
Thirty and a Half Excuses
Rose Gardner Mystery, 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 $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Shannon McManus
About this listen
The third book in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling Rose Gardner Mystery series.
One suspicious preacher in town. Thirty excuses for Rose to dig up the truth.
Life in Henryetta, Arkansas, is turned upside down with the arrival of a televangelist, but it’s the death of a little old lady on Rose’s street that catches her attention. The Henryetta police deem her death natural causes, but Rose suspects foul play, and so does an unlikely supporter - the president of the Busy Body Club, her 82-year-old neighbor Mildred.
But Rose is in the middle of opening her nursery with her sister, Violet, who’s separated from her husband, Mike, as well as stalling her boyfriend Joe’s family, rich socialites who are determined to meet her. Along with her multiple encounters with Fenton County’s new assistant DA, Mason Deveraux III, it’s just another day in the life of Rose Gardner - chaos.
©2013 Denise Grover Swank (P)2013 Denise Grover SwankListeners also enjoyed...
-
Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
- Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa, instead, two things are certain: There isn't enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.
-
-
Must read!! (again)
- By Connie on 10-22-20
-
Family Jewels
- Rose Gardner Investigations, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trouble always comes to those who court it. Rose Gardner's ability to see glimpses of the future has gotten her into hot water time and again, but so have her curiosity and her sense of daring. Those very qualities helped her defeat the most powerful man in Arkansas - a man so adept at hiding his crimes there was no way to defeat him inside of the law - but her success came at a steep personal price. Now she's throwing herself into her landscaping business, trying to live a life that's as orderly as one of her gardens.
-
-
Don't read if you must know back stories
- By Bookbell on 12-06-17
-
Trailer Trash
- Neely Kate Mystery, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Companion novella to the Rose Gardner Investigation series. This series provides insight into characters in the Rose Gardner world, but is not required to listen to the series.
-
-
Excellent dive into Neely Kate's past
- By Syeda on 06-26-17
-
Deadly Summer
- Darling Investigations, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten years ago, Summer Butler was television's most popular teenage sleuth. Since then, she's hit - what gossip sites just love to call - the gutter. Nearly bankrupt, betrayed, estranged from her greedy mother, and just about unemployable, she's coaxed into that desperate haven for has-beens: reality TV.
-
-
Meh..typical "modern" cozy
- By Constance Jenkins on 05-04-18
-
Center Stage
- Magnolia Steele Mystery, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Elise Arsenault
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten years ago, Magnolia Steele fled Franklin, Tennessee, after an incident that left her with hazy memories and a horror of the place where she had been born and bred. Though her abrupt departure destroyed most of her treasured relationships, she vowed never to return...until she has no choice. When Magnolia's breakout acting role in a Broadway musical ends in disgrace, there's only one place she can go. She finds herself on her momma's porch, suitcase in hand.
-
-
What the actual f***
- By Melissa on 07-16-16
-
Of Ash and Spirit: A Curse Keepers Novel
- Of Ash and Spirit, Book 1
- By: D.G. Swank, Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Piper Lancaster is a ghost whisperer and a skeptic. Piper helps her clients settle their inner demons, and that's good enough for her, even if ghosts aren't real. But the astonishing reappearance of the ruins of the Lost Colony of Roanoke turns her world upside down. She's soon confronted with undeniable evidence and discovers Asheville's new resident demon intent on killing her and a handsome stranger who says she's the only one who can destroy it. Barely able to accept the complete reversal in her convictions, Piper must embrace her true identity before it's too late.
-
-
Just ok ...
- By BikeVON on 05-16-18
By: D.G. Swank, and others
-
Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
- Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa, instead, two things are certain: There isn't enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.
-
-
Must read!! (again)
- By Connie on 10-22-20
-
Family Jewels
- Rose Gardner Investigations, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trouble always comes to those who court it. Rose Gardner's ability to see glimpses of the future has gotten her into hot water time and again, but so have her curiosity and her sense of daring. Those very qualities helped her defeat the most powerful man in Arkansas - a man so adept at hiding his crimes there was no way to defeat him inside of the law - but her success came at a steep personal price. Now she's throwing herself into her landscaping business, trying to live a life that's as orderly as one of her gardens.
