without the weedy entanglement. The narration was good - nice characterisation - and I liked the new voice for the court proceedings and journal. Enjoyable overall, but flawed.

Good story, unconvincing in parts.

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I normally reserve my audible listening for long walks with my dog or in the car. Not this book. I found myself grabbing every opportunity to listen. Enjoyed it immensely.

Engrossing

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Would you listen to Before the Poison again? Why?

yes - and you got to know her as well as the main character

What did you like best about this story?

love the way it moved back in time it built the character

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes - but he was a bit slow in parts

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The truth is never easy

Any additional comments?

liked this book unusual story and loved the way The characters came to life

Good book very interesting story

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A tremendous book. The story is totally absorbing and you truly engage with the characters. I have now listened to this book twice and wouldn't be surprised if it got a third listen it is that good.

Fabulous

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I bought this because I knew the area around Richmond and I liked the fact that it was not a detective novel in the usual sense. I liked the descriptions they painted a good picture for the storyline. The characters were real and believable both in the current and historical settings - it does come as a shock that the main character is 60 - the narrator seems so much younger.....but nothing is spoilt by this. All in all an excellent effort that entertained and provoked many thoughts on the issues of war, particularly in the far east.

Gripping

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Have every books peter has written,all great ,brilliant.but BEFORE THE POISON is the best.the story the twists didnt want the book to finish.the way the story went from pasted to present was so natural.

the best.

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I was not disappointed by this book, and found it a real 'page turner', keeping me awake when listening at night! I really enjoyed the structure of the book with the different voices turn taking. I have recommended this to friends and would to anyone else who wants something other than a straight forward 'detective' story. I did not find the voice of Chris too youthful, but refreshing that his voice was not unnecessarily 'elderly.'

Exellent and gripping

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this was a good story with interesting narration. i couldn't put it down. hero slightly irritating

excellent

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As a long-standing fan of DI Alan Banks, I was not sure I'd take easily to his absence from a Peter Robinson novel, but ‘Before the Poison’ has convinced me that Mr. Robinson does not need the established figure of DI Banks to prove his worth as a writer of gripping fiction. I was intrigued from the outset; Robinson uses the familiar setting of a brooding, wintry Yorkshire - a landscape which he has always painted extremely vividly - and has peopled it with believable, often likeable, characters. Earlier on in the book we are treated to some wonderfully spine-tingling moments, brought about by Chris Lowe's ‘visions’ when he is alone in the house, but we are never thrust into the realms of pure fantasy. Chris is sensitive, but we are never led to believe he is ‘flaky’ or impressionable.
Grace Fox's narrative is, for me, the most engrossing element of the book, developing her character whilst making no direct reference to the crime for which she was hanged. I also found it surprising as I had never before heard Robinson speak so convincingly with a woman’s voice.
Simon Slater does an admirable job of portraying a range of characters: male, female, transatlantic and Yorkshire born-and-bred but his young, mellifluous voice made it difficult for me to visualise a 60-year-old man. For some reason I kept imagining a character resembling Rupert Penry-Jones. An older voice would have made it easier to put a face to Chris Lowe’s character.
This aside, I was completely absorbed in the story. I loved the many layers of the developing plot, the red herrings – oh yes, I was totally convinced I’d ‘got it’ on at least two occasions! – the drawing together of all the threads and now, 24 hours after listening to the closing sentences, I can still feel the reverberations of Grace’s traumatic war-time experiences and the late-night stirrings in the rooms of Kilnsgate House. Peter Robinson has excelled himself with this one. Absolutely brilliant.

Peter Robinson at his very best.

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