This is my review of the audio version as posted on Audible:
story - ***, narration - *****, overall - ****
This is one of those audiobooks which are difficult for me to rate; on the one hand, the narration is wonderful, on the other, the plot is just OK - likeable but...
Well, I can't really explain what the "but" is about. Is it that the book generally just didn't grasp my attention to the extent of me forgetting the world around and focusing totally on the plot...? Or is it that the main character seemed a little bland, without that sparkle of character that would make her attractive to me as a listener...? Or maybe it's just that some scenes seemed to jump almost out of the blue and felt like being there for the sake of (unnecessarily) complicating the plot...?
It's not that the plot is uninteresting - because it is, with the mafia involved and a murder to be solved, and aunt Pearl with her belief that the use of magic is a wonderful solution for everything (by the way, the character of aunt Pearl is one of the funniest I've met in cozy mysteries so far)... There are also several good twists in the story, as we might expect from a crime plot; still, somehow it all didn't work for me so well this time. I found myself rewinding a chapter now and then to listen again as I seemed to lose focus more than once. So even though I truly liked the book altogether, as it was a really relaxing, pleasurable listen, I can't give it more than three stars for the story.
The narration, however, is wonderful. It's my first by Ms Burchard and it was a fantastic experience. I especially loved the voice of aunt Pearl - I just saw her, a 70-year-old witch who wants everyone to dance to her tune:) It was a flawless performance from Ms Burchard. The other characters' voices were equally good, and the narration had a perfect pace. Ms Burchard is definitely a narrator I'll come back to.
DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.