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    The Tale of Castle Cottage
    The Tale of Castle Cottage
    The Tale of Castle Cottage
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Tale of Castle Cottage

    Written by Susan Wittig Albert

    Narrated by Virginia Leishman

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Agatha and Anthony Award nominee Susan Wittig Albert has garnered popular and critical acclaim for her whimsical mysteries based on the life and times of Beatrix Potter. Set in the summertime splendor of 1913 England, this seventh tale finds Beatrix eager to marry her fiancE, solicitor William Heelis. But a few obstacles are still blocking the happy couple's path to the altar-like the troubled remodeling of Castle Cottage, Will and Beatrix's future home.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 10, 2012
    ISBN9781461847441
    The Tale of Castle Cottage
    Author

    Susan Wittig Albert

    Susan Wittig Albert is the New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred books. Her work includes four mystery series: China Bayles, the Darling Dahlias, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and the Robin Paige Victorian Mysteries. She has also published three award-winning historical novels as well as YA fiction, memoirs, and nonfiction. She and her husband live in Texas Hill Country, where she writes, gardens, and raises an assortment of barnyard creatures.

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    Reviews for The Tale of Castle Cottage

    3.5/5

    55 ratings13 reviews

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    • 4/5
      8/10This one left me with a smile on my face as I set it down after the last page. "Charming" is the best word for it.This is the first installment in Susan Albert's series The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. Albert takes the life of Miss Potter (whom I am intrigued with) from the time she buys Hill Top farm in the lake district of England until she is married to a man from the area - a time span of about 10 years, I think. The stories are of the villagers and the mysteries and trifles they come across in village life. Beatrix and her gaggle of pets are the hub around which the story turns but the village folk and animals are a large part as well.It has the distinct feel of Jan Karon's books The Mitford Series, but maybe not quite as good.I will be reading the rest of this sweet little series when the need for a light, fun read strikes me. You should too...
    • 4/5
      This book didn't really end up being exactly what I expected. I decided to read it because I had seen a lot of good reviews and I dreadfully miss England. Right now, rieading is as close as I can get to being there!The book is a fictionalized telling of Beatrix Potter's life, with a bit of mystery thrown in. In the beginning I found the mystery intriguing but by the end of the book, and given the way the mystery was unfolded, I was not as happy with it. I hate it when a mystery is so involved that I feel lost, but this one was, rather, a bit too simple really.Still, the story is sweet and the setting idyllic. The Lake District in England is simply beautiful and relaxing. We spent one night there and most of a day, when we visited in the fall of 2008. We did not visit Hill Top Farm or Castle Cottage but we did visit Beatrix Potter World and were all pleasantly surprised by its sweetness.As I said, the story is simple, filled with simple characters. There are, however, quite a few characters. The list in the front of the book was, indeed, helpful for remembering who everyone was. I referred to it a few times. The writing is such that you can envision the places and people. The author did begin to lose my interest when she mentions some of the animals as wearing clothing. I could accept the fact that the animals shared dialogue with one another but not with people. Accepting the communication of animals for the sake of the story was fine...accepting rats in waistcoats was a bit too much for me though. It is a charming book and pretty easy to follow. It would certainly work well as a read-aloud to young children who run out of titles written by Miss Potter, herself.
    • 4/5
      This was a cute tale! I loved how they switched from the townsfolk and then to the animals. I really enjoyed how the animals got themselves "involved" in solving some of mysteries in the book. Mind you, the death of Mrs Tolliver was just one of the mysteries in this tale, there's also a few other little mysteries within the big one that need to be solved and although not necessary it does add more substance to the book. The description and feel of rural village life is well done and beautifully written. I absolutely loved it and it really did feel as if you were there in the town with these people. Naturally, what isn't a town without the endless drivel of gossip? you have your stereotypical characters: a gossip, a priest, the "liberated" woman who poses as a danger to society (OMG she rides a bike everybody! and wears pants!!), the pair of spinster sisters that live together, the list is endless.The characters are very likable each in their own little way. I don't think I have a particular favorite yet. Although I really do love the part where Beatrix defends someone, and comes out of her shell to say what's on her mind. It shows Beatrix developing on her own without her parents following her every step with disapproval. I admire her independence and her steps to get away from her parents, and her new skill on how to say "no". The animals are likeable as well I love Mrs Tiggy, she's cute and lovable (especially when she curls up in a ball to sleep, with her little handkerchief covering her face) they each have their own personalities and again, I'd have to say, I don't have a favorite, I like all of them.The downside of this book; there's no thrills or chills. When you get to the bottom of the mysterie(s) they're not filled with that pack and punch as you find in regular ones. Although my favorite was the one in which the animals had solved one of the mysteries featured in this book. Since this is my first cozy one, I'm not sure if that's the standard with these mysteries, is the finale always low key? so I wish there was a little more excitement in the end. It was all right though. I loved the description of village life enough that it kept me interested until the end. I admit there was a little bit of intrigue and mystery throughout the story but it wasn't much and not what I quite expected. Again, I'll let that pass considering it was my first cozy mystery.Overall, a cute little tale of village life, their dramas and how the inhabitants of a little town deal with scandal, newcomers, and their mysteries. I definitely recommend this to fans of Beatrix Potter, and her tales. Definitely worth your time, especially to those cozy mystery fans out there.
