The Reading Frenzy: Sophia Rose Reviews: Shadow at the Morgue by Cara Devlin, narrated by Allie Rose

Shadow at the Morgue by Cara Devlin, narrated by Allie Rose

#1 Spencer and Reid Mysteries

Historical Mystery

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Published: 6.17.25

Time: 9 hours 4 minutes

Speed: 1.2 xs

Rating: 4 stars

Narrator Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: audio

Source: Tantor Audio

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

GoodReads Synopsis:

Leonora Spencer has an acquaintance with death. Sixteen years ago, only she survived the brutal murder of her family. Now, as an assistant in her uncle's London morgue, she uses her photographic memory to catalogue details for his coroner reports. She also isn't opposed to helping him during postmortems if his skilled hands begin to shake. After a thief breaks into the morgue and steals a locket from a young woman's corpse, Leo is determined to understand why, even if it means going against Detective Inspector Jasper Reid's express orders to keep her nose out of it.

Born and bred in the East End slums, Jasper Reid's recent promotion to the detective's branch at Scotland Yard is a long step up from his murky past . . . a past he can't afford to reveal to anyone. The last thing he needs is a convoluted case concerning the well-known eccentric Leo Spencer. As if her stubborn resolve to undermine his investigation isn't bad enough, matters deteriorate when Jasper realizes the criminals he associated with as a lad may also be involved.

When the missing locket and a handful of suspicious deaths point to a mysterious buried object, Jasper grudgingly accepts Leo's help to locate it. But someone is watching them, and the more they uncover about a deadly blackmail plot, the closer Leo and Jasper get to becoming the killer's next targets.

Sophia Rose's Review:

A Victorian Era Murder Mystery with a lady coroner’s assistant and a street-smart Scotland Yard detective was too tantalizing to pass up. Cara Devlin is an author I was meaning to try when I spotted her Duchess of Bow Street series, but then the Spencer and Reid series caught my eye so it was here that I leaped in.

Leo has a dark past after surviving the murders of her whole family and landing with her uncle. Her unorthodox background of having a photographic memory and training as her uncle’s assistant leaves her eager to tackle this latest case after a man breaks into the mortuary and demands the unknown corpse’s effects.

Meanwhile, Jasper who is a newly-made detective is determined to prove to everyone that he got the job on his own merit. Growing up on the tough streets of London, he is making good with his life and distancing himself from that life. This is why he has to keep the impulsive Leo from butting into his case. She doesn’t know the meaning of discretion or having a care for safety when she’s on the hunt.

Their acrimonious beginnings and struggles to get the result when this proves to have some darker twists and turns the deeper they dig have Jasper fearing this is tangled with a gang of roughs from his past and Leo is in over her head.

Shadow at the Morgue felt like a first book in a series. It took a while to build the backstory and situation before getting moving. I didn’t mind for the most part, but I did get impatient a few times. But this wasn’t entirely due to the world development.

I get it that Leo has a chip on her shoulder about being taken seriously as a woman, but, in truth, some of the stuff she budged in on and got Jasper riled up over would have riled up a woman cop in this day and age about her partner. Leo had brains and even skills, but no discretion or common sense at times. Jasper was the steady head in this partnership.

That said, I was thoroughly engaged with the story and want to see what comes next especially since there were a few dangling minor plot threads to tease the reader/listener forward.

Allie Rose was a first time listen for me. Her narration and voicing the characters took a bit of adjustment period and I never did fully get into her voices. At times, it sounded exaggerated. However, I found things worked better when I sped up the audio file and got used to her style.

All in all, a solid first outing with the author’s writing, narrator, and first in series. Those who like an unorthodox Victorian era detecting team should give Shadow at the Morgue a try.

Author Bio:

Cara is an author, reader, and history lover. She reads and writes across genres, but her heart is reserved for romantic historical fiction and mystery. Her Bow Street Duchess books are fast-paced historical mysteries featuring a slow-burn romance taking place in Regency London. The series begins with Murder at the Seven Dials. Cara lives in rural New England with her family, where she is at work on her next series, the Spencer & Reid Mysteries.

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

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GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose