Audio Book Review: Olive Bright, Pigeoneer by Stephanie Graves

Olive Bright, Pigeoneer by Stephanie Graves

 

 

Publisher & Release: Kensington Books 

Setting:  WWII, Pipley, England

Genre: Historical Fiction

Length: 368 Pages

Rating: 2.5 Gold Crowns

Book Description: 

Though war rages across mainland Europe and London is strafed by German aircraft, the little village of Pipley in Hertfordshire bustles along much as it always has. Adrift since her best friend, George, joined the Royal Air Force, twenty-two-year-old Olive Bright fills her days by helping at her father’s veterinary practice and tending to her beloved racing pigeons. Desperate to do her bit, Olive hopes that the National Pigeon Service will enlist Bright Lofts’ expertise, and use their highly trained birds to deliver critical, coded messages for His Majesty’s Forces. 
 
The strangers who arrive in Pipley are not from the NPS. Instead, Jameson Aldridge and his associate are tied to a covert British intelligence organization known as Baker Street. If Olive wants her pigeons to help the war effort, she must do so in complete secrecy. Tired of living vicariously through the characters of her beloved Agatha Christie novels, Olive readily agrees. But in the midst of her subterfuge, the village of Pipley is dealing with another mystery. Local busybody Miss Husselbee is found dead outside Olive’s pigeon loft. Is the murder tied to Olive’s new assignment? Or did Miss Husselbee finally succeed in ferreting out a secret shameful enough to kill for? With the gruff, handsome Jameson as an unlikely ally, Olive intends to find out—but homing in on a murderer can be a deadly business . . .

 

Buy Links:

 

Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Olive-Bright-Pigeoneer-Stephanie-Graves-ebook

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Olive-Bright-Pigeoneer-Audiobook

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/olive-bright-pigeoneer-stephanie-graves

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/olive-bright-pigeoneer

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Stephanie_Graves_Olive_Bright_Pigeoneer

 

Add to Goodreads & BookBub: 

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53302845-olive-bright-pigeoneer

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/olive-bright-pigeoneer-by-stephanie-graves

 

Vikki’s Musings

 

Thanks go to the publisher and Net-Galley for the complimentary audio copy of Olive Bright, Pigeoneer by Stephanie Graves and narrated by Rachael Beresford. I voluntarily agreed to read and review this audio book prior to publication. My opinion are my own, and no one has influenced them.

 

Olive Bright, Pigeoneer is set in a sleepy British village during WWII. I listened to the audio and struggled with focusing on the story, but it was not because of the narrator. Rachael Beresford has a lovely voice, but the story just wasn't compelling enough. The characters didn’t pull me in, and the pacing is slow. I am being kind in giving it three crowns. Normally, I thoroughly enjoy novel set during WWII, and found the premise of carrier pigeons intriguing, so I truly wanted to like this book.

 

Olive Bright’s character is extremely impulsive and determined to break the rules to such an extent, it kept me from liking her. She seemed much younger than her age. Her willingness to deceive her father did not sit well with me.

 

This was supposed to be a mystery, but it never pulled me in as this genre usually does. While there is murder, spying, and some suspense, it fell flat for me, but that may not be the case for others. Reading is subjective, and what appeals to one reader doe not to another. I fell in that second category. Happy reading and listening!