The Old Success by Martha Grimes Narrator: Steve West
Series: Richard Jury #25
Published by Dreamscape Media on December 3, 2019
Genres: Mystery
Length: 5 hours, 34 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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When the body of a French woman washes up on a wild inlet off the Cornish coast, Brian Macalvie, divisional commander with the Devon-Cornwall police is called in. Who could have killed this beautiful tourist, the only visible footprints nearby belonging to the two little girls who found her?
While Macalvie stands stumped in the Scilly Islands, inspector Richard Jury-twenty miles away on Land's End--is at the Old Success pub, sharing a drink with the legendary former CID detective Tom Brownell, a man renowned for solving every case he undertook--well, nearly every case. Bronwell discloses that there was one he once missed.
In the days following the mysterious slaying of the Parisian tourist, two other murders are called in to Macalvie and Jury's teams: first, a man is found dead in his Devon estate, then a holy duster turns up murdered at the Exeter Cathedral in Northhamptonshire. When Macalvie and Jury decide to consult Bronwell, the retired detective tells them that the three murders, though very different in execution, are connected. As the trio sets out to solve this puzzle, Jury and Macalvie hope that this doesn't turn out to be Brownell's second ever miss.
The Richard Jury series is another mystery series with more than 20 books, which I have read and loved for a long time. I just started listening and collection them on audio because they is narrated by Steve West!!!! He’s one of my favorites.
I love the character development and how Jury brings in his whole motley crew into his investigations. They are long-loved characters. One could never start with this book, as not only would you miss so much but the characters would not be as well-developed or dear to you. Each book is named for a pub I think.
The Old Success is a bit shorter than average. The characters are many of our usual favorites. There are the personal peeks at their lives and current projects. Melrose Plant is hilarious in his current efforts.
The current case is very convoluted and I would never have guessed the perpetrator. It is quite the effort and patching together of disparate bits of information which brings the solution. The odd, seemingly unrelated information does make it confusing, at least to me. It’s a good thing Richard Jury has such well honed skills.
Narration:
I would listen to any audiobook where Steve West is the narrator. In fact, I am more likely to choose his works. I will go back and listen to this series on audio from the beginning at some point. I am collecting them. It looks like someone else narrated just one of the 24 audiobooks. He really does all the character voices so well, both male and female. I have no idea if the societal and regional accents are accurate, but they sound great. I was able to listen at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip HERE:
About Steve West
A London native, Steve began his career by winning the Stage & Television Today acting scholarship at the age of 17 (after ironically believing that he had bombed the audition!). What followed took him through one of London’s top drama conservatories, onto the West End stage in ABBA’s musical phenomenon Mamma Mia! and then to working opposite the likes of Chucky the killer doll and Don Draper in TV’s Mad Men.
Having moved to the States in 2009 he earned a place as a highly respected and award winning voice over artist working across commercials, films, documentary, audiobooks and video games. He starred as Galahad in Sony’s epic motion capture release The Order 1886 which took over 2 years to film and employed the most up-to-date filming and audio techniques in the field.
Versatile in a multitude of ways from acting to singing to dancing to dying 100’s of different ways in a sound booth he continues to enjoy work both on stage, screen and behind a mic. Check out his latest news on the home page, join the conversation on Facebook and twitter and even head back to the 1800s and ‘be’ Steve/Galahad on the PS4!
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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That’s saying something that this is a shorter listen and still the author managed to make the mystery hard to figure out.
I really love this mystery series. I honestly hope to reread on audio because Steve West!
I still haven’t listened to Steve West – but I will!!!
My favorite!