Christmas Mourning
A Deborah Knott Mystery
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
C.J. Critt
-
By:
-
Margaret Maron
About this listen
Margaret Maron’s best-selling Deborah Knott mystery series won instant acclaim upon its debut in 1993. In this 16th entry in the series, the judge is faced with a horrifying holiday murder case. After a beautiful young cheerleader is found dead in a car wreck, Judge Knott’s husband Deputy Dwight Bryant discovers evidence that the death was anything but an accident.Now Knott and Bryant are on a desperate search for a killer before he or she trikes again.
Solve more cases with Deborah Knott.©2010 Margaret Maron (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
-
Bootlegger's Daughter
- By: Margaret Maron
- Narrated by: C.J. Critt
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Attorney Deborah Knott is North Carolina's answer to V.I. Warshawski, a legal sleuth with a knack for sniffing out the most baffling crimes. Deborah has just done the unthinkable: entered the heated race for judge of old-boy-ruled Colleton County. The only female candidate, she's busy reeling in voters and giving campaign speeches. There couldn't be a worse time for Gayle Whitehead to beg Deborah to investigate the 18-year-old unsolved murder of Gayle's mother, Janie.
-
-
Wonderful Series
- By J. Byerly on 01-06-14
By: Margaret Maron
-
Take Out
- By: Margaret Maron
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sigrid is still reeling from the untimely death of her lover, acclaimed painter Oscar Nauman, when she is called to investigate the deaths of two homeless men in the West Village. The police at first assume an overdose, until they realize that one of the men shows no signs of drug use. Then when containers of poisoned takeout food are found nearby, Sigrid's case is suddenly much more complicated.
-
-
Great return of a favorite character!
- By Ruth Nielsen on 07-14-17
By: Margaret Maron
-
Last Lessons of Summer
- By: Margaret Maron
- Narrated by: Kate Forbes
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amy Stedman arrives in North Carolina to clear the family house of her grandmother's belongings and find clues to her unsolved murder. While she's there, Amy reflects on her own life. Married to a vain man who doesn't love her so much as value her family's lucrative legacy, Amy realizes their relationship strangely echoes her parents' unfortunate marriage. Within this old house, dark recollections of unnatural death permeate the air, adding a premonition of menace to Amy's increasingly troubled thoughts.
-
-
Last Lessons of Summer
- By Hannah Coale on 05-03-04
By: Margaret Maron
-
The Blessing Way
- By: Tony Hillerman
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homicide is always an abomination, but there is something exceptionally disturbing about the victim discovered in a high, lonely place: a corpse with a mouth full of sand, abandoned at a crime scene seemingly devoid of tracks or useful clues. Though it goes against his better judgment, Navajo tribal police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn cannot help but suspect the hand of a supernatural killer.
-
-
A 'Blessing' Indeed!
- By Carole T. on 03-15-16
By: Tony Hillerman
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
-
Fun, light prequel
- By CMMV on 01-01-15
By: Rhys Bowen
-
Open Season
- A Joe Pickett Novel
- By: C. J. Box
- Narrated by: David Chandler
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts and the game warden—especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way—is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state-owned home, he takes it personally. There had to be a reason that the outfitter, with whom he's had run-ins before, chose his backyard, his woodpile to die in.
-
-
Disappointed.
- By Kristina on 02-18-14
By: C. J. Box
-
Bootlegger's Daughter
- By: Margaret Maron
- Narrated by: C.J. Critt
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Attorney Deborah Knott is North Carolina's answer to V.I. Warshawski, a legal sleuth with a knack for sniffing out the most baffling crimes. Deborah has just done the unthinkable: entered the heated race for judge of old-boy-ruled Colleton County. The only female candidate, she's busy reeling in voters and giving campaign speeches. There couldn't be a worse time for Gayle Whitehead to beg Deborah to investigate the 18-year-old unsolved murder of Gayle's mother, Janie.
