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    The Rhyme of the Magpie
    The Rhyme of the Magpie
    The Rhyme of the Magpie
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Rhyme of the Magpie

    Written by Marty Wingate

    Narrated by Beverley A. Crick

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The high-flying new Birds of a Feather mystery series from bestselling author Marty Wingate begins as a British woman gets caught up in a dangerous plot when her celebrity father disappears.

    With her personal life in disarray, Julia Lanchester feels she has no option but to quit her job on her father's hit BBC Two nature show, A Bird in the Hand. Accepting a tourist management position in Smeaton-under-Lyme, a quaint village in the English countryside, Julia throws herself into her new life, delighting sightseers (and a local member of the gentry) with tales of ancient Romans and pillaging Vikings.

    But the past is front and center when her father, Rupert, tracks her down in a moment of desperation. Julia refuses to hear him out; his quick remarriage after her mother's death was one of the reasons Julia flew the coop. But later she gets a distressed call from her new stepmum: Rupert has gone missing. Julia decides to investigate-she owes him that much, at least-and her father's new assistant, the infuriatingly dapper Michael Sedgwick, offers to help. Little does the unlikely pair realize that awaiting them is a tightly woven nest of lies and murder.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 24, 2018
    ISBN9781977383952
    The Rhyme of the Magpie

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    Reviews for The Rhyme of the Magpie

    4/5

    14 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This is the first book in Marty Wingate's series, Birds of a Feather Mysteries. Julia Lanchester is set adrift after the unexpected death of her mother and the remarriage of her father to her mother's best friend only 6 month's later. She quits her job as her father's assistant and runs away from home. She left in a huff and has not spoken to him in a few months. Her father, Rupert Lanchester, is the host of the BBC show, A Bird in the Hand, designed to bring nature, specifically birds into the lives of everyone. He is also an ardent environmentalist. Julia has moved to Smeaton-under-Lyme where she has been hired to run the Tourist Information Centre. It is a quaint little town, owned by the Lord. When Rupert shows up and tries to mend fences with Julia, she dismisses him outright. When she gets a call from her step-mother that he is missing and he left his phone behind, she immediately forgets her grudge and sets out to find him. With the help of his new assistant, Michael, they head off to Marshy End to see if he is hiding out at the family's cottage. What they find is a dead body of a PR man. The company he is representing is trying to put up a wind farm that Rupert has been publicly fighting against and recently had an argument with the deceased. Rupert, it seems, is nowhere to be found. The police are now looking for him as well to question him. Did Rupert kill the man? Where is he hiding? Can Julia find him before the police do?

