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Scales of Justice

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Scales of Justice

By: Ngaio Marsh
Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch
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About this listen

 The lives of the inhabitants of Swevenings are disrupted only by a fierce competition to catch the Old Un, a monster trout known to dwell in a beautiful stream which winds past their homes.

Then one of their small community is found brutally murdered; beside him is the freshly killed trout. Both died by violence - but Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn's murder investigation seems to be much more interested in the fish...

©1958 Ngaio Marsh (P)2008 Hachette Digital Crime Fiction Mystery Fiction Crime Suspense
All stars
Most relevant
It has been years since I read all the Marsh novels I could find. Her writing has not faded. This production brings out the best of her style, characterisation and plotting. The voices are marvellous- including of course, the terrific narration by Bernard Cummerbatch.

Wonderful writing, wonderful performances and narration

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Where does Scales of Justice rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is not her best story BUT the narration by Benedict Cumberbatch brings something extra to it. It felt almost like a dramatisation. I sometimes had to remember that this was just one voice and not a radio play with a full cast. Superb!

What did you like best about this story?

The domestic intrigue.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Ensemble scenes

Any additional comments?

In order to get the best out of audible stories and the characters, there must be an 'aliveness' to them, differentiated voices, dramatic rendition of their words, emotions etc. Benedict Cumberbatch achieves this in spades and brings Ngaio Marsh's stories into vivid relief. Excellent!

Cumberbatch is excellent

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SoJ is a mildly entertaining way to pass a few hours, but it's far from NM's best work. Alleyn doesn't show up until 1/3 of the way through and there are some characters that are more caricatures than real people. The narration is 5* and does a great deal to lift the audio version from mediocrity.

A very fishy tale...

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This was my first Ngaio Marsh novel but the story follows the rather familiar lines of the English crime novel. The various characters with their eccentricities and their very clear place in the order of things. You’re immediately clear that this is the a more traditional, rural England. I enjoyed the twists of the plot – it was undemanding but still clever. The narration was very well done, with energy, expression and clearly distinct voices for all the characters. Very enjoyable several hours!

Enjoyable classic English crime novel

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