-
-
Wonderful Series
- By J. Byerly on 01-06-14
By: Margaret Maron
-
Take Out
- By: Margaret Maron
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sigrid is still reeling from the untimely death of her lover, acclaimed painter Oscar Nauman, when she is called to investigate the deaths of two homeless men in the West Village. The police at first assume an overdose, until they realize that one of the men shows no signs of drug use. Then when containers of poisoned takeout food are found nearby, Sigrid's case is suddenly much more complicated.
-
-
Great return of a favorite character!
- By Ruth Nielsen on 07-14-17
By: Margaret Maron
-
Last Lessons of Summer
- By: Margaret Maron
- Narrated by: Kate Forbes
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amy Stedman arrives in North Carolina to clear the family house of her grandmother's belongings and find clues to her unsolved murder. While she's there, Amy reflects on her own life. Married to a vain man who doesn't love her so much as value her family's lucrative legacy, Amy realizes their relationship strangely echoes her parents' unfortunate marriage. Within this old house, dark recollections of unnatural death permeate the air, adding a premonition of menace to Amy's increasingly troubled thoughts.
-
-
Last Lessons of Summer
- By Hannah Coale on 05-03-04
By: Margaret Maron
-
The Blessing Way
- By: Tony Hillerman
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homicide is always an abomination, but there is something exceptionally disturbing about the victim discovered in a high, lonely place: a corpse with a mouth full of sand, abandoned at a crime scene seemingly devoid of tracks or useful clues. Though it goes against his better judgment, Navajo tribal police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn cannot help but suspect the hand of a supernatural killer.
-
-
A 'Blessing' Indeed!
- By Carole T. on 03-15-16
By: Tony Hillerman
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
-
Fun, light prequel
- By CMMV on 01-01-15
By: Rhys Bowen
-
Open Season
- A Joe Pickett Novel
- By: C. J. Box
- Narrated by: David Chandler
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts and the game warden—especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way—is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state-owned home, he takes it personally. There had to be a reason that the outfitter, with whom he's had run-ins before, chose his backyard, his woodpile to die in.
-
-
Disappointed.
- By Kristina on 02-18-14
By: C. J. Box
Related to this topic
-
The Christmas Party
- By: Kathryn Croft
- Narrated by: Billie Piper, Avita Jay
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Sasha receives a call from her old university friend Gabby inviting her to spend Christmas at Gabby’s remote Scottish lake house, Sasha knows she shouldn’t go. Twelve years ago, on Christmas Eve, when Sasha and her five closest friends were celebrating the festive season, something truly horrific happened that would change the course of their friendship forever. Something that meant Sasha hasn’t spoken to any of them since that night.
-
-
The mystery of the story.
- By Charlene Gipson on 11-06-24
By: Kathryn Croft
-
10 Rules for the Perfect Murder
- By: James Patterson, Chris Tebbetts
- Narrated by: Reid Scott, Cobie Smulders, full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the killing of a prominent mob lawyer, NYPD homicide detectives Jacob Jackson and Caitlin Grimes start receive chilling, written “rules” for how to commit the perfect murder. "Rule number one for the perfect murder: Evidence is your enemy. Leave none behind." Jackson (Reid Scott) and Grimes (Cobie Smulders) race to find the killer, setting them on a collision course with the city’s crime underbelly, and a perpetrator who seems happy to toy with them. “Rule number two. No crimes of passion. The perfect murder is always business, never pleasure.”
-
-
Tricky
- By Robert Scott Read on 10-30-24
By: James Patterson, and others
-
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
- By: Agatha Christie, Anna Lea - adaptation
- Narrated by: Peter Dinklage, Himesh Patel, Harriet Walter, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1914. The world is at war. Captain Hastings, injured and shaken, is invited to Styles Court to recover. It’s a grand old country house - the family home of his old friend - and a perfect haven. Or so it seems. But in the blistering summer heat, trouble is afoot. Simmering tensions are tearing the family apart, and it all comes to a head in the most horrifying way.
-
-
It’s a perfect audible movie!
