
Death on Beacon Hill
Nell Sweeney Mystery Series, Book 3
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Leigh Ryan
-
By:
-
P.B. Ryan
About this listen
Boston, 1869: As governess to the wealthy Hewitts, Irish immigrant Nell Sweeney belongs to no particular caste - hers is halfway between her brethren and the Brahmin. But now, a double murder involves both maid and mistress - and it will take cooperation by rich and poor alike to solve it. All of Boston is talking about the murder of Virginia Kimball. The famous actress, past her prime but still a renowned beauty, was found shot to death in her Beacon Hill townhouse, along with her young Irish - American maid, Fiona Gannon. Evidence suggests the two women traded shots after Virginia came upon Fiona trying to steal her famous diamond necklaces.
Devastated by this news, Fiona's uncle, who serves as driver to the wealthy Hewitts, begs Nell to find out what really happened. The Hewitts' estranged son, Will, accompanies Nell as she investigates Virginia's scandalous romantic liaisons. It turns out there are quite a few people who might have wanted her dead, particularly her rich and powerful lovers, whose amorous exploits she recorded in a red leather - bound journal - a journal that has been missing ever since her death. Now, terrified men all over Boston, once blackmailed by the actress, will do whatever it takes to make sure her infamous "Red Book" never sees the light of day.
©2005 Patricia Burford Ryan (P)2014 Patricia Burford RyanListeners also enjoyed...
-
Still Life with Murder
- Nell Sweeney Mystery, Book 1
- By: P.B. Ryan
- Narrated by: Leigh Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Boston, 1868: The dawn of the Gilded Age, an era of burgeoning commerce and invention, of unimaginable new fortunes and lavish excess—for some. Born into dismal poverty, young Nell Sweeney scratches by on her wits and little else until fortune blesses her with a position as nursery governess to the fabulously wealthy Hewitts. But she soon learns that ugly secrets lurk beneath the surface of their gold-plated world.
-
-
Gilded Age in Boston--excellent mystery!
- By Kathi on 07-25-14
By: P.B. Ryan
-
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
- The Glass Library, Book 1
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
-
-
Fun to be Back
- By Meg on 10-12-22
By: C.J. Archer
-
Murder on Black Swan Lane
- By: Andrea Penrose
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London's most popular satirical cartoonist, A. J. Quill, skewers them both.
-
-
Tedious
- By Kathi on 10-02-17
By: Andrea Penrose
-
Glass and Steele Boxed Set: Books 1-3
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Emma Powell, Marian Hussey
- Length: 27 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her–an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.
-
-
Should be an anglophile to fully enjoy the series
- By J.B. on 07-22-23
By: C.J. Archer
-
The Shifting Fog [also published under the alternate title The House at Riverton]
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Summer 1924: On the eve of a glittering society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999: Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet's suicide. Ghosts awaken and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace's mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks.
-
-
Alternate title for "The House at Riverton"
- By Karen on 12-22-13
By: Kate Morton
-
Some Danger Involved
- Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 1
- By: Will Thomas
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto. When the eccentric and enigmatic Barker takes the case, he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved", he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past.
-
-
Clever writing!
- By Kathi on 01-13-17
By: Will Thomas
-
Still Life with Murder
- Nell Sweeney Mystery, Book 1
- By: P.B. Ryan
- Narrated by: Leigh Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Boston, 1868: The dawn of the Gilded Age, an era of burgeoning commerce and invention, of unimaginable new fortunes and lavish excess—for some. Born into dismal poverty, young Nell Sweeney scratches by on her wits and little else until fortune blesses her with a position as nursery governess to the fabulously wealthy Hewitts. But she soon learns that ugly secrets lurk beneath the surface of their gold-plated world.
-
-
Gilded Age in Boston--excellent mystery!
- By Kathi on 07-25-14
By: P.B. Ryan
-
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
- The Glass Library, Book 1
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
-
-
Fun to be Back
- By Meg on 10-12-22
By: C.J. Archer
-
Murder on Black Swan Lane
- By: Andrea Penrose
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London's most popular satirical cartoonist, A. J. Quill, skewers them both.
-
-
Tedious
- By Kathi on 10-02-17
By: Andrea Penrose
-
Glass and Steele Boxed Set: Books 1-3
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Emma Powell, Marian Hussey
- Length: 27 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her–an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.
-
-
Should be an anglophile to fully enjoy the series
- By J.B. on 07-22-23
By: C.J. Archer
-
The Shifting Fog [also published under the alternate title The House at Riverton]
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Summer 1924: On the eve of a glittering society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999: Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet's suicide. Ghosts awaken and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace's mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks.
