A Murder of Crows

A very dark and disturbing thriller, written and narrated by Ian Skewis. What made A Murder of Crows quite different was the fact that it's very character led. The listener gets to meet and learn about all the players, good and bad, and has the whole length of the book to decide who's done what and why. There is no obvious motive for anything that has happened, and I rotated my choice of villain around each and every character. If you are unsure if the murderer is a career police officer or a retired teacher with early onset Alzheimer's, then surely that's an indication of how clever the writing is. This is my first book by Ian Skewis, but it certainly won't be my last. Very clever, very dark and thoroughly wonderful!

There are no adjacent characters here; every character is a main character. You will think you know them intimately, that you have them figured out but you won't. At some point in this story I thought each of them guilty, and still did not see the ending coming. The author weaved in some surprises to change how you see each character and I thoroughly enjoyed that. This is not just a murder mystery. It's a who committed which crime, when & why story that will have you enthralled from the beginning to the end.

Firstly the narration in phenomenal, bringing atmosphere, suspense and totally giving this book is brilliance. There are lots of characters and all of them enjoyable, the plot for me was a little slow in the beginning but the narration kept me hooked. Lots of twists and turns and I was kept guessing until the very end. What a brilliant voice Ian has its like a wee hot toddy on a cold winters night.

Painful to complete this. Narrator good but not a fan of the story. Characters are annoying and not very likable. Story doesn’t flow well throughout these miserable lives.

hop I like it

Good mystery. Didn’t guess the ending. It was nice that the author read his own book but it would have been better with someone who had more character voices.

Amazing !!! Loved it!!! Alfred Hitchcock reborn!!! I must admit that author , Ian Skewis is fabulous!! He is the narrator! Brilliant!! The beginning is a bit hard to now the characters but I listen to audio while I was driving to work. Sometimes I would take a few more minutes in the parking lot just to hear the end of the chapter. I got to the end. What I thought was the end and so confused. He said the prologue.. which normally is the end of the story BUT !!! It is BUT but but but he tells you the END!!! Brilliant ending! Never thought of it. As I said Alfred Hitchcock reborn!!.

Enjoyable listen!!

A very dark tale, full of characters that I couldn’t really get a liking for. The story seemed to weaver in so many different directions that it was difficult to work work out who did what and why.. I stayed with it to the end, but wouldn’t read a sequel.

I've made it 5 hours into the book and I don't remember anything - no character names, nothing about the setting, zilch about the plot... Maybe it's a good book, but I quit.

An amazing mystery with a surprise ending. Deep and beautiful character development. Sensitive dealing with the mind of an Alzheimer's victim. I look forward to the next one! The author’s narration is perfect.

Nice narrator but not the book. The male characters are made out to be a*seholes. It’s hard to carry on when you hate the style of writing. Stopped at chapter 17 … I don’t think I’ll be finishing this one.

I really enjoyed this book, a couple of twists and a definite left field at the end!!!!

Very good story, keeps you attention and has an array of great characters.

What an amazing twisted and clever story. I wish there were more books by this author, who also narrated beautifully.

I enjoyed listening to this book so much, I immediately started looking for more of Mr. Skewis' books. I enjoy all the twists and turns!

It took me weeks to listen to this book. It's slow, and the narrator (author) lacked inflection to indicate the pace of activities. Everything was monotone and softly spoken. The story randomly jumps all over from one character to another. None of whom seem likeable. I don't recommend if you enjoy pace or auditory energy.

Unlikeable characters behaving in unbelievable ways. I found the narrator’s delivery really irritating - he often seemed to put the emphasis in the wrong place in a sentence. And some of the descriptions were far too long, carrying on for ages after you’d got the point.

If your only knowledge of Scotland and its people came from this book, you'd believe everyone living there hated everyone else simply as a matter of due course. Relationships were nothing more than antagonistic, adversarial and contentious experiences. It's painful to find anyone in the story to care about. The story itself is simply not very compelling. I listen to books while on my daily walk, and I put this one on a narration speed of twice the normal rate simply to get it over with.

Dark, and interesting plot. Cleverly writing with twists that keep you guessing. Loved the fact the author did the narration.

So deadly dull and tedious. Flat, almost monotone narration. Characters that were uninteresting. Just awful. No wonder it was free.

