• Murder in the Mystery Suite

  • Book Retreat Mystery, Book 1
  • By: Ellery Adams
  • Narrated by: Johanna Parker
  • Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (1,400 ratings)

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Murder in the Mystery Suite  By  cover art

Murder in the Mystery Suite

By: Ellery Adams
Narrated by: Johanna Parker
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Publisher's summary

Tucked away in the rolling hills of rural western Virginia lies the storybook resort of Storyton Hall, catering to book lovers who want to get away from it all. To increase her number of bookings, resort manager Jane Steward has decided to host a Murder and Mayhem week so that fans of the mystery genre can gather together for some role-playing and fantasy crime solving. But when the winner of the scavenger hunt, Felix Hampden, is found dead in the Mystery Suite, and the valuable book that he won is missing, Jane realizes that one of her guests is an actual murderer.

Amid a resort full of fake detectives, Jane is bound and determined to find a real-life killer. There's no room for error as Jane tries to unlock this mystery before another vacancy opens up...

©2014 Ellery Adams (P)2014 Tantor

What listeners say about Murder in the Mystery Suite

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Nancy Drew meets "The Librarian"

This book was surprisingly delightful! Jane is very Nancy Drew and much of the story reminds me of "The Librarians" TV movies & now show. The references to great works of literature from such a wide variety of genres is just plain fun! Although in some places a bit hokey, the book really is quirky and fun from beginning to end. I look forward to more.

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39 people found this helpful

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

I wanted to like it....really....

I made it to the halfway point before I gave up on this book. What I found was a ridiculous plot line with ex-super secret service employees, an Aunt with zero impulse control (who is supposedly in charge of one of the world's GREATEST treasures), a milktoast uncle who actually has ninja skills and a Deputy Dawg police Chief who feels the need to consult with a hotel manager to solve a murder. (or two)

The hotel is supposedly falling apart and they are short of cash, yet there are Rolls- Royces (yes, more than one) available for guests. Auntie gets custom made gowns (often!) and the hotel amenities and restaurants surpass that of any other 5-star hotel.

The characters are over the top in their silly declarations and grandiose speech. And even though I enjoy a fluffy story, a good fantasy and fun-fiction..... I could NOT suspend belief long enough to get into any of this.

The narrator is over the top with her "performance". Her voicing of the "Aunt" involves bugling and trumpeting like a Brit Royal. Her voicing of the main character's twin boys had me cringing. And it goes on...

I am always on the prowl for a new author and new series and this one is not it. The amateurish writing and the melodramatic reading made me sorry I wasted my money on this.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A totally delightful and mystery filled read!

This is the first book from Ellery Adams that I've had the chance to read or in this case listen to. I knew it was going to be a murder mystery but I had no clue how wonderful and delightful the characters would be. I can so see Great aunt Octavia and her formidable size and personality. I look forward to future books being done in audio in the series. The reader was so entertaining and brought the characters to life. I can see story bro call in my mind and it seems like a place of such joy and beauty and I cannot wait to read more.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • DS
  • 05-07-16

Unbelievable Story Line

I finished this book just because I was doing busy work and could casually listen. I thought the story was silly and not at all believable. The narrator's voices were overdone and, at times, irritating. If you want something to listen to while doing mindless tasks, this might be OK, but there are better books out there for light easy listening.

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15 people found this helpful

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

Lost interest quickly

While it is true that I don't care for books that have vulgar language and sexual situations, this book swings to the other extreme for me. I could only listen for 40 minutes. Could not tolerate any more. The protagonist is the "perfect" mother, the twin boys are "sugary" sweet. I totally agree with those who used adjectives such as "ridiculous" and "amateurish", and described the narration as "melodramatic reading". In the future, I will steer clear of books narrated by this person. I'm interested in murder mysteries such as you'd find in books by Charles Todd, Anne Perry, Jacqueline Winspear. This book, to me, is childish drivel. I'm sorry I wasted a credit on this.

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13 people found this helpful

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

Saccharin sweet and pretentious story.

Eyerolling old fashioned language and hard to feel interest in unrealistic characters. I will avoid this author and narrator.

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11 people found this helpful

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

Enjoyable First in a New Series!

