Peril by Post by Sherri Cobb South

Narrated by Joel Froomkin

Peril by Post is book eight in the John Pickett Mysteries and the latest release. It was also my first John Pickett (although I have a couple of others on the digital TBR). I didn’t have any trouble jumping in here but would say to listeners that if they’re sensitive about spoilers, maybe start at the beginning? I don’t mind that I know some of the outcomes of previous adventures but not everyone is like me.

John Pickett, a bow street runner and not of the gentry class, has married Julia, formerly Lady Julia Fieldhurst. They didn’t get much of a honeymoon and when John’s boss is requested to send someone to the Lake District to investigate something (exactly what is extremely vague to all concerned), John is offered the chance to enjoy a holiday with his wife at Bow Street’s expense. Julia and John will go incognito to Banfell in Cumberland, posing (most authentically) as a honeymooning couple while John tries to identify who called for help from Bow Street and why.

Once in Banfell, John identifies his summoner but before he can ask the man what the problem is, the man is murdered.

Julia and John each use their own various expertise to try and uncover exactly what is going on and get justice for the murdered man.

The romance is strong as Julia and John are very loved-up and excitedly looking forward to the birth of their first child, so there was plenty for romance listeners to enjoy in Peril by Post in addition to the mystery.  

There was one thing which baffled me a little. Given that the couple were posing as newlyweds, if Julia was to leave and return to London (as is posited more than once in the story as the danger increases) what would be the basis for John to remain? It’s a small thing in the big scheme but I did wonder as it wasn’t made explicit and it’s the sort of detail I tend to obsess over.

The narration, by Joel Froomkin, was very good but I found the narrative perhaps a just a little… overwrought at times. It’s difficult for me to tell whether it was supposed to be delivered that way because I haven’t read any of the other books. The writing is very different in tone to the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries (which makes sense on a number of levels – Sebastian is a viscount and John is a former pickpocket of, I gather, unknown, or half-known, parentage). It’s very much personal preference but I’d have liked a slightly more consistent mellow, toned-down narrative voice. The story itself is quite serious and the tone sometimes felt more appropriate to a light-hearted farce – so I had a bit of cognitive dissonance.  To be fair though, there were elements of farce in the story – in particular the highly-strung poet Mr. Heartsong.

The character voices were excellent however and I liked the clear emotional connection between John and Julia portrayed by Mr. Froomkin.

There were some odd pauses in the sentence delivery occasionally but for the most part the pacing and tension were well done. Overall, the narration was very good.

Peril by Post is more in the vein of cosy mystery but not without drama and mayhem, with a good balance of romance as well. If that’s your jam, there are 8 books to try and they’re all already out!

Kaetrin

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