The Woman in the Alcove

"I was, perhaps, the plainest girl in the room that night. I was also the happiest—up to one o'clock. Then my whole world crumbled, or, at least, suffered an eclipse. Why and how, I am about to relate." Thus begins this mystery told by Anna Katharine Green, one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and renowned for writing well plotted, legally accurate stories.(Summary by Annise) (6 hr 44 min)

Chapters

The Woman with the Diamond	25:53	Read by Wina Hathaway
The Gloves	25:34	Read by Wina Hathaway
Anson Durand	30:06	Read by Wina Hathaway
Explanations	17:41	Read by Wina Hathaway
Superstition	21:46	Read by Wina Hathaway
Suspense	15:00	Read by Wina Hathaway
Night and a Voice	27:50	Read by Sean Michael Hogan
Arrest	6:27	Read by Marianne Coleman-Hipkins
The Mouse Nibbles at the Net	12:56	Read by Marianne Coleman-Hipkins
I Astonish the Inspector	11:43	Read by Marianne Coleman-Hipkins
The Inspector Astonishes Me	10:54	Read by Patti Cunningham
Almost	17:26	Read by Patti Cunningham
The Missing Recommendation	20:04	Read by Patti Cunningham
Trapped	20:58	Read by Patti Cunningham
Sears or Wellgood	16:06	Read by Sean Michael Hogan
Doubt	9:49	Read by Sean Michael Hogan
Sweetwater in a New Role	12:07	Read by Sean Michael Hogan
The Closed Door	8:40	Read by Sean Michael Hogan
The Face	6:04	Read by Diana Majlinger
Moonlight -- and a Clue	9:48	Read by Sean Michael Hogan
Grizel! Grizel!	15:44	Read by Annise
Guilt	12:44	Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
The Great Mogul - part 1	25:57	Read by Patti Cunningham
The Great Mogul - part 2	23:40	Read by Patti Cunningham

Reviews

A Decent Mystery

(4 stars)

Lori K

A woman (Alice VanArstel) just got engaged at a party when another woman (Grizel Farebrother) is murdered resulting in her fiance (Anson Durand) becoming the main suspect. She believes Anson is innocent despite some damning evidence & that he'd lied. She has some ideas & theories and presents them to the inspector. He gives them some weight & then decides to let her help with the investigation a little bit. While some readers had accents I found the Italian woman just a touch harder to understand here & there. Once I put my ear buds in I had no problems. She only reads 1 short chapter anyway (The Face-6 minutes). Give this a try.

Excellent Mystery

(5 stars)

mikezane

The book is told from multiple perspectives, which always makes for an interesting story. The heroine's intended is accused of murder and theft. Driven by loyalty and love, she strikes an unusual alliance with the detective in charge to unmask the culprit, hoping to prove at the same time that it is not her intended. The reading for the most part was excellent, only a few rough spots that did not detract from the story.

Enjoyable story and fair-to-great reading

(4 stars)

glttrgrl8

I liked the use of multiple viewpoints in this AKG story and how the narrators were matched up with the chapters for the male and female perspectives. For the most part, the readers are great, and the ones that aren't great are just a little harder to understand and so certainly aren't bad in comparison to some I've heard. I'd recommend listening to this book.

(1 stars)

Connie T. ;

I enjoy this author's story writing skills, plots and character development, and await the unknown climax. Unfortunately this narration was poor, obviously English is not this ladies native tongue. I had to put it down at the end of chapter 3....had enough. If I have to work harder listening than the narrator does while narrating, consider it to be upside down.

OK, BUT NOT HER BEST

(3.5 stars)

AVID READER

I agree with one of the commentators that the final chapters are extremely convoluted. Normally AKG let's her plots unfold more slowly. This one apparently did not lend itself to this; hence the final explanation. It is still worth a listen.

Ok but not my fave

(3 stars)

benefitsingers

I really like Anna Katherine Green. She writes good mysteries. This one though was just hard for me to follow because of the multiple perspectives. Also the narration was a little dull. Other than that it is certainly worth listening to.

Not thrilled this time.