The writer/narrator, Eliza Peabody, is a middle-aged know-it-all who initially feels compelled to proffer her superior wisdom-gained a s a hospice volunteer-to her neighbor, Joan, who apparently suffers from debilitating pain in one leg. Gardam uses an epistolary framework-although it's hard to remember that midway, when the letters become so lengthy and self-absorbed that the reader forgets there is a supposed recipient. Sorry to say that, in the end, I'm rather disappointed with this one. I like lighthearted cozy mysteries like Hamish MacBeth, Her Royal Spyness, The Poor Relation, and Agatha Raisin. I don't normally like the best sellers that most people do. The whole performance was just too gloomy for me, but may be perfect for someone else. I kept waiting for something to happen or a change in the narrator or tone. In all fairness, I did not listen long enough to see if there was an a ha! moment or a clever twist. Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Hollis McCarthy? Jeffries series and the Molly Murphy series. I'm going to listen to a cozy mystery from the Mrs. What do you think your next listen will be? In that case, she was talented and effective. However, a depressed narrator does fit the content of the monologue, even though she expressed some hope at times, so perhaps the narrator intentional came across that way. I didn't know the story was going to be a first person monologue with a narrator who sounded depressed. What disappointed you about The Queen of the Tambourine?Īfter an hour, I finally stopped listening. The story kept dragging me down into depression

The queen of the tambourine