-
-
Alternate title for "The House at Riverton"
- By Karen on 12-22-13
By: Kate Morton
-
Some Danger Involved
- Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 1
- By: Will Thomas
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto. When the eccentric and enigmatic Barker takes the case, he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved", he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past.
-
-
Clever writing!
- By Kathi on 01-13-17
By: Will Thomas
-
The Magnolia Palace
- A Novel
- By: Fiona Davis
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, 21-year-old Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists' models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge
-
-
This isn't my favorite but entertaining
- By Linda on 02-01-22
By: Fiona Davis
-
Someone to Cherish
- By: Kate Rothwell
- Narrated by: Kathy Bell Denton
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of Callie Scott's fashionable father left her with nothing - except an inquisitive mind not even her grandmother's puritanical upbringing could quash. An adventurous spirit doesn't get her much in New York City, however, except an abysmal position as a ladies maid. Things are looking up when she lands a trial job in a library. Her benefactor's offer of wine before noon should have signaled something amiss.
-
-
Book may be good but the reader is awful
- By Crystal A. on 12-08-20
By: Kate Rothwell
-
The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
- By: Julie Berry
- Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There's a murderer on the loose - but that doesn't stop the girls of St. Etheldreda's from attempting to hide the death of their headmistress in this rollicking farce. The students of St. Etheldreda's School for Girls face a bothersome dilemma. Their irascible headmistress, Mrs. Plackett, and her surly brother, Mr. Godding, have been most inconveniently poisoned at Sunday dinner.
-
-
Unexpectedly delightful
- By Fey Gilo on 06-01-15
By: Julie Berry
-
The Man with a Load of Mischief
- A Richard Jury Novel, Book 1
- By: Martha Grimes
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the Man with a Load of Mischief, they found the dead body stuck in a keg of beer. At the Jack and Hammer, another body was stuck out on the beam of the pub’s sign, replacing the mechanical man who kept the time. Two pubs. Two murders. One Scotland Yard inspector called in to help. Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury arrives in Long Piddleton and finds everyone in the postcard village looking outside of town for the killer - except for one Melrose Plant....
-
-
Love this series, but FYI
- By DCinMI on 03-29-14
By: Martha Grimes
-
What Angels Fear
- Sebastian St. Cyr, Book 1
- By: C. S. Harris
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man - Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars.
-
-
An Addictive Series
- By Bibliophile1963 on 10-17-16
By: C. S. Harris
-
A Ginger Gold Mysteries Bundle: Books 1-3
- By: Lee Strauss
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Klett
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first three books of the acclaimed Ginger Gold Mystery series by USA Today best-selling author Lee Strauss: Murder on the SS Rosa, Murder at Hartigan House, and Murder at Bray Manor. It's 1923, and young war widow fashionista Ginger Gold makes a cross-Atlantic journey with her companion Haley Higgins to London England to settle her father's estate. When the ship's captain is found dead, Ginger is only too happy to lend her assistance to the handsome Chief Inspector Basil Reed.
-
-
Really enjoyed the stories
- By PRC on 01-11-23
By: Lee Strauss
-
Ask Me No Questions
- A Lady Dunbridge Mystery
- By: Shelley Noble
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A modern woman in 1907, Lady Dunbridge is not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She's ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm. From the decadence of high society balls to the underbelly of Belmont horse racing, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige.
-
-
A Creative Mystery
- By Victoria J. Mejia-Gewe on 02-28-19
By: Shelley Noble
-
A Useful Woman
- A Rosalind Thorne Mystery, Book 1
- By: Darcie Wilde
- Narrated by: Sarah Nichols
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of a baronet and minor heiress, Rosalind Thorne was nearly ruined after her father abandoned the family. To survive in the only world she knew, she began to manage the affairs of some of London society's most influential women, who rely on her wit and discretion. So when artistocratic wastrel Jasper Aimesworth is found dead in London's most exclusive ballroom, Almack's, Rosalind must use her skills and connections to uncover the killer.
-
-
Give this a chance
- By James on 05-28-17
By: Darcie Wilde
-
Fallen Women
- By: Sandra Dallas
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the spring of 1885, and wealthy New York socialite Beret Osmundsen has been estranged from her younger sister, Lillie, for a year. Then she gets word from her aunt and uncle that Lillie has died suddenly in Denver. What they do not tell her is that Lillie had become a prostitute and was brutally murdered in the brothel where she had been living. Detective Mick McCauley may not want her involved in the case, but Beret is determined.
