
The Mourning Bells
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Narrated by:
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Polly Lee
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By:
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Christine Trent
About this listen
One of Victorian London's most respected undertakers, Violet Harper has the new duty of accompanying coffins from various undertakers on the London Necropolis Railway for respectful funerals and burials in Surrey. But on her fateful first trip, the mournful silence of the train is shattered by the shrill ringing of a coffin bell - a device that prevents a person from being buried alive.
Inside the noisome coffin, Violet finds a man wide-eyed with fear, claiming he was falsely interred. When a second coffin bell is rung on another trip Violet grows suspicious. She voices her qualms to Inspector Hurst of Scotland Yard, only to receive a puzzling reply that, after all, it is not a crime to rise from the dead. But Violet's instincts are whispering that all is not well on the London Necropolis Railway's tracks. Is this all merely the result of clumsy undertaking, or is there something more sinister afoot?
Determined to get to the heart of the matter, Violet uncovers a treacherous plot and villains who will stop at nothing to keep a lid on her search for the truth.
©2015 Christine Trent (P)2015 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Never disappoints...
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Would you listen to The Mourning Bells again? Why?
I don't know if I would listen to this one again. But I have been listening to the series and find it strangely appealing. Perhaps it is the weird subject of Victorian England and learning about the strange world of the undertaker. After all,it is Halloween. Perhaps it is the sometimes soothing, but sometimes amazingly awful, accents and voices of Polly Lee. She has a great British accent, the pace is soothing, she's easy to understand and hear, - but every voice that is male is awful.What did you like best about this story?
I liked the Victorian setting and the history of the setting. I also liked learning about the death rituals of the era, which I have only seen in art works from the time. I liked the historical aspects of the book.What do you think the narrator could have done better?
Male voices. Her male voices are so awful as to be laughable. They make the characters totally unbelievable.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
This book was the least moving of the 4. Nothing particularly moved me in this one. I listened to it for the entertainment only.Any additional comments?
Violet is an interesting character, especially in the first 2 books.Strange appeal of this series
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Diverting but not as good as the first three
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While Ms. Lee's voice is very pleasant when she is speaking the 'perfect King's English,' when she is trying to ape an American accent (complete with Southern accent no less), things go awry. And, there is more than one character that requires this. It just didn't work for me. Also, the style and speed of her reading seems 'off' somehow. Maybe too slow? Maybe without enough emotion in many circumstances? Many too automated? Unsure exactly what the problem is.
I really wanted to recommend this book heart-and-soul, but found the narration too annoying to get much through more than half.
Excellent story, narration is annoying
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Disappointing!
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Would you try another book from Christine Trent and/or Polly Lee?
Probably not. I didn't realize this wasn't book one of the series but I'm not going to read more anyway.How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Make the characters a bit more multifaceted. They didn't have much depth. And some of the stupid things the undertaker did were not very believable.Any additional comments?
I liked the overall premise but it felt like literature for a younger audience.Not Bad But Not Enough to Continue with Series
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Never has death been so interesting!
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Let down
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Would you try another book from Christine Trent and/or Polly Lee?
No...sadly too disappointing.Has The Mourning Bells turned you off from other books in this genre?
Yes...and indeed it has.Would you be willing to try another one of Polly Lee’s performances?
No....unlikely, even if it were free.What character would you cut from The Mourning Bells?
It's not about which character.Any additional comments?
Very disappointed.Poor and rather too gruesome for my taste.
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