- By Malissa Caudell on 11-15-24
By: Agatha Christie, and others
-
The Woman in Coach D
- By: Sarah A. Denzil
- Narrated by: Katie Clarkson-Hill
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenny sits in the same seat on the same train every week, seeing familiar faces come and go. Until a chance encounter shatters her world. Sixteen years ago, Jenny survived a traumatic ordeal that left her best friend, Susie, missing and presumed dead. The world has its theories about what happened to Susie Patterson, and one of those theories points the finger at Jenny. Now she lives a quiet life, volunteering at a crisis helpline while trying to deal with her own anxiety and the true crime fans obsessed with finding her missing friend.
-
-
Too long
- By Anonymous User on 11-15-24
By: Sarah A. Denzil
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Christmas Party
- By: Kathryn Croft
- Narrated by: Billie Piper, Avita Jay
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Sasha receives a call from her old university friend Gabby inviting her to spend Christmas at Gabby’s remote Scottish lake house, Sasha knows she shouldn’t go. Twelve years ago, on Christmas Eve, when Sasha and her five closest friends were celebrating the festive season, something truly horrific happened that would change the course of their friendship forever. Something that meant Sasha hasn’t spoken to any of them since that night.
-
-
The mystery of the story.
- By Charlene Gipson on 11-06-24
By: Kathryn Croft
-
10 Rules for the Perfect Murder
- By: James Patterson, Chris Tebbetts
- Narrated by: Reid Scott, Cobie Smulders, full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the killing of a prominent mob lawyer, NYPD homicide detectives Jacob Jackson and Caitlin Grimes start receive chilling, written “rules” for how to commit the perfect murder. "Rule number one for the perfect murder: Evidence is your enemy. Leave none behind." Jackson (Reid Scott) and Grimes (Cobie Smulders) race to find the killer, setting them on a collision course with the city’s crime underbelly, and a perpetrator who seems happy to toy with them. “Rule number two. No crimes of passion. The perfect murder is always business, never pleasure.”
-
-
Tricky
- By Robert Scott Read on 10-30-24
By: James Patterson, and others
-
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
- By: Agatha Christie, Anna Lea - adaptation
- Narrated by: Peter Dinklage, Himesh Patel, Harriet Walter, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1914. The world is at war. Captain Hastings, injured and shaken, is invited to Styles Court to recover. It’s a grand old country house - the family home of his old friend - and a perfect haven. Or so it seems. But in the blistering summer heat, trouble is afoot. Simmering tensions are tearing the family apart, and it all comes to a head in the most horrifying way.
-
-
It’s a perfect audible movie!
- By Malissa Caudell on 11-15-24
By: Agatha Christie, and others
-
The Woman in Coach D
- By: Sarah A. Denzil
- Narrated by: Katie Clarkson-Hill
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenny sits in the same seat on the same train every week, seeing familiar faces come and go. Until a chance encounter shatters her world. Sixteen years ago, Jenny survived a traumatic ordeal that left her best friend, Susie, missing and presumed dead. The world has its theories about what happened to Susie Patterson, and one of those theories points the finger at Jenny. Now she lives a quiet life, volunteering at a crisis helpline while trying to deal with her own anxiety and the true crime fans obsessed with finding her missing friend.
-
-
Too long
- By Anonymous User on 11-15-24
By: Sarah A. Denzil
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
7 Hours to Die
- By: James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski
- Narrated by: Sarah Paulson, Patina Miller, Mel Rodriguez, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kidnappers grabbed Jenna in broad daylight, right in front of her children and their horrified classmates. Her family was issued an insane ransom demand: $25 million in cash and jewels, payable by the end of the school day, otherwise they’ll never see her again. As Jenna’s mother scrambles to gather the money, detectives Mo Butler and George Ortega follow the trail of the kidnappers, which will lead them through a sordid landscape of jealous lovers, broken dreamers, and twisted schemers. But every second counts, and there’s one thing Jenna Wade doesn’t have: very much time.