    • 4/5
      Pleasant little cozy mystery set in 1905 in the Lake District and featuring Beatrix Potter. I've had my eye on this series for a while as a possible go-to when I want something short, pleasant, and not too taxing. I'm still undecided on whether this will suit, or if the little flaws will add up to irritation after another volume or two. This story follows Potter and the goings on in the village of Sawrey as Potter comes to inspect the farm she has purchased with proceeds from her books (the basic outline of Potter's life as depicted here is accurate). There have been some odd occurrences in the village, including a death some of the villagers think might have been suspicious. The animals in the village take a keen interest in village goings on, talk amongst themselves, and sometimes try to manipulate events as they see fit. Though this talking animals bit is pretty appropriate for stories about Beatrix Potter, I was afraid it might come off fairly twee. Happily, Albert presents the animals pretty much as just other characters, and the matter-of-factness of it prevents any tweeishness from creeping in. But I never could figure out if Potter was meant to be able to understand the animals or not, and that was frustrating. I think the talking animals angle could use a little more thinking through (and perhaps it settles in more fully in later entries in the series). The mystery aspect was also practically non-existent, and while I was generally happy just to watch the village do its thing (Albert portrays the slightly off-kilter but still pleasant English country village very well), I was also disappointed that there really was no Mystery Solving here.
    • 5/5
      It's a delightful series. I would love to see it continue. I will now look into the author's other books.
    • 4/5
      A delightful story of Beatrix Potter after her purchase of Hill Top Farm. Seeing the movie "Miss Potter" made this story even more enjoyable. I look forward to more in the series. Susan Wittig Albert obviously has used the research for the second mystery in the "Death at ...." series written in conjunction with her husband as Robin Paige. Beatrix Potter is one of the real life characters who make an appearance in these historical Victorian mysteries.
    • 2/5
      This book was highly recommended to me as a charming, "cosy" mystery. The time and the characters were portrayed in a charming way, if your taste runs to that style of writing. I was warned that the animals participated in the story, and I had no problem with that as long as they just commented on the action, but when the rats suddenly appeared fully clothed and the cat started to wield a pen and write I lost patience with it.
    • 5/5
      A strong finish for the series — less narrator, excellent points of tension, and a more focused story. I wish I’d been able to listen to these last few as audio books, because I think I would have enjoyed them more, but still, I like how the series leaves them — in a good moment, before war overtakes the world.
    • 1/5
      I could not get into this book - even tried skipping the animal's mystery and stick to just the humans. :-P
    • 4/5
      "Beatrix is eager to marry her fiance, solicitor William Heelis. But with remodeling work at Castle Cottage, their future home, going on at a snail's pace, Beatrix finds frustration when the building contractor fires his best carpenter, Mr. Adcock, for stealing. At the same time, Will is investigating thefts on other construction sites -- an inquiry that comes to a screeching halt when Mr. Adcock is found dead."Besides the construction debacle, there's another hurdle for Beatridsx and Will to overcome: the Potters have yet to9 give their blessing on the marriage. And when Beatrix's brother decides to tell their parents about his own decade-long secret marriage, Miss Potter known that any chance she had of finding her own happy ending is about to be destroyed ..."~~back coverThe usual mixture of modern sounding greed & crime (proving again that there's not much new under the sun when it comes to human nature), the unending selfishness and egocentricity of the Potters, life in the charming village of Near Sawrey, and the life of the town and wild animals that mirrors human life in many ways. Like Agatha Christie, Ms. Alobert has found a workable, popular formula, and she's sticking to it.
    • 4/5
      I absolutely LOVE the way the author ended this book. She could have very easily made me believe a romanticized, fictional account of Miss Potter's wedding. However, she didn't---and I really respect that she didn't detract from what was the most beautiful day of Miss Potter's "real" life by making it more appealing to the reader. I have spent about a year now trying to get through this series. It was very slow going and I took many breaks along the way to read things that were more fast paced. I finished strong, though, and I'm glad I read them. I'll be keeping this one for my permanent collection.
    • 4/5
      This is the finale of a very charming little series based on Beatrix Potter's life. The sense of time and place makes these books particularly special. Although the mystery in each is not generally true to history (neither are the talking animals...probably), the spirit of Beatrix's life is there, and this conclusion is a very satisfying one.
    • 4/5
      These are getting too cutesy for me - don't like the author asides.