A Place of Safety
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A Place of Safety
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Narrated by:
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John Hopkins
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By:
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Caroline Graham
About this listen
Everyone deserves a second chance – or at least that's what ex-vicar Lionel Lawrence believes when he decides to open up the old rectory to a stream of young offenders. Lionel only wants to help these poor souls, but his good deed quickly spirals into a deadly mix of blackmail and murder.
Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby is sure he knows who is behind the disappearance of Lionel's latest young charge. Will this elusive suspect prove to be the incarnation of evil itself?
©1999 Caroline Graham (P)2023 Bolinda PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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The village of Badger's Drift is the essence of tranquillity. But when resident and well-loved spinster Miss Simpson takes a stroll in the nearby woods, she stumbles across something she was never meant to see, and there's only one way to keep her quiet. Miss Simpson's death is not suspicious, say the villagers. But Miss Lucy Bellringer refuses to rest: her friend has been murdered. She is sure of it.
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Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate. I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.
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In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his estranged father’s funeral takes place. On the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family, too. Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death. The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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There’s a literary niche for all tastes including those who think that either Agatha Christie wasn’t funny enough or that PG Wodehouse didn’t feature anywhere near as many baffling murders as he could have. The Case of the Canterfell Codicil is a classic, cozy, locked-room mystery written in the style of an homage to PG Wodehouse.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Critic reviews
What listeners say about A Place of Safety
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Vall
- 02-18-24
A surprise ending
Haven’t seen this one dramatized on BBC so it was a nice surprise. I didn’t see relationships ending the way they did. Satisfying conclusion.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sue A Kartman
- 07-11-23
Great novel
As always Caroline Graham’s detective Barnaby does not disappoint! Love the ending, very sweet and fitting
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- LynneKLR
- 11-11-23
My favorite inspector Barnaby yet
The characters and the story were compelling! And a nasty person i hoped would be the murder victim was … lol
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- shannon j
- 11-12-24
She’s the best!
Relistening and it’s always a pleasure. Graham is one of my 3 favorite mystery writers!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ruth Mc.
- 10-05-24
Not the usual "Whodunit"
An excellent Inspector Barnaby book. I really wish it had been adapted for the TV show.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- susan jackson
- 06-12-23
Loved it!!!!
I am a Midsomers Murder fan. Love the characters and how the interpersonal relationships evolve. Excellent job!!!!
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M L. Goldsmith
- 02-09-24
wow. Just wow.
Knowing the Inspector Barnaby from TV, or the personalities in the villages, you are treated to more in the way of reality in the book or audible.
wonderful surprise, not milk toasty.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Keven
- 07-22-23
Excellent as always!!
Very good story, the characters are so rich and full of life, I just love her novels! And John Hopkins really brings them to life with his soothing voice.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ladyethyme
- 12-25-24
Excellent
As I have said before on every other book, the narrator does an absolutely impeccable impression of John Nettles. You actually have to check and recheck the narrator to make sure that it's not him once he starts doing his Barnaby narration.
It's not just the voice, it's the WAY he talks. His rhythm, how he cuts off certain words in sentences. I don't know how to explain it. I've never heard anybody do an impression of another person that accurately.
As for the book, I do very much enjoy Caroline's writing. She is deeply insightful to the human condition, as well as all of the nooks and crannies of every day life that passes by, but when commented upon, are so obvious and deeply moving as to seem a revelation.
However, I must say that she must not like homosexuals very much. Let's take a look at the homosexual representation in her books. First, a homosexual mortician, who has been sexually abused by his mother since he was a child and is deeply damaged.
Then a homosexual couple, with one being a cold and rather heartless cheater, treating his partner with contempt and indifference. The partner is a histrionic and desperate person, lonely and miserable.
Then we have the representation of a young boy raped in a public bathroom by a gang of men, to the point where he is so traumatized that he can't talk, and crouches at the feet of his "master" like a dog.
Then we have a young boy who is also raped by another boy, and kidnapped into sexual slavery through his childhood, to the point where he has a mental breakdown and has basically dissociative identity disorder.
Two partners who died of AIDS.
And then there's this book.
Val- desperate, completely willing to be manipulated, both physically and mentally, because he's obsessed with another man. Petulant and juvenile, he defends a murderer because....he's hot and young. I mean honestly… Val's obsession with this guy goes away beyond creepy into the realm of genuine mental illness.
A lesbian easily manipulated, and desperate who goes to jail for a con woman.
A man, a felon who is completely heartless, callous and sadistic using sex as a manipulation.
These are not......great. And they tend to be repeats of the same types of characters. I mean let's be honest here…
Joyce.... well it seems the author keeps making her more unlikable as the books go on. She's kind of a non-entity in the first few books, but as we encounter her more often, she seems to just be kind of … well....I enjoyed the BBC depiction of her far more than the one in the books.
On the upside, this book almost makes Troy likable. While in other books he's nauseatingly toxic to the point where his character is reprehensible, in this book, he's far, FAR more palatable.
Particularly in that he loves all dogs, and does not seem to have the toxic trade of "masculinity fragility" by only liking large aggressive dogs. He likes small dogs like pekingese etc. just as much.
He genuinely tries to give up smoking for his daughter.
And that makes him much more likable. He has genuine concern over a small dog's injuries etc.
He even defends a homosexual for using self defense. Something previous Troy would never, EVER have done.
A real "hurrah!!" moment for abused and down-trodden housewives.
I must add a trigger warning for people though, as a dog is severely injured in this book.
Of course, Graham's turn of phrases are top notch. Her humour is....perfection. Dry, sardonic.
The mystery itself was fairly transparent and obvious, but still very enjoyable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michele E
- 06-04-23
Book before TV series every time
Graham’s original Midsomer mysteries are chock full of life’s unpredictability, its grittiest details, most compelling characters, most devious plots, and most unashamed human complexities. I highly recommend these books over the BBC adaptation, which is great, but the above types of details are heavily filtered out for a wider audience. To be fair, I have always liked “the book” over “the show,” no matter what book I happen to be reading at the time. It’s just especially true here. Highly recommend!
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4 people found this helpful