• The Mystery of the Curiosities

  • Snow & Winter
  • By: C.S. Poe
  • Narrated by: Derrick McClain
  • Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (245 ratings)

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The Mystery of the Curiosities  By  cover art

The Mystery of the Curiosities

By: C.S. Poe
Narrated by: Derrick McClain
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Publisher's summary

Life has been great for Sebastian Snow. The Emporium is thriving and his relationship with NYPD homicide detective, Calvin Winter, is everything he’s ever wanted. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Sebastian’s sole concern is whether Calvin would enjoy a romantic date. It’s only when an unknown assailant smashes the Emporium’s window and leaves a peculiar note behind that all holiday plans get pushed aside in favor of another mystery.

Sebastian is quickly swept up in a series of grisly yet seemingly unrelated murders. The only connection tying the deaths together are curiosities from the lost museum of P.T. Barnum. Despite Calvin’s attempts to keep Sebastian out of the investigation, someone is forcing his hand, and it becomes apparent that the entire charade exists for Sebastian to solve. But with each clue that brings him closer to the killer, he’s led deeper into Calvin’s official cases.

It’s more than just Sebastian’s livelihood and relationship on the line - it’s his very life.

©2017 C. S. Poe (P)2017 DSP Publications

What listeners say about The Mystery of the Curiosities

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Story has great potential!

Would you try another book from C. S. Poe and/or Derrick McClain?

Yes because i like the writing and the storyline is good. The only thing i dont like is the main Character is very annoying! He has a great boyfriend who keeps forgiving him but he keeps doing things behind his back and lying. i would not like that in someone i was living with or seeing. i would have dumped him a long time ago, especially when things Sebastian does almost get the cop killed.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

He does alot of exaggerating some words in the story almost like a grunt or he always sounds annoyed.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Better than the first one...

As sequels go, this one was a whole lot better than book 1. For one, I liked Calvin a whole lot more this time around. Sebastian is likable, even if he loves putting himself in harm's way. Then again, what self-respecting amateur sleuth doesn't do this once or several times throughout a book? LOL I'm still on the fence regarding their relationship, although their chemistry seemed better in this installment.

I enjoyed the mystery portion a lot. I had my suspicions about the bad guy's identity and was so off the mark it wasn't even funny, but I still liked playing along with Sebastian and Max as they tried to solve the clues the killer left Sebastian.

The narration was consistently good, although I kind of cringed every time Calvin called Seb by the array of pet names he loves to use. Unfortunately, listening to a grown man calling another sweetie or honey doesn't do it for me. I know it's not Mr. McClain's fault, but it is what it is and it dampened my overall enjoyment of the narration.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

hard to enjoy book when you hate main character

Not sure the writer fully understands police procedure, relationships, physiology, or human nature. Good grasp of male anatomy, though. Could've used a warning in the description about the graphic sex.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Frustrating!

The main character is one of the most frustrating I've encountered. It was like watching a bad horror movie. Don't go into the basement! And he does, over and over and over again. No mystery here just a character that I wished the killer would kill.
I stopped listening with over 4 hours left to hear. I couldn't take the predictability of every scene.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Fine story annoying narrator

Why must this narrator inhale like he’s hyperventilating or crying or something after every sentence? It’s a very grating verbal mannerism for someone who is being paid to read out loud.

Story is fine, I just read the Memento Morí series by the same author and I can’t believe they’re written by the same person. This one reads like it was written in a high school class and that one is so so good.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • No
  • 05-20-23

Difficult read. Unlikeable MC

How do you like a book when you despise the main character? I’m not going to lie, this took me a while to finish because every five minutes Sebastian was doing something stupid he KNEW he shouldn’t be doing. Like touching a dead body and going through their belongings before calling the cops. Or hiding evidence left behind from the killer all so he can explore on his own. Or hunting down suspicious men with murder weapons. I mean, can you spell stupidity? And worse? He was putting his boyfriend, who he claims to love, in situations that could potentially worsen his PTSD and he only cared to notice after he got what he wanted. I really wish we had duel POV so I could understand just a little of why Calvin chooses to stay with Sebastian.

Putting aside all of that, the actually mystery of the story was intriguing to say the least. I liked how Barnum tied into the story and the scavenger hunt. But nothing about targeting Sebastian makes sense to me. And the killer? Saw it coming from a mile away. Overall, this book was hard to get through and would have been a little better with a different MC.

I would have given the overall 1 star if not for the narrator. He did a really good job and I enjoyed listening to him.

It should be noted that I’m reading this series because I started the Memento Mori series and realized there was a series with a connected universe before it. I now have to commit to finishing this series because we’ll once I start, I can’t stop… no matter how much I want to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

This is the second book of the Snow & Winter series. I enjoyed listening to it as much as reading the ebook. Derrick did an wonderful job narrating the characters.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great series

Have all the books in this series, and the audiobooks. Love Seb and Calvin, poor Max!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

found this to be an improvement over the 1st book

This whodunit was written much better than then the 1st Winter and snow novel. I was intrigued A few times. a little lost and felt the story had took an odd twist a few times. To be honest I think Sebastian Comes across a little Well for a better term stupid.. There are times when he plays the blame game when he should. But other times When he seems to not grasp the blame for his own actions.. And we were left with a few questions that shouldn't need to wait till the next book. one being What happens to the store now. The landlord is going to be put in jail. They also never said what he did that would make him think a cop could put him in jail. other than his actions in this story .At 1 point in the story we hear Neil wants Seb back then later on we hear he does not. there's nothing happening in between the 1st and 2nd parts.. And let's not forget about Neal's impaired driving.. Now as for the lack of chemistry between the main characters makes the romantic part of this book not so interesting. If I was to give stars based based just on the love story it would probably be a one star book

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The best of the series (so far)

After an initial false start, I grew to completely love this series and its two main characters (all the characters, really, except Beth who gets on my nerves). In a series where every book is (for me) five stars, this one is my favorite.

The development of the two protagonists' relationship reaches its zenith here; there are no caveats like I had in the first book when they jumped from "I barely know you" to calling each other pet names with a rather alarming swiftness. They're just sweet for each other and wonderful; think Adrien and Jake from Josh Lanyon's "Adrien English" series but with Calvin coming to his senses far earlier in the series than Jake did.

The mystery is compelling; even if the solution is a bit far-fetched, I'm still happy the way it turned out, and I can't say why without a spoiler. I'll just say that there's a particular character arc in this series that I LOVE that could easily have been ruined here, but happily wasn't.

Everything that I loved about the first book is back; Sebastian's father is still one of the best parents in m/m fiction, his disability is skillfully depicted, and the writing itself is phenomenally good. Like the rest of the series, it's not technically a cozy mystery because the murders are a bit gruesome and there's on-page sex, but it has the FEEL of a cozy, which I love.

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