-
-
This was such a fun Quick listen
- By Mdc on 10-08-24
By: James Patterson, and others
-
Dead Med
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso, Scott Merriman
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Heather McKinley dreamed of becoming a doctor, she imagined curing sick kids and sporting pink stethoscopes. She never anticipated the sleepless nights, grueling exams, and endless labs. And she certainly never knew that her medical school earned the nickname Dead Med thanks to the tragic history of students overdosing on illegal drugs. But Heather would never consider doing anything like that. That is, until her longtime boyfriend dumps her, she finds herself failing anatomy, and her world starts to crumble.
-
-
Hmm
- By Morgan Meaux on 08-22-24
By: Freida McFadden
-
The Ex
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cassie thinks she has met the perfect man. Joel is sweet, handsome, romantic, and best of all, he’s crazy about Cassie. She thinks she’s found the guy she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Have children with. Grow old with. Yes, she knows about his perfect ex-girlfriend, Francesca. The beautiful, brilliant chef, beloved by all his friends. But she thinks Francesca is out of the picture. She thinks Francesca is gone for good. Think again, Cassie.
-
-
Too bizarre for someone who loves bizarre
- By G. C. Webster on 07-01-22
By: Freida McFadden
-
Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
-
-
A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
-
The Married Man
- By: K.L. Slater
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone thinks my husband is dead. Just like we planned. Eleven years ago, my husband disappeared. Eleven long hard years I waited, my heart breaking for our son, who didn’t know his father was coming back. Today, my hands shake as I try to understand what I’ve just learned: my husband has a new wife. This wasn’t part of our plan. Eleven years ago, my husband made a terrible mistake. I sacrificed everything to help him fix it. But now he’s put our son and me in danger again. We had a plan. He broke the rules. But who will pay the price?
-
-
K.L. Slater and Clare Corbett – riveting Tango!
- By Karenique on 11-11-24
By: K.L. Slater
-
Too Late
- Definitive Edition
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Ryan Gray, Maxine Mitchell, Joe Arden
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does so, every single day. Caught up with the alluring Asa Jackson, a notorious drug trafficker, Sloan has finally found a lifeline to cling to, even if it’s meant compromising her morals. She was in dire straits trying to pay for her brother’s care until she met Asa. But as Sloan became emotionally and economically reliant on him, he in turn developed a disturbing obsession with her—one that becomes increasingly dangerous every day.
-
-
Triggering and poor narration
- By Katherine Epperson on 07-11-23
By: Colleen Hoover
What listeners say about Christmas Mourning
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chalis
- 12-13-13
Everyday Life and a Mystery
This is the first book of this series I have read. The "mystery" part of the story is revealed gradually. That annoyed me at first, and I wondered if the book had been classified incorrectly. However once the mystery began to unfold I became more engrossed in the entire story. Be aware that this book spends alot of time describing the every day lives of the main characters and their families. Once I got used to the style, I appreciated and enjoyed it. In fact I liked it so much I have purchased another, earlier book in the series.
I found the main characters to be likable and interesting. I live in the northern U.S. The rural southern location of this story was interesting and appealing to me. Part of that appeal may have been due to the fact that temperatures here were well below zero during the days I was listening to this book!
Narrator C.J. Critt is very good. Her diction is clear. She does a good job differentuating character voices.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Barbara
- 12-27-23
Rambling disconnected
Liking the series and the lead characters less and less with each book. Judge Knott quite pompous and has little to no insight on her own bad behaviors. Reading through to see how this all wraps up but this was a hot mess.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Karissa
- 01-17-14
As down home and home spun as it gets
A teen is killed in a single car accident ...but was it an accident? Or was it murder?
Rather than being a story where the book centers around the mystery, this book is a sweet tale which centers around the lives of Deborah and Dwight, there families and town as they prepare for Christmas. The mystery is woven into there story not the other way around. This book is not hard hitting suspense but more like finding a soft fluffy kitten in your christmas stocking on Christmas morning.
At the same time, I must say the narration was off putting. It's the speed and the deliberate cadence with which she reads the book. The lilting almost sing song affect, the frequent pauses for emphasis where there shouldn't be any and the leisurely turtle like speed at which she reads the story.
Although I liked the story, the narration was just extremely tedious.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathi
- 03-01-13
One of the worst I've heard on Audible so far
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The narrator!
