Book Review: The Hanged Man’s Noose by Judy Penz Sheluk

The Hanged Man's Noose (Glass Dolphin Mystery, #1) by Judy Penz Sheluk
Narrator: Suzanne T. Fortin
Series: Glass Dolphin Mystery #1
Published by Self-published on 6 hrs and 50 mins
Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery
Length: 11-29-17
Format: Audiobook
Source: Narrator
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Overal Rating:

Small-town secrets and subterfuge lead to murder in this fast-moving, deftly written tale of high-stakes real estate wrangling gone amok.

Journalist Emily Garland lands a plum assignment as the editor of a niche magazine based in Lount’s Landing, a small town named after a colorful nineteenth century Canadian traitor. As she interviews the local business owners for the magazine, Emily quickly learns that many people are unhappy with real estate mogul Garrett Stonehaven’s plans to convert an old schoolhouse into a mega-box store. At the top of that list is Arabella Carpenter, the outspoken owner of an antiques shop, who will do just about anything to preserve the integrity of the town’s historic Main Street.

But Arabella is not alone in her opposition. Before long, a vocal dissenter at a town hall meeting about the proposed project dies. A few days later, another body is discovered, and although both deaths are ruled accidental, Emily’s journalistic suspicions are aroused.

Putting her reporting skills to the ultimate test, Emily teams up with Arabella to discover the truth behind Stonehaven’s latest scheme before the murderer strikes again.

Journalist Emily Garland is hired by a big company to try to unearth the secrets and find out the real intentions of Garrett Stonehaven, a famous and rich real estate agent. She will have to work undercover in the small town of Lount’s Landing, as the editor of a niche magazine. Emily will have to do some sleuth work, and nothing is what it seems. From a point onwards bodies start to pile up, and this mission seems to be more dangerous than she expected.

I always enjoy a good cozy mystery. I find this genre relaxing and an easy listen, especially when there is much going on in real life. Even though I love this kind of books, I am sometimes bothered because it seems they need to include a romantic story, which seems forced most of the times. This doesn’t happen here. The main character has a small attraction for one of the male characters but that’s it. There’s no blabbering, forced conversations, nor unrealistic sex scenes.

In fact, I can say that this is one of the best cozy mysteries I have read. The characters feel like real people, with clear motivations and normal reactions. I liked exploring the business located in Main Street, with their colorful names, and charismatic owners.

The book had a good rhythm, and it was easy to get into it. People start dying quite soon in the story, and the intrigue was well built from the start. Nothing and nobody is what it seems, and I especially enjoyed trying to guess who and why was doing those things. It was a book that kept my attention until the end, and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Suzanne T. Fortin’s narration was correct. She delivered great characters’ interpretations,  transmitting their emotions, and bringing them to life. I just missed some differentiation between voices. It’s like Fortin tried to make them sound different for the beginning of a paragraph, but soon after all voices blended in together, and male and female characters sounded quite similar. I had issues following several conversations between Emily and Arabella, Emily and her boss, and even Emily and one of the male characters, not really knowing who was talking and doing some guesswork that was not always right. But the interpretations and narration in general was good, so I enjoyed it.

I really liked this book, and would recommend it to anyone into cozy mysteries. It’s one of the best in the genre.

I received a copy of this book in audio format from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

Story (Plot)
Narration
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