-
-
Don't read if you must know back stories
- By Bookbell on 12-06-17
-
Trailer Trash
- Neely Kate Mystery, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Companion novella to the Rose Gardner Investigation series. This series provides insight into characters in the Rose Gardner world, but is not required to listen to the series.
-
-
Excellent dive into Neely Kate's past
- By Syeda on 06-26-17
-
Deadly Summer
- Darling Investigations, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten years ago, Summer Butler was television's most popular teenage sleuth. Since then, she's hit - what gossip sites just love to call - the gutter. Nearly bankrupt, betrayed, estranged from her greedy mother, and just about unemployable, she's coaxed into that desperate haven for has-beens: reality TV.
-
-
Meh..typical "modern" cozy
- By Constance Jenkins on 05-04-18
-
Center Stage
- Magnolia Steele Mystery, Book 1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Elise Arsenault
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten years ago, Magnolia Steele fled Franklin, Tennessee, after an incident that left her with hazy memories and a horror of the place where she had been born and bred. Though her abrupt departure destroyed most of her treasured relationships, she vowed never to return...until she has no choice. When Magnolia's breakout acting role in a Broadway musical ends in disgrace, there's only one place she can go. She finds herself on her momma's porch, suitcase in hand.
-
-
What the actual f***
- By Melissa on 07-16-16
-
Of Ash and Spirit: A Curse Keepers Novel
- Of Ash and Spirit, Book 1
- By: D.G. Swank, Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Piper Lancaster is a ghost whisperer and a skeptic. Piper helps her clients settle their inner demons, and that's good enough for her, even if ghosts aren't real. But the astonishing reappearance of the ruins of the Lost Colony of Roanoke turns her world upside down. She's soon confronted with undeniable evidence and discovers Asheville's new resident demon intent on killing her and a handsome stranger who says she's the only one who can destroy it. Barely able to accept the complete reversal in her convictions, Piper must embrace her true identity before it's too late.
-
-
Just ok ...
- By BikeVON on 05-16-18
By: D.G. Swank, and others
-
Louisiana Longshot
- A Miss Fortune Mystery, Book 1
- By: Jana DeLeon
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was a hell of a long shot.... CIA assassin Fortune Redding is about to undertake her most difficult mission ever - in Sinful, Louisiana. With a leak at the CIA and a price placed on her head by one of the world's largest arms dealers, Fortune has to go off-grid, but she never expected to be this far out of her element.
-
-
Clever, funny and fun
- By Pamela on 06-08-16
By: Jana DeLeon
-
Any Luck at All
- Asheville Brewing, Book 1
- By: A.R. Casella, Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Joy Nash
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After learning his best friend and boss is selling the brewery they built together to a soulless corporation, River quits on the spot, only for Georgie Buchanan to offer him a job the very same night. Helping her turn Buchanan Brewery around is his dream job, the perfect homage to the man who taught him everything and helped give him roots. There’s one problem: His new boss is his dream woman, and she’s not the type to mix business and pleasure.
-
-
A fun, tantalizing story
- By callasa on 12-24-20
By: A.R. Casella, and others
-
The Substitute
- Wedding Pact Series #1
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Megan Vandemeer meant to tell her parents about her broken engagement, but a month and a half later she finds herself boarding a plane home to her wedding. Having stretched avoidance to its limits, it's time to come clean - a terrifying prospect since her mother is sure to blame her rather than her cheating, emotionally frigid ex. A couple of drinks and two Dramamine later, Megan finds herself spilling her sob story to the tall, dark, and handsome stranger in the seat next to her.
