mysteries with a touch of magic

My favorite book from this author. I love a great mystery with cosy vibes, good amount of action, fluent storytelling, LGTBQ+ characters and little bit of fantasy. Ghostly side characters are always a cool addition. Some spice but not too much. One of my favorite narrators did a great job, too. I could recommend this to all who do not hate gay books and love cosy mysteries.

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its a sweet happy ever after story

I enjoyed the story it's a sweet happy ever after story and the narrations great

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Really enjoyable

I knew only two things about the book when I started it: it was written by Sam Burns and narrated by Greg Boudreaux. So of course I was sold!

And I really enjoyed the book. The book had a lot of potential and my only complain was that it could have been longer though. There were things that could have been developed and deepened. Some resolutions were then too quick and too easy for me.
But it was still an enjoyable read!

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2 people found this helpful

A bit dull...

I was looking for a new author to try and when I saw that Sam Burns’ new book was being narrated by Greg Boudreaux, I decided to take a chance and give it a whirl. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I had a great experience; the narration is fantastic, of course, but the story somehow manages to have too much going on and be a bit boring at the same time, plus, it doesn’t seem to quite know what it’s supposed to be – a contemporary, a paranormal or a mystery.

Where Foxes Say Goodnight starts out feeling like a contemporary romance, with award-winning screenwriter Max Blazek running away from Hollywood after a nasty break-up and hoping that a change of scene will help him get past his writer’s block. He buys a mansion in North Carolina, sight unseen, and arrives on moving-day to find it’s inhabited by a friendly ghost called Nadia. Max is completely unfazed by this turn of events, even going so far as to ask Nadia for recipes and furnishing the guest room for her. I couldn’t help wondering why, as a ghost is not corporeal, Nadia needed a bedroom, but, eh – there’s a lot about this book that doesn’t make sense, including the fact that Max has no problem whatsoever sharing his new home with her.

Also on moving-day, Max meets the gorgeous Gentry Fox when Gentry arrives with a delivery of the furniture Max has bought for the house. He’s handsome and charming and Max is immediately smitten – but their romance is very rushed and insta-love-y. I couldn’t help thinking that the author should have spent less time on the set up – we get lengthy chapters describing Oscar night, the morning after (the lawyer’s visit), and Max moving cross-country all before we even meet Gentry – and more on developing the romance and the rest of the plot, because the mystery element, starting with an attempt on Max’s life, comes out of nowhere. (Yes, the murder mystery element of the story is mentioned in the blurb, but there’s no build-up to Max waking up one night to someone trying to smother him with a pillow!) The blurb also tries to suggest some suspicion as to Gentry’s motives, but there’s never any sense he’s anything other than what he seems. And then, right at the end, the author suddenly throws in the existence of magic which is, just like the ghost, very underdeveloped and unexplored. There are some good ideas here, but none of them are properly thought out or executed.

Just as well this is a fairly short listen, because even Greg Boudreaux’s excellent performance couldn’t disguise the poor pacing and flimsy plotting of the story. He has a wonderful line in good ol’ Southern Gentlemen and Gentry sounds every bit as sexy and charming as he should, and I liked his portrayal of Max’s slowly growing confidence. His pacing is spot on, and his characterisations and differentiation are excellent – there’s never any confusion as to who is speaking at any point in the story, and his delivery is, as always, emotionally nuanced and expressive.

Where Foxes Say Goodnight is book one in a duology – the second is Let Sleeping Foxes Lie – but reviews indicate it has similar problems to this one, so I’ll be looking for something else to listen to instead.

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