Would you be willing to try another book from Margaret Maron? Why or why not?
Probably not. I found myself groaning a good deal more than anything else.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Let me count the ways...accent, tone of voice, just overall poor reading.
Was Christmas Mourning worth the listening time?
No.
Any additional comments?
I've read several of the books in this series, and I find them to be uneven in how good they are. I love some of the books--and feel the author has interesting knowledge that she weaves in. But sometimes there is too much "filler" for story. Although the actual mystery aspects are usually very good, they are not tops on my list because I never know what to expect. Had thought I might feel differently if I heard one read (and I might have, with a different narrator.)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bookbums
- 01-28-13
I Love Judge Knott
Would you listen to Christmas Mourning again? Why?
I will probably listen to this audio book several more times.
Any additional comments?
I like the series and the characters. While the earlier novels in this series were more "gritty" in my opinion, Margaret Maron has made Deborah and her family plausible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- turtletalk
- 07-18-23
Always learn so much from each book
Have learned so much from the Judge Deborah Knott series! From the opening intro of chapters, the preacher/pragmatist, professions, family and friends, law, teaching,…….
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Cindy
- 08-18-11
Couldn't get through this
I had this on my wish list for several months and finally decided to give it a try. Sorry I did, I could never get hooked into the story. The narrator's cadence was off-putting. I found myself learning how she would pronounce words and her phraseology then it started getting on my nerves. This is the first book I have put down barely one-half in. I will stick to Michael Connelly.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bodiccea
- 12-17-13
Mildly entertaining; narration detracts
Any additional comments?
The story itself is mildly entertaining. This is lightweight fiction, very down-home, everybody's cousin and relative in a small town. It starts off slow and gets a bit more interesting as the book progresses.
Of course, we all have different tastes in narrators. This narrator (C.J. Critt) doesn't work for me on many levels. She reads FAR too slow for me. The pauses after every sentence, after every phrase drove me a bit mad. The pause between chapters was long enough that I kept thinking there was something wrong with my iPod. She injects a lot of drama into every word, even when it is background description or a casual conversation, considerably more than is called for in my opinion. The singsong emphasis really got on my nerves after awhile. I'm not that keen on her interpretations of men's voices.
It may work for you - just make sure you listen to a sample first, which is a wonderful feature of Audible. Sadly, I listened to the sample but accidentally put the book in my cart with several others and ended up purchasing it before I realized what I had done!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M.E.
- 01-06-14
I really tried...
What disappointed you about Christmas Mourning?
There's too much extraneous 'stuff'' and not enough real story in this book. I found the narrator slightly annoying at first and then more so as the book went on. I got half way through and just couldn't finish.
What could Margaret Maron have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
More meat stronger main characters
Would you be willing to try another one of C.J. Critt’s performances?
no
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wild Wise Woman
- 01-22-14
Terrible narrator ruins an barely-okay book.
Quite a few years ago I paper-read a number of "cozy mysteries" by Margaret Maron, featuring North Carolina Judge Deborah Knott. They were okay, and I read 5 or 6. I recently downloaded "Christmas Mourning" on sale, read by a narrator I have heard (and found "meh"), a woman named C. J. Critt.
This time it's nearly torture. While Critt has a very excellent, rich voice, her reading style is PAINFUL! She inflects a ridiculous amount of inappropriate emotion, virtually baby-talking through simple narrative sentences, and takes pauses SO LONG that I have repeatedly unhooked my iPod from my belt, thinking the battery had died or the headphones detached! She also puts a little smirk into sentences which SHOULD HAVE reflected compassion and sorrow.
I'm nearly halfway through the book, and I think I'll go ahead and finish it, but it was a poor choice for me. The story concerns a teen girl killed in a car "accident" (I personally lost a daughter that way) and the characters' attitudes toward both the dead girl and her parents is dismissive, flippant and cruel. Considering these books are supposed to reflect a small rural community where everyone knows and supports one another, the first-person storytelling makes the Judge out to be a hard-hearted and lackadaisical bitch.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful