The Woman in the Alcove
Anna Katharine Green
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
"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
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
Judy
Love AKG stories but I was "uninvolved" with these characters. I was somewhat lost and detached by the last two chapters; plot became too convoluted for me to follow. However, still an ok story though not one of my favorites.
excellent story but...
TheReader
Some of the female voices grate on nerves & not voice not suitable for character portraying...childish high pitched w/accent difficult to understand...however, their efforts & time are acknowledged. I would disappoint that's why I don't re As out loud to anyone..