      I found the beginning of the book a little slow moving. I know that there needs to be background given in a new series, but it took a long time to get into the story. I stuck with it and it did finally get better with several twists and turns. There were a lot of people with motive for the murder, so Julia got into a lot of situations trying to figure this one out. There were also a couple of side stories that gave some background to the characters, but seemed to be filler to the story. I have read the second one in this series and I liked it a lot more, so I know the writing gets better.
    • 5/5
      Julia Lancaster is the daughter of a famous BBC personality, Rupert Lancaster, an orinthologist whose show A Bird in the Hand is extremely popular. She worked as her father's assistant for years, until he remarried Beryl, her mother's best friend, only six months after her mother's death, crushing her. She felt he never grieved for her mother, and wondered if he was having an affair even before her mother died. Closing off all communication with him, she accepts a position as a tour manager for the estate of an earl.When her father enters her place of business one day, hoping to talk over a problem, she's very short with him and he leaves dejectedly. Later, when Beryl calls her claiming Rupert is missing, Julia reluctantly goes to see her, and meets her father's new assistant, Michael Sedgewick. Calming Beryl with the fact that Rupert has been known to take 'unplanned vacations' before, she and Michael go to the cottage at Marshy End, where Rupert should be. Instead, they find a dead body - and Rupert is nowhere to be found.Not wanting to believe her father is involved in the murder, she knows she must find him before the police do, and unwillingly enlists Michael's help, because someone has stolen her car, and she needs him for transportation if nothing else.So we have the beginning of a mystery that involves murder, birds (yes, birds) and misunderstandings between several people. We see Julia trying to find her father while sorting out her feelings for her stepmother, and not at all wanting to face the fact that she needs to deal with things head on. Julia, you see, is a great believer in the fact that If You Ignore It Then It Will Go Away. Confrontation is not her strong point; and that's putting it mildly. Because of this, she has encountered troubles in her life that could have been avoided; and now it looks as if she'll need to face them all at one time, which leads to some hasty decisions on her part, and not all good.Just when she thinks she has one problem solved, another pops up in its place. And we are taken along on her journey to find peace with her stepmother, reinforcement of her relationship with her father, and the ability to be able to carry a new relationship without sabotaging it in some way or another; all the while she is trying to find out who murdered the dead man, and why. Along the way, we learn quite a bit about how buildings can destroy the future environment for their habitats. We also learn about birding itself, which made me want to look up their biological and controls and bio-indicators as well. Fascinating, to say the least. Not only beautiful to look at, as the saying goes...When the answer comes, it is so simple that it makes sense. And the ending is tied up nicely, giving us a feeling of satisfaction, much as Julia must feel for herself. This is a book that is not only truly enjoyable to read, but satisfying in its resolution of a crime without seeming cloying or unbelievable. Kudos to Ms. Wingate for another delightful book. I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Rupert Lanchester is an Ornithologist and has a hit show called A Bird in the Hand. It’s doing very well. Julia Lanchester was happy as her father’s assistant. That was before he remarried only six months after her mother’s death. She needed to place some physical and emotional distance between them so she moves from their house in Cambridge to Smeaton-Under-Lyme, a small village in the English countryside, and finds a new job as a tour guide manager. Rupert tries to contact her, but she is short with him. Then, she receives a rather distressing call from Beryl, her stepmother. She cannot locate Rupert and with some of the hate mail he’s been receiving, she fears the worst.Julia teams up with Rupert’s new assistant, Michael Sedgwick, to try to trace her father’s steps to their cottage at Marshy End. They find a dead man on the riverbank. He is identified as Kenneth Kersey, Communications Director for Power to the People. He and Rupert often had ecological disputes over the development of wind turbines which Rupert felt would wreak havoc on the bird population. She could tell her dad had been at the cottage. Was he responsible for Kersey’s death? She didn’t even want to think such a thing. But the press was calling people’s attention to the disputes between Kersey and Lanchester.The beginning is rather a slow start but before half way, the reader is fully engaged in Julia’s investigation. It’s told in first person through Julia. There’s a subtle interest that Julia and Michael develop for each other and it’s fair to say it advances nicely into romance. This is a British cozy and is the first in the Birds of a Feather Mystery series. It’s a good well-plotted start. The characters were both likable and enjoyable, although Julia acted a bit immaturely at times. The scenes were wonderfully and beautifully described. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
    • 4/5
      If you're looking for something new in the English village mystery line, I can recommend Marty Wingate's The Rhyme of the Magpie. This book has good pacing, a great "voice," a setting that invites you to come on in and sit a spell, and an engaging main character......although I do have to admit that I wasn't impressed with Julia Lanchester at first. Her extremely childish reaction to her father's remarriage made me want to tell her to stop acting like a brat and start acting like a caring adult. Since I'm letting you know my opinion changed quite a bit, that tells you something. Marty Wingate's main character is definitely not static or two-dimensional. One of the things I enjoyed most was watching Julia's creative mind work on developing ideas to boost tourism in her village. It not only gave me perspective on what these places have to do in order to survive, Julia's plans made me want to participate and made me admire the way her mind works. The mystery in The Rhyme of the Magpie is a good one. Although I did deduce someone's identity quickly, I couldn't do the same for the killer. With all of Julia's plans to boost tourism in Smeaton-under-Lyme, I'm looking forward to a brand-new crop of suspects. One observation though-- Julia had better keep her assistant very happy indeed. She would be completely lost without Vesta taking all her shifts so she can play detective!Bring on the next one, please!
    • 3/5
      The Rhyme of the Magpie by Marty Wingate is a British cozy mystery and the first book in the Birds of a Feather Mystery series. Julia Lanchester has started a new job and moved into Pipit Cottage in Smeaton-under-Lyme. After her mother passed away, her father remarried her mother’s best friend, Beryl (just six months after mother’s death). Instead of talking with her father, Julia took off. Julia used to work with her father, Rupert Lanchester as his assistant and associate producer. Rupert is an ornithologist and produces a show on BBC2 called A Bird in the Hand. Julia is living in Smeaton-under-Lyme (they have the most unusual named cities in the U.K.) and working as Tourist information Manager for Earl Fotheringill (along with his estate he owns the village and surrounding areas). Julia has not spoken to her father since he announced he was getting married. Julia only told her sister, Bianca (Bee) where she is now living along with her phone number.One day Rupert shows up to speak with Julia. Unfortunately, Julia throws him out of her cottage without speaking with him. Later that day she receives a call from Beryl stating her father is missing. His car is in the shop (being repaired) so she does not know how he could have gone away. There is no note and his cell phone is still at home. Julia goes to see Beryl to help calm her down and discovers her car is gone from the garage where she had it stored. Julia does not take the time to report the theft, but borrows a car from friend and co-workers, Vesta. Beryl also called Rupert’s new assistant, Michael Sedgwick. When Rupert does not turn up the next day, Michael and Julia set out to investigate. The first check a cottage (Marshy End) that the family owns. Following a magpie Julia stumbles across a dead body near the cottage.Kenneth Kersey is dead. Kenneth was the Director for Power to the People. A company sets up wind farms. Rupert was adamantly opposed to the wind farms new site (would upset the bird in the area). The police would like to speak with Rupert about the death, but he cannot be found (though he was at the cottage within the last day). Who killed Kenneth and where is Rupert? Does it have anything to do with the wind farm?The Rhyme of the Magpie is a darling story. I give The Rhyme of the Magpie 3 out of 5 stars. The book is cute and has funny parts, but I just could not get into it. The murder was very easy to figure out (it can be solved not long after finding the body). This is just the first book in the series, and I am sure the next book will be even better.I received a complimentary copy of The Rhyme of a Magpie from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.