Readers get ready to be transported to a magical estate where readers will get to immerse themselves in their love of books. This is exactly what readers have in store for them when they visit Storyton Hall. In her newest series Ellery Adams is transporting readers to a holiday estate, where visitors get to spend their days reading books in various themed rooms, or walking on the beautiful grounds. When resort manager, Jane Stewart, hosts a themed week "Murder and Mayhem Week" she doesn't realize Storyton Hall will be the scene for an actual murder, as someone is intent on recovering a book at all costs!

Amongst all the genres I love mysteries the most. There is such a great variety for readers, from the classics of Agatha Christie to the modern cozy mystery. Murder in the Mystery Suite is a celebration of the mystery genre. From the reading rooms named after authors, to the murder, which centers around a lost manuscript from a great mystery author. Every page delighted in me, as I felt fully immersed in the mystery, and enjoyed the delightful name dropping of all the authors mentioned.

I loved all the characters at Storyton Hall, and those in the town as well. There is more than meets the eye to Jane Stewart, and her delightful twins, as well as her Aunt and Uncle. They kept me on my toes and I wasn't able to guess who the murderer was, or other surprises along the way.

Alike to her other mysteries, Ellery Adams has subtly weaved magic within the pages, and left readers absolutely mesmerized with this new series. While not of the paranormal kind, it is the kind of magic that leaves readers absolutely hooked on each series, and this is one that I won't be forgetting in a hurry. I absolutely can't wait to see what Ellery Adams has in store for Jane Stewart in the next story.

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9 people found this helpful

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

An Intriguing Start

This is the first Ellery Adams I've read and I hope to read more. The setting is an idyllic literary manor and village populated with fun characters. Aside from the mystery, it has an interesting twist involving the family's legacy and on-going obligations. The descriptions were vivid and brought the Storyton Manor and village to life. The ending hinted at new characters to be intrigued by and potential for murder and mayhem beyond the week-long theme of the special week in this story. It is definitely cozy in its character development and lack of graphic violence, so it's a good story to curl up with for a comfy evening.

I've always liked Johana Parker's work, but, while she creates good character voices for this work, something in her vocal quality this time didn't seem to be as good a fit as some of her other work. Perhaps it's a combination of the writing style and Parker's slightly stilted reading style. I kept having the feeling that if she ever relaxed into the story it would feel more natural. Still, it didn't detract from the story, just felt a little forced.

I look forward to more in this series and for Audible to bring other Ellery Adams books to their site.

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9 people found this helpful

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

First Audiobook I didn't finish . awful narration

Maybe it's just me ... sorry, but I cannot understand the reviews I read here. This is of course not the first audiobook I did not like, but it is the first I simply could not stand to finish. I simply gave up after about an hour. Which probably is a shame because the story itself sounded very interersting.
So why then didn't I finish it, you might ask: Simple. The narration. Since I am not a native speaker I may see things differently to an American for example, nevertheless I found the choice of the narrator as well as her performance absolutely abismal and I do not say such things lightly. I apologise for being so harsh but it's the only way I could do it. Being diplomatic wouldn't have cut it here:
First there is this very pronounced Southern accent, which of course might be a pure matter of taste. Personally I found that very obvious almost obnoxious sing song drawl quite irritating and misplaced. True: I've never been to West Virginia, so that choice of accent might be totally reasonable for the area. Nevertheless I simply cannot imagine those people, with all those upper class names and in that somewhat high class resort, with the aristocratic name, talk like that. As I said: might just be me here.
However: in addition, in her attempt to make all the characters sound different, the narrator constantly overdoes it. She totally exaggerates everything like in a satire show. The elderly matron (sorry forgot her name) sounds more like a shrill caricature than a character from a novel. When she tries to give the butler a sort dignified air, it fails miserably and is almost comical, and the children's attempt in English accents also is far from convincing (though otherwise I liked how she portraied the children). I've never experienced anything like it before and I'm sure the narration does not justice to the book at all.
You can call me picky or ignorant or anything you want, but after less than an hour I got so frustrated that I had to switch it off. I simply could not stand it anymore.
Though, I WILL buy the paperback and finish reading it!

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7 people found this helpful

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

Cozy

I liked the narrator, she had some great voices. Enjoyed the story and hope it is the start of a series.

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7 people found this helpful