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Shadow of the Serpent

An Inspector McLevy Mystery 1

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Shadow of the Serpent

By: David Ashton
Narrated by: David Ashton
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About this listen

London had Sherlock Holmes. The dark alleys of Edinburgh had Inspector McLevy.

Known as the father of forensics and a likely influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life police inspector James McLevy is here reinvented by David Ashton in a thrilling mystery - the first in a series - set in dark, violent Victorian Edinburgh.

Edinburgh, 1880. Election fever grips the city. But while the rich and educated argue about politics, in the dank wynds of the docks it's a struggle just to stay alive. When a prostitute is brutally murdered, disturbing memories from 30 years ago are stirred in Inspector McLevy, who is soon lured into a murky world of politics, perversion and deception - and the shadow of the serpent.

©2016 David Ashton (P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton Crime Fiction Historical Mystery Fiction Crime Exciting Scotland
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This was one of the most difficult books to ‘get into’ that I have listened to. Ever. And I’m not sure why...it was a good story, perhaps read with too much inflection on occasion, which for me was almost soporific, rather than atmospheric. The author obviously loves his material, and wants to breathe life into every precious sentence, so maybe it’s just me...

Really not sure

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I normally don’t like books narrated by the author however this one is an exception.
I tend to listen mainly when driving and to be frank this is not a book to be listened to in that way, better quietly by the fire or on a wet afternoon.
For me the strength of the novel is in the characterisation and story telling more than the story itself.
An engaging book that I wish I had sat down to listen to rather than drive to.

Atmospheric yarn

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I both agree and disagree with previous reviewers. David Ashton loves what he's written and he's going to make sure you savour every one of his words. Thus, the narration is, without doubt, more than a little self-congratulatory. Sometimes is it annoying: he rolls certain words round in his mouth for half an hour before spitting them out and, frankly, the occasional sighing and hushed reverence he gives certain passages is nauseatingly smug.

Having said that, the novel is a good read, intriguing of plot and with plenty of dashes of light humour. The characters are interesting and have enough originality mixed with reassuring stereotypes to keep this work engaging and yet safe.

Ashton does do a great job with the accents; I love the realism of some of the gutter expressions and colloquialisms. My mum, being a Scot, and using words like 'breeks' helped make the regional expressions more amusing to my trained ear than, perhaps, a novice one but it certainly adds authentic colour.

Worshipping at his own literary shrine.

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Engaging and very entertaining, with lots of colourful descriptions of 19th Century Edinburgh, a interesting plot and some laugh out loud moments I really enjoyed this book. Be warned however, the reader - the author himself - has quite an unusually dramatic style, where sometimes his voice drops to an almost inaudible whisper which caused me to be frequently adjusting my volume levels. He is also at times extremely drawn out and slow - but I found by setting my speed to 1.5x the pace was perfect. Looking forward to more (speeded up) adventures with inspector McLevy.

Very enjoyable once you get used to the reader

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, what's not to love if you are a Historical mystery/crime fan? There are great charactors and twists and turns in the plot...just good fun! Having listened to all of the McLevy radio series (9 and 10 on pre-order) I listened to the Shadow of the Serpent. Whilst I prefer the radio series, as there are more actors in it and I have grown to love each of them for their charactorisation, once I settled into listening to David Ashton's reading, I have really enjoyed the audio book. What a talented man he is!!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I dip in and out over several days and listen when needing a little time to relax or when doing some mindless chore e.g. ironing :-) The reading allows me too be spirited away to Edinburgh.

Any additional comments?

Now ready to order the next audio book in the series whilst awaiting the 9 & 10 dramatised series. I feel some 'Clutter clearing' coming on and will need distraction :-)

LOVED IT

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