This book was difficult for me to really get into, I had a hard time following what significance characters held in the early chapters of the book and I think I might have lost some important early details because of that. I felt that many of the characters were underdeveloped, and I didn’t really feel motivated to care about any of them. I don’t think I will read the next one.

I loved this book & the narration was flawless, I hope to see another book by the Author

Good book

Excellent!! I enjoyed this book from beginning to end! The characters are awesome and the story was fantastic. I look forward to the return of Jack!

The book was not my usaul type of read, but it was quite a pleasant experience and I loved the fact that the author was also the narrator.

Very interesting listen, clever plot

Loved it from start to finish and completely missed the twist

An amazing book full of descriptive scenes and complicated characters. The narrator/writer was wonderful as well. My one tiny complaint was that you can hear him swallow sometimes pretty loudly and that wasn’t great but other than that, incredible book and suspense building!

I found this book an incredible listen. It is written from a few different people's point of view- and then twists together so eerily and ominously in the most fantastic way!

just not a strong enough plot...sorry

Maybe more successful as a portrayal of toxic masculinity than a murder mystery. Many repellent characters left me unsure I could stick with it. I found the denouement psychologically unsatisfactory. A long exposition at the end tied up all the logistical loose ends but a more rewarding story would have sown the seeds of the final revelations more effectively so that things fell into place for the reader rather than leaving me feeling duped.

Loved all the different perspectives and how each of them mattered, the twists were awesome. Loved it!

The best book that I have listened to for a long time, read by the author the narration was brilliant. I hope that another book by the author is in the offing.

Really quite good, gripped me from the start. the ending was not what ss good as I'd have expected but enjoyable all the same

Very good mystery. Kept me guessing. Very in depth character's. Looking forward to the next book.

It is the first book where I have not liked any of the characters. That said I enjoyed the weaving of the threads as each person tells their story.

I detest this style of storytelling where, in the last chapter, the facts entirely change and the situation of the main characters is left unresolved. The descriptions of scenes and situations was well done, although, a bit overly done at times. The reader/voice actor did a credible job.

enjoyed this very much.

A Murder of Crows is a sinister, dark & foreboding tale of murder and deceit and where nothing is as it seems. I thoroughly enjoyed this book that had a huge variety of characters with such a wonderful selection of skelotons in their closets, hidden agendas, painful memories, unpleasantness, pride, jealousy and surprises up to the very last line!! And if the last few lines are to be believed.... more books to come

This was such a sinister and mysterious story and it takes place in the perfect setting. The author narrated his own audiobook and it was perfectly done. I was gripped from the very beginning and I loved the ending. It opens up the possibility for so many more books, and I cannot wait for them.

So dark and moody with lots of twists. Kept me wondering and confused at times untill it all came together with a bang! Unbelievable. Narration matched the mood of this book perfectly’

A complicated murder mystery with a number of different characters. Once I had sorted them out I enjoyed the story. Did not expect the ending. The narrator suited the story. Well done Ian Skewis

This book was awful. I was so bored the entire way through, which is really disappointing because I was excited to listen because the description sounded great and the other reviews were awesome. I honestly couldn’t wait for it to be over. The ending was underwhelming and I cannot emphasize enough how boring this book was.

Absolutely brilliant debut novel. Every character superbly described and portrayed, making them easy to identify with. Ian Skewis' narration illustrates his passion for his work, no instantly recognisable celebrity actor would be able to better this performance. Scotland has a rich seam of crime writers, starting perhaps with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to William Mcilvanney right up to today's crop of "Tartan Noir" Rankin, McDermid, Brookmyre, McBride and more recently Denzil Meyrick. I predict with some confidence we will soon be adding Ian Skewis to this illustrious list.

The first half of the book jumped around and made it hard to follow and keep track of who is who. It also took a while to adjust to the thick accent of the narrator. The narrator used voice inflection differently for different characters, it's not enough of a difference to differentiate between the voice he's attempting for his characters. The best part of the entire book is the very end when the explanations of various characters are given.

Wow, what a great story. This is the first book I have read/listened to by Ian but will be keeping an eye out for more of them. The story was very well written and the plot kept me hooked all the way through to the end. I really liked the way that Ian read the book himself as it gives extra depth knowing that this was his idea and vision when he wrote it.

