Easy listening

I say easy listening, the narration still needs some work. The inflections and emphasis are just odd. Also, not enough cat in these stories.

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Gin & Tonic Smoked Salmon?

I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous for LT Shearer, I loved the first book, it was witty, fun, whimsical and heartfelt. I pre-ordered my copy of The Cat Who Solved Three Murders back in July.

Yeah, I didn’t need to worry! I loved this book and binged it in two days.

This is an excellent murder mystery sequel with an expansion in the scale of the story. The first book was small and personal to Lulu, this books story is substantially larger in scale and grandeur with more at stake and more suspects. Lulu and Conrad have more to do and get more involved than before in the investigating. The Senior Detective Tracy is very likable, and is a refreshing image of a detective.

I don’t want to say too much, because I don’t want to give too much away, but a thing happens, that unfortunately catapults us into the story, this means that the thing we know about then leads to this other thing that also happened, that then leads to this other, other thing happening, which then creates a situation in which this other thing then happens! Got it?

Just listen to the book, Imogen Church makes it sound far better than I can!

LT Shearer has only written two books as far as I am aware, but I have already started to notice certain themes that I like, that are refreshing and not to cliché. I am hoping this continues into future books in the series. Which would not be a bad thing at all.

Speaking of Imogen Church as the narrator, she is again absolutely wonderful, and a joy to listen too. She is so good, it just makes the story and this world come to life.

There are some solid moments in this book that made me very happy and laugh out loud.
I really love the relationship between Lulu and Conrad, however, I don't know what the time difference is between the first book and this one? I would have expected a bit more cheeky and playful banter between Lulu and Conrad, maybe them having comments or quips about each other or events that have happened in the interim, to show their time together, the growth of their relationship to show they have been living together for a while and have noticed each other’s habits. Because their relationship is so lovely, but they never seem to disagree or say anything negative. In the first book I loved the moment when Lulu commented on changing Conrads name and he says “Don’t, even think about it!” I personally think moments like this, increase the love and strength of their bond.

I also really want to know how Conrad is so clever! He says he doesn’t have a watch, but I bet he knows how to tell the time, and I want to know where he gets his knowledge from. Does he use Lulu’s iPad? I have so many questions that I hope get hinted at in future books.

Conrad goes everywhere with Lulu on her shoulders, there were a few moments in the book that I felt it was unrealistic, then I remembered that Conrad is a talking cat…

I truly hope and look forward to many more books on the horizon from LT Shearer. I would like to see some growth between the characters to show the time they have spent together on the boat cheeky playful digs at each other like family members. Having a river boat is amazing and opens up a wide range of opportunities and locations for future murder mysteries.

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Conrad is just the best

Second in the series which I think is probably better then the first. The narrator is just wonderful and brings all the characters to life so well. She is becoming my favourite narrator. I’m looking forward to the next in the series.

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1 person found this helpful

A safe read

The narration can be a bit slow and condescending in tone but generally a nice story about a nice lady and a nice cat. It’s nice. It’s not amazing but it’s not terrible either. I like it.

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Disappointing compared to first book

For a book whose primary shtick is a talking cat helping to solve a crime, the cat barely talks and barely affects the story in any way other than providing the opportunity to make the same joke over and over. It also also made for difficult listening that almost every character was voices as either tremulous or quivering.

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A disappointing third book in what had been a good series in my opinion

I had enjoyed the first 2 books in this series and was looking forward to this one but i was disappointed. I found the ending unsatisfactory overall- especially as the title is misleading in saying the car solved 3 murders. I also found the narrator's way of speaking the voices of the different characters quite irritating. I can't describe exactly what she did but the voices she gave rhe characters often had something approaching a sarcastic tone and that got to be pretty annoying by the end.

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