Murdering Americans – Audiobook Review
Baroness Troutbeck and Robert Amiss Novel From Ruth Dudley Edwards
Author, Ruth Dudley Edwards, in her novels featuring Baroness Troutbeck and Robert Amiss, has an extremely distinctive style of writing. There will not be many people who have read or listened to a novel from the Amiss series who won't, at some time, have said to themselves “I don't believe they have just said that”.
In Baroness Troutbeck, Ruth Dudley Edwards has created a highly politically incorrect person who generally moves in worlds full of pomposity. The combination of a crime or two with the Baroness' direct approach and often stuffy individuals from the worlds of academia and the establishment often results in a highly amusing tale, rich in satire and wit. The latest novel, Murdering Americans, however, failed to live up to the standard of previous titles in the series.
Murdering Americans by Ruth Dudley Edwards is the eleventh in the series of books following the adventures of Robert Amiss and the Baroness Jack Troutbeck. In Murdering Americans, the Baroness heads to America as a visiting professor in a small-town university. Here Jack comes face to face with a form of liberal academia that embraces political correctness to its full extent. This paves the way for plenty of politically incorrect dialogue and provides the backdrop for murder.
Murdering Americans – The Plot
In Murdering Americans, the Baroness is on her own for the first few chapters and is only joined by Robert Amiss half way through when he cuts his honeymoon short. The other characters who are a staple part of the Amiss series only feature through email correspondence. While this is an interesting way to present the plot, readers may miss the rest of the cast of highly enjoyable characters that often appear in these novels.
The book was let down by the plot. The plot of Murdering Americans is very thin and it felt more like a satirical look at liberal academia rather than a murder mystery. The result was a weak story line that will disappoint murder mystery fans.
Narrated by Bill Wallace
Bill Wallis narrates Murdering Americans. He has narrated the other books in the series and his style is perfect for this type of story. Bill Wallis has a rich reading voice, with a dry way of delivering humorous lines that stops the books from becoming farce. Bill Wallis obviously knows the characters well and is at home narrating the books. The playing time of the audiobook edition is a little over eight hours. The narration of Murdering Americans is top quality.
The Robert Amiss and Baroness Troutbeck Series
Ruth Dudley Edward's Amiss series of novels won't be to everyone's taste. People who are easily shocked are best to steer clear of the books – Baroness Troutbeck will raise the eyebrows of even the most hardened libertarian. However, for people who enjoy this writing style, the series offers a range of highly enjoyable books that provide a murder mystery against the backdrop of a satirical look at a segment of society. This is usually a powerful combination. Murdering Americans fails to live up to the standard of other novels in the series. Someone who is thinking about listening or reading one of the Amiss / Baroness Troutback novels will be better advised to try another in the series.
Other Books in the Robert Amiss / Baroness Troutback Series:
- Corridors of Death
- The Saint Valentine's Day Murders
- The English School of Murder
- Clubbed to Death
- Matricide at St. Martha's
- Ten Lords A-Leaping
- Murder in a Cathedral
- Publish and Be Murdered
- Anglo-Irish Murders
- Carnage on the Committee
More Information:
- Title: Murdering Americans
- Author: Ruth Dudley Edwards
- Audiobook Publisher: BBC Worldwide
- Playing Time: 8 hours
Other Audiobook Reviews at Suite101 Audiobooks
- See Delphi and Die by Lindsay Davis
- Cross by James Patterson
- Men Who Stare at Goats - Jon Ronson
Murdering Americans by Ruth Dudley Edwards
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