
The Shadow Key
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Richard Harrington
About this listen
“The Shadow Key ushers us into Gothic darkness. . . . What sets this novel above your run-of-the-mill Gothic dread-fest is Stokes-Chapman’s skillful deployment . . . and above all, narrator Richard Harrington’s masterly performance. A Welshman himself, Harrington has a beautiful, dark brushy voice that alters in pitch to capture men and women and darkens as the perfidy and malevolence unfold. He brings such lyric grace to the occasional Welsh-language passages that they become as haunting and seductive as music.” — The Washington Post
On an isolated estate in late-eighteenth-century rural Wales, a young English doctor uncovers dangerous secrets that may threaten his own life in this spellbinding Gothic tale from the bestselling author of Pandora.
Dismissed from his post at a prestigious London hospital, Dr. Henry Talbot has little choice but to accept a mysterious offer of employment as a private physician from an inscrutable lord in rural Wales, Lord Julian. Arriving at Plas Helyg, the isolated estate, Henry can’t speak the language and finds himself treated with hostile suspicion by superstitious villagers, whose beliefs in myths and magic he’s inclined to dismiss. But when he discovers that his predecessor died under peculiar, inexplicable circumstances, his determination to uncover the truth leads him down a path fraught with danger—made all the more perilous by his headstrong, reluctant ally Linette, Lord Julian’s cousin.
Linette has lived a lonely life as Plas Helyg’s unconventional mistress: Julian treats her with disdain, her father is long dead, and her mother, long plagued by strange spells and believed by everyone around her to be deeply unwell, spends most of her time locked away in her rooms. Fiercely self-reliant, Linette refuses to wear women’s clothes, has no interest in marriage, and takes an interest in the welfare of the men working in Lord Julian’s mines, against his wishes.
Linette has always suspected something is not quite right in the village, but it is only through Henry's dogged investigations that the dark truth about those closest to her will come to light—a truth that will bind hers and Henry's destinies together forever in ways neither thought possible.
©2024 Susan Stokes-Chapman (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
London, 1799. Dora Blake, an aspiring jewelry artist, lives with her odious uncle atop her late parents’ once-famed shop of antiquities. After a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, her uncle begins to act suspiciously, keeping the vase locked in the store’s basement, away from prying eyes—including Dora’s. Intrigued by her uncle’s peculiar behavior, Dora turns to young, ambitious antiquarian scholar Edward Lawrence who eagerly agrees to help. Edward believes the ancient vase is the key that will unlock his academic future; Dora sees it as a chance to establish her own name.
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Who is giving this 5 stars??
- By Miriam on 09-13-23
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Gods of Howl Mountain
- By: Taylor Brown
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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In Gods of Howl Mountain, award-winning author Taylor Brown explores a world of folk healers, whiskey-runners, and dark family secrets in the high country of 1950s North Carolina. Bootlegger Rory Docherty has returned home to the fabled mountain of his childhood - a misty wilderness that holds its secrets close and keeps the outside world at gunpoint. Slowed by a wooden leg and haunted by memories of the Korean War, Rory runs bootleg whiskey for a powerful mountain clan in a retro-fitted 1940 Ford coupe.
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Appalatia Noir
- By meanwhile on 09-18-18
By: Taylor Brown
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The Story of the Forest
- By: Linda Grant
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s 1913 when Mina, the young and carefree daughter of a Jewish merchant, roams into a forest on the edge of the Baltic Sea looking for mushrooms. Instead, she encounters a gang of unruly, charismatic Bolsheviks—an adventure that will become the stuff of familial lore for generations to come. Intending to save her from further corruption, and in an act that forever changes the trajectory of their family’s life, Mina and her eldest brother, Jossel, board a ship to England.
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Beautiful story connecting to Jewish History.
- By kathy lipchutz on 11-17-24
By: Linda Grant
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The Day Tripper
- By: James Goodhand
- Narrated by: James Meunier
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year, the love of an amazing woman named Holly and all the time in the world ahead of him. That is until a brutal encounter with a ghost from his past sees him beaten, battered and almost drowning in the Thames. He wakes the next day to find he’s in a messy, derelict room he’s never seen before, in grimy clothes he doesn’t recognize, with no idea of how he got there. A glimpse in the mirror tells him he’s older—much older—and has been living a hard life, his features ravaged by time and poor decisions.
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Can you change your life?
- By Lynda Engler on 12-19-24
By: James Goodhand
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The Lost for Words Bookshop
- A Novel
- By: Stephanie Butland
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never, ever show you. Into her hiding place - the bookstore where she works - come a poet, a lover, and three suspicious deliveries. Someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets?
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I thoroughly enjoyed this story.
- By Tammy on 11-09-18
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A Queen in Hiding
- By: Sarah Kozloff
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Four books. Four months. Nine Realms. Exiled and hunted, Cerulia, Princess of Weirandale, knows she has one destiny. Her enemies failed to kill her, and no one harboring her is safe. Raised in obscurity, she has no resources, no army, nothing that can help her against her enemies. Except their gods.
