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Sexist drivel

Reviewed: 26-07-24

Absolutely unbearable. An outdated pile of crap where “men are men, and women are girls..”. If you like 1970s style gender stereotyping coupled with unnecessary gore then go ahead and enjoy, if not don’t bother. Painful.

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Don’t bother

Reviewed: 25-11-23

Tediously written with terrible female leads who veered wildly between being pathetic, downtrodden damsels in distress and utterly reckless. Totally unbelievable. I found myself wondering if the author had ever even met a woman before! There’s an unlikely but convenient lesbian angle, which felt pointless other than to add titivation for the male gaze. I found it hard to differentiate between the various Balkan characters as they were not fleshed our sufficiently and I really didn’t care who lived or died! In the end I just wanted it to be over.

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Lovely read

Reviewed: 07-05-23

Great fun as always and very well read by the author. Relaxing to drift off to sleep with

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Excellent!

Reviewed: 22-09-22

I understand some listeners found it hard to get through the online chat chapters but please do try - it is well worth the initial effort. I didn't try to follow the detail of every online chat exchange in the first half of the book, just got the general drift, and by the time you need to listen to the details of those chats it is second nature.
The story is brilliant. An intricately woven whodunnit with a range of strange but believable characters. Galbraith/Rowling really is the most incredible story teller. I didn't find the story too long at all, I just wanted it to go on and on - I was absolutely hooked.
The finale is fist-clenchingly exciting and the subplot of both main protagonists' love lives and growing (but concealed) feelings for each other were spot on.
Loved it.
Oh, Robert Glenister's narration is immaculate (even if the pronunciation of "boi" was off!)

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Great Stories But Virtually Unbearable Narration

Reviewed: 20-02-22

I'm half way through and the stories have been great - kind of Stephen King style macabre and not what I am used to from Mick Herron but still very compelling.
My complulsion to write a review at this stage is driven solely by the absolutely terrible narration so far! I mean unbearably bad. Currently listening to The Other Half and it's the same female narrator from one of the previous stories, All I can say is I have never in my entire life heard anyone speak with these speech patterns. Imagine putting the inflection of EVERY single word in exactly the wrong place, then you will be half way to understanding how incredibly irritating this is. The other narrators have been only marginally less awful.
I am persevering because it's from one of my all time favourite authors AND because Sean Barrett narrates one of the later stories. If I had not known about Herron's work previously and not listened to the Slough House series there is no way I would have listened beyond the first couple of minutes.

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5 people found this helpful

Don't Bother

Reviewed: 09-11-21

Fairly endearing characters but really not worth the effort. I only persevered because it isn't unbearable and I had drawn a blank with my latest book searches, plus Audible sent me a sniffy message about choosing more wisely when I returned a title! As if we don't all try our very best to make sure we only select titles we think we will enjoy. Sorry if my mistake inconvenienced you, Jeff Bezos.
Anyway, back to The Little Old Lady. The translation from Swedish left a lot to be desired and I got caught up on what for me stood out as inadequate English translation, numerous times. The story was ok but a little tedious, not amusing enough, not engaging enough and rather dull to be honest. I am a big fan of The 100 Year Old Man and Harold Fry etc but this is not a patch on them. It's not the worst thing I've ever listened to but it's not great in any way.
Try a Mike Gayle book instead.

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Lots of potential but some big disappointments

Reviewed: 09-06-21

I was looking for an alternative to the Cherringham Mysteries, easy listening and engrossing if unchallenging and the plots of The Dales Detective Agency series are just that, BUT....I was irritated by the descriptions of the main female character and some of her habits, they are utterly outdated and toxic.

She is frequently described punching, hard, the male character "with her characteristic right hook" whenever they are in disagreement. Really? There is absolutely no need of this and I am surprised and disappointed that an editor would let this needless violence remain in a novel written in the last couple of years. It's absolutely pathetic and totally irrelevant to the story. Imagine reading a story where the violence is the other way round? Horrific, but this is just as horrible.

The only woman I have ever known do this was mentally unstable and caused great upset to her male colleagues with her not so "playful" punching as they could not respond in any way other than by trying to laugh it off despite being caused pain and distress. It's an horrific form of bullying.

From the constant references to them, It would seem that the "justification" for the punching are the main female's position in a family with five older brothers. They are, with one exception, all tall and powerful and it is implied that she has has always had to hold her own, physically. Well, they are all grown up professionals now and it's unbelievable that this would still manifest with physical violence. Her (lack of) height is frequently referenced, especially in comparison to theirs and she is treated as a child despite being a divorcee, business and homeowner in her mid twenties. She is still seeking the approval of her older brothers - eye roll. It's very wearing. She is shown as childlike and in need of male protection despite being extremely capable herself. One example - she is given a lift on a motorbike by her male colleague, her older brother shouts at him for risking her life as the weather isn't particularly great although not awful either, the colleague "accepts responsibility" for putting her at risk (she wasn't at risk) while she stands there like a dummy! She's an adult, it's pathetic. It also makes it creepy that the colleague fancies her and notices her "curves" which she is utterly unaware of - yet another stretch too far for the imagination. She is an adult and knows she has gone through puberty!

Aside from the ridiculousness of her being depicted as a man punching, totally unaware, woman/child the plots are good and not completely predictable with some interesting twists.

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1 person found this helpful

Clunky and lacking subtlety, don't bother.

Reviewed: 23-03-21

Fairly interesting premise (about which you will be inundated with from other reviews) but sadly lacking in prosaic style. The writing is extremely clunky, especially the dialogue which is painfully so despite the 3 narrators' best efforts. The characters are unbelievable and irritating, one of them has a personality which is pretty much only and repeatedly described as "fat". Yawn.

I've stuck with it because I am loathe to exchange two titles on the trot but really, don't bother. In this book women are weak, men are men - tedious in the extreme.

There are so many good thrillers out there I would recommend you give this one a miss.

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Gripping

Reviewed: 05-02-21

Having waited months for the latest instalment I was not disappointed to hear the adventures of Jackson Lamb and his Slow Horses.
Could not stop listening and have finished it in a day.
Very much looking forward to the screen version starring Gary Oldman and I could easily visualise how this will pan out.
Fantastic listen.

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent book

Reviewed: 22-06-20

A gripping story, told from multiple viewpoints. Very plausible characters and a story that will make you weep with emotion and simultaneously fill you with hope.
Loved it.

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