A review by baskerville_book_reviews
Black Jade - A Daiyu Wu Mystery (Daiyu Wu Mysteries, #1) by Gloria Oliver

5.0

This is the second time recently that I’ll be referring to a story as Sherlock Holmesesque; well as the second time I’ve listened to a story with a blind female protagonist who relies on her other senses to solve mysteries.

The story is well-paced and uses the time period well. I think you’d be hard-pressed to write a story about arsenic poisoning on a green dress set in the modern era. I appreciate this as it would have been senseless otherwise.

I like the characters in this story. They’re believable, annoying funny, relatable. I could see myself listening to or reading other books in the series just to get to know them more.

It took me a while to get used to the narrator. It sounds like he’s got a mouth full of cotton. It took me longer to be able to speed up the book than normal because I wasn’t able to understand what he was saying. Overall, he did a great job and I found his voice relaxing to listen to. At the end of one chapter, some dialogue is repeated 4 – 5 times. Another time at the start of a chapter, there are audible clicks which are also distracting.

Minor issues with the audiobook version aside; I enjoyed this story very much and recommend it to anybody who likes mysteries or Sherlock Holmes stories.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.