I absolutely loved this, my first book by Ian and the story was immense and well plotted, it kept me hooked and I loved Ian's narration, it made it feel more intimate given the story line. A cracking listen, highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this - I’m not always a fan of authors reading their own books, but Ian Skewis does a brilliant job and his lovely Scottish twang suits perfectly. Atmospheric and dark with an interesting cast of characters and side plots this made for great entertainment and I’m looking forward to the next in the series!

A young couple take shelter in the woods during a terrible storm and go missing. Dogged (sorry!) detective Jack Russell leads the search to find them. The setting is eerie and claustrophobic and the village is full of secrets. The characters are well fleshed out and I enjoyed the antagonistic relationship between DCI Russell and his partner, Colin Clements. Jack is working his final case before retirement and his partner doesn’t bother to disguise the fact that he wants his job. My favourite character was Alice, who suffers from dementia. Ian’s writing is very descriptive and helps bring the book to life. You can feel how menacing the storm is, and you can feel Alice’s anger and frustration as the dementia takes hold. The different threads of the story come together at the end but there’s a twist and some unanswered questions. A sequel perhaps? I listened to the audio version of this book, read by the author himself who did a brilliant job.

I love when an author narrates their own book because you know that every nuance and innuendo will be deliivered just as they intended it to be. To the story...a complicated but carefully woven tale with an explosive ending that I didn’t see coming. Led one way then the next, I was never sure what was coming next. Enjoyable

Having the writer as the narrator is often a good idea. You can tell that this author enjoys reading his own work and adds to the characters in a way that perhaps, another narrator, may not have been so engrossed. This helped like some people and dislike others. Nevertheless, I wished he had read slightly quicker! The speed of the story did match the darkness of the writing. The ending will either totally surprise you or maybe you'll guess earlier. I didn't guess. This is certainly not a standard thriller/horror story and certainly has one thinking all the way through. The investigating team didn't appear to get on that well and although this might have hindered the case, it did bring more interest to gathering the clues. You'll have to go a long way to find out what happened in the woods, but you't be disappointed. I look forward to trying some more stories by this author.

This book reminded me a little of His Bloody Project in that the crime unfolds rather than being thrown at you, driven by the characters and the atmosphere which is bleak throughout. I could almost hear sound effects (that storm!), the narrative description was so spot on. You'll be a good couple of hours in before the plot really kicks off and the guesswork begins. The characters all have their part to play, very cleverly woven into a fairly complex story where you're never quite sure who's got who's back. Poor Jack. I was willing someone to be on his side - his colleagues: urgh! I was expecting a dark, atmospheric tale judging by the cover, and that's what I got. Of course, the narration got that whole eerie sense of isolation across perfectly. Looking forward to more from Ian Skewis.

This story is one where you are introduced to so many characters, most of whom have some very deep character flaws, I listened to it waiting for something major to happen having already been introduced to many characters some who seemed nice, most not so nice but all of them well documented and I found myself still waiting, I was over two hours into the story and still waiting. I admit that I almost gave up on the story. But I persevered and I am so glad I did because what followed was a very dark and disturbing story which is both creepy and suspenseful. The author, Ian Skewis managed to keep me guessing, changing my mind all the time about who had done what and why there didn't seem to be any obvious reasons! So many suspects so many twists and turns. A very good introduction into this author's work I enjoyed the narration, I thought that Ian did a very good job of pitching each character.

A very dark & creepy tale. It has an almost gothic feel to it, but modernised and really intriguing. A couple go missing, the police become involved, very dodgy witnesses and the ending?! Wow that def took me by surprise. Narration by the author was great. Lovely Scottish voice.

I quite enjoyed this, creepy and suspenseful, crime novel. It was a bit of everything: police procedural, suspense, thriller, all very well written, with some lovely use of language. Very lyrical descriptions. As has been said, it is more character driven than some murder mysteries I've read, and though we don't learn a lot about the main detective's backstory, (for another book?) we do learn enough about the multitude of other characters. A little at a time. I had a few names in the pot of whodunnit, and it kept me guessing until the end. The narration was spot on, by the author himself, and he brought the whole thing to life.