
The Will
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Narrated by:
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Polly Edsell
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By:
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Rebecca Reid
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
The Mordaunts aren't like most families...
For one, their family home is Roxborough Hall - a magnificent, centuries-old mansion in the Norfolk countryside. For another, the house isn't passed down from parent to child - but rather to the family member deemed most worthy.
Cecily Mordaunt is dead. On the evening of her funeral, her family will gather for dinner and each will be given a letter, revealing who is the next custodian of Roxborough Hall.
The house is a burden, a millstone, a full-time job...but they all want it. And some are willing do anything to get it.
One family. Eight letters. Who will get what they deserve?
Everyone is talking about The Will!
©2022 Rebecca Reid (P)2022 Penguin AudioCritic reviews
"Rebecca Reid's addictive novel is brimming with scandal, black humour and palpable suspense." (Woman's Own)
"If you were on the edge of your seat with crime novels from Adele Parks and Lisa Jewell, you'll need to add this book to your collection." (Chat Magazine)
"This is such a good read! If you love a book about family secrets, bitter rivalry, hurt feelings and the damage families can do to each other, this is for you." (Emma Curtis)
Incredible
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Do read or listen to it I hope you love it as much as I did.
Loved it.
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Excellent
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I thought the characters were well developed and really enjoyed the narrator who brought them all to life
Interesting story
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Enjoyed it
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fabulous ...
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I struggled through this one
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Finally through a poor night's sleep where I left it running, dipping in and out, I finally heard the twists revealed and it ended.
I had heard enough of the plot to understand the clever and tidy wrap up but felt underwhelmed. It felt like a classic country house murder mystery without the murder.
Then I was surprised and delighted to hear that an interview with the author and her editor ensued, which I have to say I enjoyed more than the audio book itself. As I had already heard the plot reveal, there were no spoilers for me but I was very intrigued and enamoured by the backstory of the writing and inspiration for the book and it all started to make a lot more sense. Hearing that Daphne Du Maurier was the authors favourite author as well as my own also spurred me on to give it another go, I was also delighted to hear there was a proof reader who checked the drafts as in many books - not this one - there are so many annoying inconsistencies and gaping plot holes. The only one they seemed to miss in this book is that a farrier would need to visit to shoe horses every 6 weeks on average ... not twice a year (ouch!).
Audible - if you are reading this - I would like to say that I would simply adore it if this after book author interview became standard practice for all audiobooks as it really does make the book come to life and it is fascinating to get that insight into the writer's creative process, plus writing tips also.
Anyway, starting listening again from the point after the first few chapters where I lost interest, it all came to life for me and unfolded in technicolour with so much richness and delicious details and it all started to make sense.
I still did not particularly care for the characters, apart from Cecily, who while not exactly nice, was glamorous and unique. I did not warm to Violet or their relationship dynamic. Edmund was a little shadowy and the rest of them, apart from Jonty were a bit of a wash out.
I also was a bit thrown by all the furore about cousins being romantically involved. Personally I do not have any cousins, so perhaps I do not understand - however on looking it up I read that cousins marrying each other used to be common in the past and continues today in some societies, with more than 10% of marriages worldwide between first or second cousins currently.
Leaving this aside on my second read, not wasting my time waiting for a murder, I discovered and enjoyed a very involving mystery and enjoyed the deeper threads and appreciated the relationships between the characters more as well as tuning into a much richer story.
If I had a stack of newly released promising thrillers and whodunnits by my favourite tried and trusted authors burning a hole in my library I do not think I would have bothered to re-read and appreciate this audio book and certainly without the interview with the author this would have been a return instead of a revisit.
However at the end of the day I'm glad I took the time as once I got into it I did enjoy it and the nuance and atmosphere came through and I became 100% engaged and really enjoyed it despite the majority and multitude of unappealing characters,
Will definitely be looking forward to Rebecca Reid's next book.
More to the mystery than meets the eye ...
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