Why Shoot a Butler?

Slow Sleep Inducing Narration

I have had this book in my library for almost a year, tried repeatedly to listen and failed miserably. In the end, I have heard the first chapter (really the beginning only) about six or seven times. The voice of the narrator is so hypnotic and slow that listening puts me to sleep in minutes. It does not matter what time of day it is, my intake of coffee or my desire to enjoy the book. It is a recorded knock out drug--both amazing and disappointing. I give up. I will have to read the book in print. I strongly suggest you listen to the sample before buying the book.

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The Speed of a Glacier

Typical of Georgette Heyer, the story was great. The performance was an ordeal. The reader read the story at the speed a glacier migrates. This very slow speed resulted in weird pauses throught out the book and very S L O W, irritating progress. The slow delivery ruined Georgette Heyer's witty style. I finally put my I-pod on faster play mode to listen to this book. Once in a while, the performer would speed up to a more normal, natural speed. This meant that in faster play mode I missed some words and sentences. If there is another audio version of this book, get that one, not this one.

10 sur 10 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Poor narrator spoils dialogue

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I'm not sure because the narrator's wooden flat dragging delivery spoiled the book for me, but I think there's supposed to be a good amount of witty repartee and funny characterizations in this book. Wish someone like Nadia May had been the narrator. I didn't finish it.

Would you be willing to try another book from Georgette Heyer? Why or why not?

With a different narrator, I would be willing to try another book from this author.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

It was as if she believed the listener had very poor comprehension or wasn't a native English speaker. Really, flat, slow dull reading.

9 sur 9 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Baaaaad narration is ruining this book!

If you are a Georgette Heyer fan, skip these new ones until they are released with a different narrator. Ulli Birve is sleepwalking her way through - I am one hour in, and unless the plot can overcome her narration in the next hour, this one is going back.
What is going on? Doesn't anybody at Audible listen to these productions before they are released? Not only is her voice a deadpan monotone, context and punctuation are blithely ignored as she stutters her way through the sentences. Example: "Fountain looked annoyed, and shook his head." The narration: "Fountain. Looked Annoyed. And shook his head."
It's extremely distracting, and definitely not what Georgette Heyer's books deserve!

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Who Is Ulli Birvé and Why Is She Reading Heyer

I really like Georgette Heyer, and frankly I have listened to and enjoyed a lot of her books in older audio additions created in the UK. The readers were delightful and I listened and relistened to the books with pleasure. This book and Footprints in the Dark were the only two of her mysteries that I did not own in audio form so I was happy to try this book. Now I really wish I hadn't.

One of the things I love about Heyer is the spritely dialog. Ulli Birvé for the most part reads it like it's a chore. She has a very monotonous tone and I really disloke the loss of period accents, class accents and British accents. Let's face it, people did not talk in 1933 Britain than they do now. You wouldn't know it from listening to this book.

So the book is a bit of an action story with dead bodies, car chases and a host of eccentric characters, but you won't really appreciate if you listen to this audiobook. Instead you will probably fall alseep.

3 sur 3 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

I appreciated the reader and loved the story

People bag on the narrator, but I disagree. While at moments it was slowly dictated, the pace was aligned by character and moments. Pace of language is a reality of life and made this book real—pace of speech vs trying to manipulate sound of voice is a strong tactic.
So if you are willing to let this book unwind at its pace, the story is awesome!! I wish there were an Amberley series!! If there is one, please don’t mock me, just link me?

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I typically love Georgette Heyer, but.....

Is there anything you would change about this book?

the narrator.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Georgette Heyer's books are known for their plentiful characters and authentic voices of the time and the witty dialogue. So a really strong narrator is needed who can clearly voice different characters. Also, this plot was rather more convoluted than other mysteries by Heyer, so that made it trickier. I hated the narrator. She sounded bovine and mournful the entire time.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Ulli Birvé?

Kate Reading, Ellen Archer, Clifford Norgate, Stephen Thorne, Hugh Fraser

Could you see Why Shoot a Butler? being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No.

Any additional comments?

If you like Heyer, try her later mysteries like "Behold, Here's Poison" and "The Unfinished Clue"

5 sur 6 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

NOT THE STANDARD HEYER FARE

I've listened to 28 of the Georgette Heyer books written in the Georgian and Regency periods. Before reading my first Heyer work, I was not a fan of the Regency romance genre. However, I was hooked after listening to "Frederica" and promptly purchased more than 2 dozen more her audiobooks. But this book isn't nearly as good as Heyer's first work, "The Moth", written while in her teens. This story dragged out for hours with nothing of consequence going on. The characters are uninspiring and flat. The dialogue is boring. Halfway through the book, I still hadn't figured out what the whole thing was about. Maybe if I hadn't started with such great Heyer stories like "Behold", "Here's Poison", "Devil's Cub", "The Nonesuch", "Royal Escape", and "These Old Shades", I'd be more inclined to give "Why Shoot A Butler?" a higher rating. Something is missing here, i.e., the spark and genius that made the other Heyer books so enjoyable.

7 sur 12 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Another great story

This was actually the first of Ms. Heyer’s mysteries and remains one of my favorites.
It starts kinda slow then picks up the pace as it goes along.
I really enjoy some of her characters— especially the aunt.
It’s a fun read and nothing heavy.

Disappointing reading

I enjoy reading Georgette Heyer’s murder mysteries. I also enjoy listening to audio books when they are well read and I can lose myself in the story.
This one, however, was not. A very stilted and precise reading with every syllable and consonant emphasised equally. No emotion, no distinguishing of who is talking by using different inflections, accents or tones of voice.
This lady might as well be reading out a grocery list for all the interest she had in the story.
I will be making a note of her name and avoiding any audio books she has narrated in future.
I’m hoping I can find other GH murder mystery titles read by different narrators with more expressive voices.