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The Speaker of Mandarin

A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 12 (Unabridged)

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The Speaker of Mandarin

By: Ruth Rendell
Narrated by: Michael Bryant
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There were some things about Chief Inspector Wexford's trip to China that he could never have dreamt of: That an old woman would haunt him from one city to the next. That a man would be tragically drowned. Or that, back in England, he would be investigating the murder of one of his fellow tourists.

©2009 Ruth Rendell (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Modern Detectives Mystery China Fiction Suspense
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This is spoilt by the narrator. His tone is monotonous, the delivery rushed and it is impossible to distinguish between characters. Wexford and Burden are indistinguishable.
I’ve listened to all the previous Wexford’s with enjoyment. This was irritating throughout.
I will not purchase another book read by Michael Bryant

Very disappointing- a great story poorly read

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I'm so glad I read beyond the reviews that complained about this narrator and found an alternative view. This is a beautiful, professional narration by someone with serious acting skill. Nothing is overplayed, just pitch perfect subtle renderings of the different characters. People who are Wexford fans would probably expect him to have a Sussex accent, but actually there's nothing jn this book to indicate that (OK, I might have missed an indication) and much more importantly, the narrator captures his character perfectly, as far as I'm concerned. One or at most two tiny pronunciation quibbles, but I've yet to find a narrator apart from Timothy West and Miriam Margolyes that I don't find the odd quibble with.

well-crafted story, excellent narration

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Once again another intriguing story with plenty of twists and turns. Keep on including them

Yet another great story

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loved this book, continent to continent it was a riveting listen full of facts and history

The Chinese link

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Interesting story and characters as usual - but the narrator just didn’t fit my view of Wexford and Burden.

Great plot

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