-
-
I used to like the name Megan
- By SIMARA on 01-16-17
-
Only You
- By: Denise Grover Swank
- Narrated by: Loretta Rawlins
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romance isn't an option for Holly Greenwood. With her wedding planner career on the line, she needs to stay focused, and that means pleasing her demanding boss, not getting distracted by her mind-alteringly hot neighbor.... Ex-marine Kevin Vandemeer craves normalcy. Instead he has a broken-down old house in need of a match and some gasoline, a meddling family, and the uncanny ability to attract the world's craziest women. At least that last one he can fix.
-
-
Great story, great voices by the narrator. But...
- By Karen Oakes on 08-12-16
-
Love at First Hate
- (Bad Luck Club)
- By: Denise Grover Swank, A.R. Casella
- Narrated by: Joy Nash, Chris Brinkley
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blogging about bad dates used to be fun, but a girl can only take so much foolishness. So I broke up with my job. Okay, full disclosure, I was fired. It’s a long, sordid tale, involving my sourdough starter - RIP, Fred! - and my ex-boss’ serious lack of humor. Newly funemployed and in need of a break, I go to Asheville to dogsit for my sister…and stumble onto a scoop big enough to put my fake-dating days behind me forever.
-
-
so slow ..
- By loren on 01-15-22
By: Denise Grover Swank, and others
-
Trouble in Mudbug
- By: Jana DeLeon
- Narrated by: Johanna Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scientist Maryse Robicheaux thought that a lot of her problems had gone away with her mother-in-law's death. The woman was rude, pushy, manipulative and used her considerable wealth to run herd over the entire town of Mudbug, Louisiana. Unfortunately, death doesn't slow down Helena one bit. DEA Agent Luc LeJeune is wondering what his undercover assignment investigating the sexy scientist has gotten him into - especially as it seems someone wants her dead.
-
-
My newest addition
- By K. April Holgate on 01-28-15
By: Jana DeLeon
-
Malevolent
- Shaye Archer Series, Book 1
- By: Jana DeLeon
- Narrated by: Julie McKay
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Frederick bolts upright in bed, pulse racing. It must be a bad dream. Except it’s not. Crrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaakkkkkkk. The sound of the loose step sends her body into overdrive, and she rushes for the secret room behind the wall. The screech of old hinges echoes through the house as he enters her bedroom. He starts whistling. Three blind mice. Three blind mice. She slaps a hand over her mouth, stifling her scream. He’s coming for her, but that can’t be. She killed him last month.
-
-
If you like The Fixer series GET THIS!!
- By shelley on 11-30-17
By: Jana DeLeon
-
Charlotte Gibson Mysteries Boxed Set
- Books 1-3
- By: Jasmine Webb
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most people flee to Hawaii for gorgeous weather, white-sand beaches, and cocktails at sunset. Charlotte Gibson, however, is fleeing for her life after a vengeful mobster leaves a severed finger on her doorstep as a warning. Message very much received.
-
-
Fun times in Hawaii!
- By Anne L. Cagle on 07-04-24
By: Jasmine Webb
-
Rumble on the Bayou
- By: Jana DeLeon
- Narrated by: Johanna Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deputy Dorie Berenger knew the day would go from bad to worse when she found a stoned alligator in the town drunk’s swimming pool. Then DEA agent Richard Starke shows up in Gator Bait, Louisiana, giving out orders and insults faster than you can cast a fishing line. Dorie knows the residents of Gator Bait aren’t going to talk to a stranger, but she stuck with Richard until he catches his bad guy. With no other alternative to restore peace to the town, Dorie agrees to help Richard and in the process, uncovers decades of secrets that have been hiding deep in the Louisiana bayou.
-
-
Honestly, it’s not the narrator’s fault....
- By Townsend on 01-31-19
By: Jana DeLeon
-
Wrong Side of Forty
- By: Jana DeLeon
- Narrated by: Hollis McCarthy
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was a day like any other day for Marina Trahan…until she caught her husband in bed with another woman. Before that eye-opening wake-up call, Marina would have described her life as average or uneventful, maybe even boring. But now, chaos and confusion reign supreme.