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Polarizing Narrator, Excellent Tale
- By totallysighman on 04-27-20
By: Sarah Kozloff
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This Fatal Kiss
- By: Alicia Jasinska
- Narrated by: Kristyna Ruth Zaharek
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal...but everyone sees her as a monster. And then there’s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He's determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela’s exorcism, she strikes up a deal.
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Actually shocked how much I loved!!
- By Dayra on 05-01-25
By: Alicia Jasinska
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Wolf at the Table
- By: Adam Rapp
- Narrated by: Paul Sparks
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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As late summer 1951 descends on Elmira, New York, Myra Larkin, thirteen, the oldest child of a large Catholic family, meets a young man she believes to be Mickey Mantle. He chats her up at a local diner and gives her a ride home. The matter consumes her until later that night, when a triple homicide occurs just down the street, opening a specter of violence that will haunt the Larkins for half a century.
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extraordinary writing.
- By michelle martinez on 05-23-24
By: Adam Rapp
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The Luminaries
- By: Susan Dennard
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You won't find it on a map, your phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you. Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie's town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night. Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal.
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A beautifully Written YA Novel.
- By Mrs Mandy Reads on 01-31-24
By: Susan Dennard
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Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen
- By: Sarah Bird
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Powerful, epic, and compelling, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen shines light on a nearly forgotten figure in history. Cathy Williams was born and lived a slave - until the Union army comes and destroys the only world she’s known. Separated from her family, she makes the impossible decision - to fight in the army disguised as a man with the Buffalo Soldiers. With courage and wit, Cathy must not only fight for her survival and freedom in the ultimate man’s world, but never give up on her mission to find her family, and the man she loves.
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A Missed Opportunity
- By M Jones on 11-01-18
By: Sarah Bird
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The Orchid
- The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses
- By: Rocio Aquino, Angel Orengo
- Narrated by: Robin McAlpine
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Embark on a transformative auditory journey with “The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses,” where the serene whispers of self-discovery meet the echoes of empowerment.
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Finalmente sané heridas que no había querido sentir
- By Dore ferriz on 10-08-24
By: Rocio Aquino, and others
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Black Butterflies
- A Novel
- By: Priscilla Morris
- Narrated by: Rachel Atkins, Priscilla Morris
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Sarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erect makeshift barricades, splitting the city into ethnic enclaves. Each morning, the people who live there—whether Muslim, Croat, or Serb—push the barriers aside. When violence erupts and becomes, finally, unavoidable, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother to safety in England. She stays behind, reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a few weeks. As the city falls under siege, everything she loves about her home is laid to waste, black ashes floating over the rooftops.
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Beautiful prose -simple story
- By Cco on 02-10-25
By: Priscilla Morris
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The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Brooks
- Narrated by: Katie Leung, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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There is only one way to travel across the Wastelands: on the Trans-Siberian Express, a train as famous for its luxury as for its danger. The train is never short of passengers, eager to catch sight of Wastelands creatures more miraculous and terrifying than anything they could imagine. But on the train's last journey, something went horribly wrong, though no one seems to remember what exactly happened. Not even Zhang Weiwei, who has spent her life onboard and thought she knew all of the train’s secrets.
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Narration cadence too clipped
- By ulan25 on 08-03-24
By: Sarah Brooks
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The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel
- A Story of Sleepy Hollow
- By: Alyssa Palombo
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. When romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together - all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is until Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.
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boring, terrible bodice-ripping drivel
- By BooksAndTrouble on 10-04-18
By: Alyssa Palombo
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When We Were Silent
- A Novel
- By: Fiona McPhillips
- Narrated by: India Mullen
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Louise Manson is the newest student at Highfield Manor, Dublin’s most exclusive private school. It seems nearly perfect: the high arched window alcoves and tall granite pillars, the overspill of lilac at the front gate and the immaculate playing fields, the giggling students, the dusty, oak-lined library, and the dark, festering secret she has come to expose. At first, Lou’s working-class status makes her the consummate outsider, though all that changes when she is befriended by the beautiful and wealthy Shauna Power.
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Loved!
- By Jenni on 10-22-24
By: Fiona McPhillips
What listeners say about The Shadow Key
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lauren Brumsted
- 12-08-24
So fun!
This was an engaging, entertaining, intriguing and fun story. It was very well written with great characters, and the narrators did an excellent job. I highly recommend it!
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- turtle houlihan
- 12-04-24
Dark academia perfection
I loved this story. I could imagine this being a Hammer horror film back in the day. The pacing suited the brooding darkness and mystery. I loved the characters and I think everything tied up perfectly in the end. Wonderful prose. I will probably listen to this again as a comfort read. I don’t often do that, so that is high praise from me.
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