A Long Shadow cover art

A Long Shadow

Chief Inspector Shadow Mystery Series, Book 1

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A Long Shadow

By: H L Marsay
Narrated by: Hannibal Hills
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About this listen

Old sins cast long shadows....

When the bodies of a young, homeless girl and a girl who disappeared 30 years ago are found on the same day, residents in the historic city of York are aghast. It seems unlikely the two cases are related, and yet some of the same players knew both victims. As Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow and his eager new partner, Sergeant Jimmy Chang, dive into their investigation, they uncover a complicated web of pop stars, pub owners, shopkeepers, and old school friends who each have something to hide.

John Shadow is a man of contradictions. A solitary figure who shuns company, but is a keen observer of all he meets. A lover of good food, but whose fridge is almost always empty. He prefers to work alone and is perpetually trying to dodge his partner, who's full of energy, modern ideas, and theories.

But as the two men gradually learn to work together to solve the case, it's clear that the past is never as far away as you think.

©2021 H L Marsay (P)2021 Tantor Mystery Police Procedural Fiction

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All stars
Most relevant  
An adequate story (I lived in the city as well) but let down by an appalling narrator. By turns ponderous and ridiculous

An appalling narrator

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Unfortunately the narration on this audiobook was dreadful. People do not speak like this - so laboured. I am from Yorkshire and have never heard anyone speak like this. I was enjoying the story but could not get over the narration so only managed a few chapters before switching off. Such a shame.

Poor narration

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H L Marsay is a new author to me. The blurb for this book hooked me in, especially as it is set in York, a city where I worked for a couple of years and know fairly well.

I admit I wasn't keen on Chief Inspector Shadow to begin with though by the end of the book he'd definitely grown on me. He's quirky and eccentric and often grumpy. His sidekick, Sergeant Chang is young, enthusiastic and unlike Shadow, very tech-savvy. They're like chalk and cheese, but make a great pair.

The plot is interesting with plenty of tension and suspense, and has a satisfying conclusion. The characters are well developed and I look forward to getting to know more about them in the next book in the series.

I loved the setting of the medieval city of York, which was perfectly described by the author, who onviously knows the city well.

I'm not sure the narrator, Hannibal Hills, was the right choice for this book. He's obviously not a Yorkshireman! Also, Gillygate is actually pronounced 'Jillygate'!



Great start to a series

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Good new police characters set in York. Old fashioned loner DCI and young sergeant from Chinese family. Unfortunately the narrator was ponderous with a suspect Yorkshire accent.

New detective

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The narrator was so slow I had to listen at 1.5 speed. I actually fell asleep on more than 1 occasion! The women sounded very drag queen ish which wasn’t right for this book. Can’t comment on the story because I missed so much sleeping.

Very slow narration

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The story was ok but completely ruined by the awful narration, very stilted and terrible voices and accents. I would try another in the series if there is a different narrator but I would advise avoiding this one.

Awful narration

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The plot was a little predictable but ultimately pretty solid. Characters are a bit weak, I think the author tried hard to make them rounded but tried too hard and it felt forced. Some clichéd stuff in there that isn't handled all that well

However, the main reason for the low score is the appalling narration. At one point I'd checked to make sure I'd not slowed down the speed. Especially the narration for Shadow. Slow, poor interpretation of Yorkshire overall. Made everyone sound stupid, although admittedly some of thats the writers fault.

avoid the audio

Read don't listen - decent enough plot, awful narration

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... if it wasn't so bad. Hard to tell difference between male and female. It makes the story - which is really poor - even harder to get through. Worth listening to if want to feel good about your own writing attempts. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is good about this 'attempt'.

Narration would be hilarious ...

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