-
-
Laugh out loud funny!@
- By Kindle Customer on 07-16-24
By: Jana DeLeon
-
Carrots
- Shelby Nichols Adventures, Book 1
- By: Colleen Helme
- Narrated by: Wendy Tremont King
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stopping at the grocery store for carrots shouldn't be dangerous, but for Shelby Nichols, it changes her life forever. During a bank robbery, she is caught in the cross-fire and grazed by a bullet to the head, leaving her with the ability to read minds. Not only is she hearing what everyone thinks about her, but the gunman who shot her is out to silence her forever. In her fight to stay alive she is saved from certain death by a handsome hit-man with ties to organized crime.
-
-
Fantastic story and flawless audio! Get it!
- By Dr. Geoff on 11-20-13
By: Colleen Helme
-
A Bend in the Road
- By: Nicholas Sparks
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Recently selected Best Author by readers of Entertainment Weekly, Nicholas Sparks is one of America's preeminent storytellers. Now, Sparks spins a tale about a man, a woman, and the devastating secret that threatens to keep them apart.
-
-
Hard not to feel superior to the characters
- By Troy D. Lowell on 06-17-03
By: Nicholas Sparks
What listeners say about Thirty and a Half Excuses
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Diana Hart 33
- 08-01-24
best one yet
I'm new to listening to this series. sometimes I wish the story line went a little faster, but I couldn't put this one down. I had to find out what happened. I will move on to the next book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- roseanna banana
- 07-10-23
This is a really good series.
I have really enjoyed this series. The characters are always interesting and actually some of them are very funny. The stories are always great. It makes me wonder how one person could get herself in so much trouble. I actually think that the narration is done really well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Donna Newsome
- 01-25-23
I'm loving these series also, great reads.
So far these are my new favorite series'. I usually listen to Jana Deleon or Janet Evanovich. If you like those then I think you may like these books as well. They aren't a bounty hunter but she seems to get into trouble like them somehow and it has a fun romance side to it as well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tammy Moldovan
- 12-18-23
Another captivating Rose adventure
The story kept me enthralled from the first word until the last. I just love Rose - the quirky, the naiveté, and the good heartedness. Like the other books in this series, this story is meticulously crafted, beautifully written, and expertly delivered. Along the way, I felt all of Rose’s feelings as she experienced them - laughing, crying, swooning, cringing, teeth gritting, angry stomping, hyperventilating, and cheering. Rose is a 24 year old women living in a nosy closed minded small town. She experiences visions that she’s compelled to share with the person she has them of. She recently started enriching and expanding her small life which used to be dictated by her recently deceased mother. She is learning to live life for the first time with friends, a boyfriend, and a new business. In this story, Rose has just opened her garden business with Violet when an elderly neighbor dies and Rose is convinced she was murdered. Rose, of course, finds herself suddenly in the middle of the intrigue and the danger. While Rose struggles with what to do, she continues to embrace her new life despite her fear all the while dealing with danger, mystery, and shocking revelations. Her boyfriend Joe, her sister Violet, Mason the ADA, and Bruce Wayne again play major secondary characters roles in this book and help the story progress and Rose’s character grow. The book has a little bit of everything - sweet moments, exciting action, danger, family drama, painful pasts, mystery, evil actors, plot twists, imperfect characters, and even a few chuckles. I cannot wait to read what happens next in Rose’s life.
Shannon McManus did a great job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters fairly convincingly.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carol
- 04-02-23
I love this series!
This has been my favorite book, so far. It may be because I’ve come to know the characters more. But, the writing and the plot make it really worth reading! At first, I wasn’t sure I liked this narrator’s voice. But, don’t let that deter you. Sometimes that will “turn you off” when starting an audio book. Keep listening! I have come to really appreciate her southern dialect and the narration is wonderful!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 06-20-23
I like the series but….
Joe seems like a totally different person than he was in the first book. I really had trouble liking him and why does she put up with Violet?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!