The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood: Audiobook Review

 Miss Penelope Lumley has shown quite a bit of success at civilizing the wolf-like children Lord Ashton has curiously claimed custody of.  However, after the disaster of Lady Constance's Christmas Ball which was caused by the dear Incorrigibles, the family has packed up and escaped to London while Aston Place undergoes renovations.

In London, Lady Constance looks forward to all the social engagements she will inevitably encounter, while Miss Lumley is excited to continue the children's education in such a civilized city.

But something foul is afoot in London and Miss Lumley is determined to figure out what it is with the help of a new friend, despite a stern warning from her former headmistress to stay out of trouble.  With that foreshadowing, the reader is sure to realize that the remainder of the book will be anything but Miss Lumley and the Incorrigibles staying out of trouble.

This is the second book in the series, and it is equally as charming and full of belly laughs as the first one.  The book itself is entertaining enough, but when you add Katherine Kellgren's lively narration, you are in for one of the most perfectly entertaining audiobook experiences around.  The mark of a successful audiobook to me is when the narrator brings the story to life in such a way that it becomes even more enjoyable than it would have been if you had just read it.  That is exactly what Kellgren does with her animated, nimble character voices, almost on par with that of Jim Dale's voices in the Harry Potter audiobooks.

In addition to the pure joy of just listening to the fabulous narrator, this installment of the Incorrigibles' mystery brings to light Lord Ashton's very strange behavior, leading the reader to make some conclusions about why he was so insistent about keeping the Incorrigibles in the first place (but we won't find out the true answer until book 3).  We also have a new storyline to contend with and guess as to how it will manifest itself in the third book: Miss Lumley's mysterious past and why her parents aren't in the picture.

The open-ended storylines will keep readers anticipating, guessing, and eagerly awaiting the final installment.  Not only am I looking forward to seeing how the story ends, but I'm also happy that I will be able to revisit all of the wonderfully eccentric characters once more.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood
Published: February 2011 by Balzer & Bray
Audiobook Published:  February 2011 by Harper Audio
Pages: 240
Audiobook Length: 5 hours, 58 minutes
Genre: Mystery/Fantasy
Audience: Middle Grade

Thanks to Harper Audio for providing me with a copy of the audiobook.