The Murders in Great Diddling, Katarina Bivald
The Murders in Great Diddling, Katarina Bivald
List: $34.99 | Sale: $24.50
Club: $17.49

The Murders in Great Diddling

Author: Katarina Bivald

Narrator: Helen Lloyd

Unabridged: 13 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/13/2024


Synopsis

The best stories are the ones we didn't know needed to be told. The small, rundown village of Great Diddling is full of stories?author Berit Gardner can feel it. The way the villagers avoid outsiders, the furtive stares and whispers in the presence of newcomers… Berit can sense the edge of a story waiting to be unraveled, and she's just the person to do it. In fact, with a book deadline looming over her and no manuscript (not even the idea for a manuscript, truth be told), Berit doesn't just want this story. She needs it. Then, while attending a village tea party, Berit becomes part of the action herself. An explosion in the library of the village's grand manor kills a local man, and the resulting investigation and influx of outsiders sends the quiet, rundown community into chaos. The residents of Great Diddling, each one more eccentric and interesting than any character Berit could have invented, rewrite their own narrative and transform the death of one of their own from a tragedy into a new beginning. Taking advantage of Great Diddling's new notoriety, the villagers band together to start a book and murder festival designed to bring desperately needed tourists to their town. What they couldn't have predicted is how the new story they've begun to tell will change all their lives forever. Uplifting, charming, and laugh-out-loud funny, The Murders in Great Diddling by New York Times bestselling author Katarina Bivald is a celebration of the life-changing magic of books and the people who love them.

About Katarina Bivald

Katarina Bivald is the author of the instant New York Times bestseller and #1 Indie Next Pick The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. She lives outside of Stockholm, Sweden. She grew up working part-time in a bookshop.

About Helen Lloyd

Helen Lloyd is a classically trained actor who has a keen ear for accents and loves to bring characters to life. The narrator of books in numerous genres, she delights in new challenges.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Heather on August 14, 2024

Book Published: 13th August 2024 What a lovely cosy mystery this one is I would rate 3.75 out of 5 Stars Set in the small, rundown village of Great Diddling in which the villagers are suspicious of outsiders, an author Berit Gardner moves there to write her manuscript, but as the deadline draws close......more

Goodreads review by Ellery on August 10, 2024

This is an entertaining mystery set in a small village in the English countryside. Great Diddling doesn't have much going for it, and many of the merchants are barely making a go of it. A Swedish-born novelist moves to town in hopes of finding her lost inspiration. She soon becomes our curmudgeonly......more

Goodreads review by Ivonne on June 08, 2024

Curmudgeonly author Berit Gardner moved from her longtime home in London to an isolated village in Cornwall to shake things up. Her writer’s block had been going on for months, and Berit — an egalitarian, she insists everyone call her by first name — thought a change of locale would provoke a change......more

Goodreads review by Anissa on October 18, 2024

This was just a tad over just okay for me. I liked the mystery well enough but this was definitely longer than it needed to be to tell the story it told. The characters were well outlined but there wasn't enough charm for this to be so drawn out. I don't know if I'd read the next should it be trans......more


Quotes

[Narrator] Helen Lloyd provides an excellent portrayal of [heroine] Berit Gardner. . . one of a cast of eccentric characters in the rundown village of Great Diddling. . . Lloyd's voices and inflections bring life to each of the quirky characters, providing a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience.

"[N]arrator Helen Lloyd captures [sleuth Berit Gardner's] motivations: justice for the villagers she’s come to know, combined with a craftswoman’s interest in stories. Lloyd also produces accents (including Cornish), and distinct voices of every age, gender, and disposition . . . An absorbing audiobook perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz’s Susan Ryeland mysteries. Highly recommended."—Library Journal