-
-
Sandra Dallas is always a"Good read"
- By CAROLYN on 11-08-13
By: Sandra Dallas
-
The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions
- The Ultimate Miss Phryne Fisher Collection
- By: Kerry Greenwood
- Narrated by: Wendy Bos
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miss Phryne Fisher is up to her stunning green eyes in intriguing crime in each of these entertaining, fun and compulsively listenable stories. With the ever-loyal Dot, the ingenious Mr Butler and all of Phryne's friends and household, the action is as fast as Phryne's wit and logic.
-
-
a question of death
- By D. LeBlanc on 04-19-21
By: Kerry Greenwood
-
A Death of No Importance
- A Mystery
- By: Mariah Fredericks
- Narrated by: Stephanie Willis
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York City, 1910. Invisible until she’s needed, Jane Prescott has perfected the art of serving as a ladies’ maid to the city’s upper echelons. Then she takes up a position with the Benchley family, dismissed by the city’s elite as "new money". The Benchleys cause further outrage when their daughter Charlotte becomes engaged to notorious playboy Norrie, the son of the eminent Newsome family. But when Norrie is found murdered at a party, Jane discovers she is uniquely positioned - she’s a woman no one sees, but who witnesses everything - and therefore has the tools to solve his murder.
-
-
Solid
- By MxH on 04-28-19
-
The Hanover Square Affair
- Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries
- By: Jennifer Ashley, Ashley Gardner
- Narrated by: James Gillies
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars, burned out, fighting melancholia, his career ended. His interest is piqued when he learns of a missing girl, possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament. Lacey's search for the girl leads to the discovery of murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld.
-
-
Regency Reality
- By Nadine Gardner Author on 01-30-15
By: Jennifer Ashley, and others
What listeners say about Death on Beacon Hill
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pat Sibley
- 01-20-18
Narrator didn't pause for scene breaks.
The narration was amateurish, and very distracting. Too bad. I enjoyed reading the other books.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- barbara
- 01-01-15
More I want more
Having read all the books in this series I am anxious for the next. Ryan has patiently and believably developed the personalities and relationship between Nell and Will. The supporting characters have substance and credibility and come in and out of the series to help build the drama and mystery. It is fun to visit the fascinating city of Boston in the 1860s. Ryan evokes this richly layered period in US history and carefully weaves the influences of Boston Brahmins, Irish immigrants , Harvard and post civil war America into a good story worth reading
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- seawall
- 04-17-19
Okay story, poor narrator
I've liked P.B. Ryan's Nell Sweeney series up to this point, but this third book is a bit disappointing. The story, which isn't particularly gripping, is developed mostly by long conversations, rather than any action, and in these scenes, characters confess more than I sometimes felt was credible. I'll probably stay with the series, but hope that subsequent books are a bit more lively. However, I won't listen to more if the same narrator is used. She has the irritating habits of pausing where she shouldn't ("'We found a bullet in the wall of the bedroom,' [pause] said Nell.") and of failing to pause where she should, e.g., when moving to another scene. Both can be jarring.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Debbie
- 03-24-16
Irish Governess & Black Sheep Son, Murder Take 3
The third in the Nell Sweeney Murder Mysteries finds famous actress, Virginia Kimball and her maid, Fiona Gannon both brutally shot to death . . . according to the police, by one another, when the actress caught her maid in the act of stealing her jewelry . . . but Fiona's uncle, a driver for the wealthy Hewett family for which both he and Nell work, swears that his niece is innocent of both the theft and the murder . . . enlisting Nell's help in clearing Fiona's name . . . handsome rogue, Will Hewitt, returning from one of his gambling jaunts, shows up at Virginia Kimball's very unconventional funeral, as does Nell . . . and the two, once again pair up to unravel some very unusual murders . . . suffice to say that the Boston police, who have sticky fingers, are not much help . . . but Nell's past skills on the streets come in handy . . . the infamous red book, that so many men of the city seem willing to bribe . . . or maybe kill for . . . has everyone in a tether . . . and Nell and Will keep on the case until it is solved . . . I didn't see it going where it did . . . well done, AGAIN!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julianne Day-Evers
- 08-11-18
It ended way too fast!
This third book of the Nell Sweeney series is another finely crafted mystery with plenty of twists & turns. P. B. Ryan continues to develop & deepen her primary characters as well as their relationship with one another. I enjoyed the story immensely with my only complaint being that it ended way too quickly. The narration was once again "top notch" & thoroughly enjoyable. Bravo!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!