• Murder in the Morning

  • A Melissa Craig Mystery, Book 2
  • By: Betty Rowlands
  • Narrated by: Joan Walker
  • Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (480 ratings)

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Murder in the Morning  By  cover art

Murder in the Morning

By: Betty Rowlands
Narrated by: Joan Walker
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Publisher's summary

Cream teas, buttered crumpets, and a very curious crime…

Melissa Craig is settling in nicely to a new teaching position in the quaint little village of Upper Bembury, getting to know her way around, drinking tea with the eccentric staff, even sewing the first seeds of romance....

But when she arrives one morning to find police outside her classroom, Melissa is shocked to hear that her beautiful colleague Angelica has been found dead in her home. As everyone in Angelica’s life comes under suspicion, Melissa makes it her mission to go in search of the truth, not least because she’s romantically entangled with none other than the police’s prime suspect.

The discovery of a vandalized portrait of the murdered girl might be just the clue that Melissa needs to clear her lover’s name, but when a second body surfaces, she knows she needs to act quickly. Can Melissa uncover the ugly truth in this beautiful village before another innocent life is taken?

Do you love murder mysteries by Agatha Christie, P.D. James, and Faith Martin? If so, you'll really enjoy listening to this puzzling and absolutely page-turning whodunit!

This book was previously published as Finishing Touch.

©1992, 2018 Betty Rowlands (P)2018 Bookouture

What listeners say about Murder in the Morning

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Yikes

I liked the first book in this series, but this book was...yikes. There‘s a lot of homophobia, and no one stands up for the gay character. One of the characters is aggressively homophobic, and Melissa actually makes excuses for her behavior.

There’s also a lot of implicit and explicit judgement about women’s sexuality. A “she had it coming because she was sleeping around” attitude. A “keep your legs closed before you get a reputation” attitude.

SPOILER: Melissa’s love interest hits a young woman because he thinks she’s being a slut essentially, and Melissa defends him vociferously. He is petulant and emotionally manipulative the entire book. He’s inappropriately obsessed with this young woman— and her sex life. He says he thinks of her as a daughter, but he acts like an abusive boyfriend. I kept expecting Melissa to realize he was actually a creep, but no.

All in all, the viewpoints and attitudes in this book are really distasteful.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story but...

I cannot imagine in this day and age that a heroine in a book would obsess over a man who admits to hitting his girlfriend!
She was a weak, pitiful woman, so different from the first book.
Better to have no romance at all in the book but violence is unacceptable

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Did Not Finish

Giving this one three stars, but more like a lackluster 2.5 for me. Gave up on the book partway through when I realized I hadn't enough interest in the plot or characters to keep going.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Just too obvious

I liked the characters, the performance, the
setting. But it was obvious from the start who the murderer was. I find it irritating that characters who should be on high alert due to one murder and then a second, are so obtuse.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Ok but not memorable.

Main character is not believable. She too often engages in risky behavior which is inconsistent with the general way in which she is drawn. It doesn't seem like another dimension of her character, but just a silly turn.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Insensitive term for trans man mars o/wise great book

The story and narration of this book are GREAT. However, a character who is a trans male is REPEATEDLY referred to as “she” 😡

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • CB
  • 03-25-19

Main character is just made to act too stupid!

The main character, who is supposed to be a crime novel writer, is portrayed to be unbelievably stupid.
Just completely lost me. She couldn't possible be that stupid. Just didn't follow with the rest of her
character.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Murder She Wrote

This is my service book in the Melissa Craig series. The books definitely remind me of Angela Lansbury. The who done it is almost a surprise but you can figure it out with little emphasis but overall it's a nice listen. Nothing to exciting and not sure if I would get a third book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining

Story was enjoyable but ending needed work. Was very abrupt like the author was tired of her own storyline.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

4

This one I liked. Reminded me of dear old Agatha Christie' s village mysteries as the publisher's blurb suggested. with a twisty story line, some surprises and
fine gossipy sleuthing.

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2 people found this helpful