The Scarlet Dress Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Louise Douglas (Author), Imogen Church (Narrator), Boldwood Books (Publisher)

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Alice Lang was wearing her favourite scarlet dress when she disappeared 25 years ago, and her memory still casts a long shadow.

The past was like water. Once the tide turned, you couldn't hold it back.

In the long, hot summer of 1995, 22-year-old Alice Lang rents a caravan on a holiday park on the outskirts of the lively holiday resort of Severn Sands. She befriends Marnie, a shy, damaged little girl whose father is the park's caretaker and whose mother died a few months earlier. Will, whose mother runs the bar, falls in love with Alice and is unbearably jealous of anyone else she sees. Tensions rise until one evening Alice disappears from her caravan. She's never seen again, and only her scarlet dress is found washed up on the shore.

A quarter of a century later, the town is run-down, and nobody comes there anymore. Mr and Mrs deVillars, former owners of the holiday park, have passed the failing business onto their son, Guy, who promptly sells the land for development. Builders clearing the land to create an expanse of executive homes uncover human bones. It has to be Alice.

Will and Marnie’s lives were entirely shaped by what happened that summer, and now that Alice has been found, they must struggle to pin down their memories, to escape the secrets of the past, the lies they told and the unbearable guilt they're both carrying.

They need to find out what happened to Alice. Who killed her? And why?

Listening Length

11 hours and 17 minutes
Author

Louise Douglas
Narrator

Imogen Church
Audible release date

18 Feb. 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Boldwood Books
ASIN

B08WCWH4B4
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	11 hours and 17 minutes
Author	Louise Douglas
Narrator	Imogen Church
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.co.uk Release Date	18 February 2021
Publisher	Boldwood Books
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08WCWH4B4
Best Sellers Rank	35,661 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 344 in Coming of Age Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) 938 in Family Life Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) 24,048 in Contemporary Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

5 star		47%
4 star		35%
3 star		13%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

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Jan Ruth

Who killed Alice?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2021

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Alice Lang rents a caravan at Severn Sands holiday park during the blistering summer of 1995. She befriends Marnie, the small caretaker's daughter, and Will Jones who works in the grounds. He’s not the only boy attracted to the troubled, enigmatic Miss Lang, but Will becomes unnaturally possessive when she attracts the attention of wealthy park owner’s son, Guy deVillars. When Alice disappears and her dress is found by the water’s edge, it is assumed she drowned. 25 years later when the seaside town is no longer fashionable, the holiday park is sold to developers and Alice Langs bones are discovered beneath a flower bed. Will, still consumed by the death of Alice, returns to Seven Sands, determined to discover who murdered the love of his life.

This novel is enriched by a strong sense of atmosphere created by the slightly creepy, old-fashioned holiday park, and the coastal stretches of a lonely estuary form the perfect stage for a murder-mystery. Its brilliantly executed by Douglas who always uses time and place to great effect. The story unfolds through two timelines, past and present, and the cast all come under suspicion. My allegiance changed throughout: Will, the obsessed, spurned lover. The deVillars family, privileged and seemingly above reproach, and then there’s the people around Marnie, the strange little girl who’d lost her mother in shadowy circumstances and is now a mute adult preferring the company of animals. Her father, and his unexplained absence on the night Alice went missing…

13 people found this helpful

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R. Jones

A frustrating read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 September 2021

Verified Purchase

The story of a missing woman and a 25 year old mystery were what first drew me in - and I did manage to read to the end, unlike with so many Kindle books I've tried to read lately - but there was one point that was never addressed or explained, and which coloured my views on the author's storytelling skills right to the last page.

SPOILERS BELOW

Marnie hasn't spoken for decades. She prefers dogs to people, in fact goes out of her way to AVOID people, doesn't seem to have close physical contact with anyone (as the author hints when Marnie is being comforted by the builder guy), yet SHE IS A SINGLE MOTHER?? How and when are we meant to believe this woman has had any sort of relationship, serious enough for her to have had a child? Was it a fling? A drunken night out? An attack? It's utterly out of sync with the rest of the story and what we know of Marnie's history. It doesn't make any sense at all, and the fact that the writer hasn't attempted to explain it suggests the daughter was merely a lazy plot device to allow other threads to work. It's jarring, and I found myself thinking 'but who is Lucy's father?' at random points during the story.

Additionally, Will's obsession and blundering about made me frequently wish someone would smack him. I didn't care in the end what happened to him. He was thoroughly unlikeable. I still don't quite understand why Alice was killed, either, or how or why only her dress was found, and I thought Marnie's sudden finding of her voice a tad unbelievable.

I also thought the scene in the house at the end to be rather daft. I was disappointed that the writer got us to the climactic turning point of the story (uncover the killer, put the protagonist in danger, etc), but instead of showing us what happened as it happened, resorted to the tired old trope of 'one week later' and related the resolution in the past tense. Don't do that! The end felt rushed, with staccato paragraphs explaining what happened next for each character, as if the author just couldn't be bothered to drag it out any longer.

Despite managing to finish the book, the frustrations above put me off wanting to pick up anything else by this author.

10 people found this helpful

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AliTw8

Superb.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2021

Verified Purchase

Louise is one of my favourite authors, so I'm always excited to read her latest novel and this one is excellent. So atmospheric, the descriptions of the hot summer when Alice goes missing feels stifling. The switching of the timelines is never confusing, the story flows beautifully and I genuinely didn't guess the final twist.
Highly recommended.

11 people found this helpful

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Llandeilo

Waste of money. Boring, depressing ..The Scarlet Dress.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 February 2021

Verified Purchase

Very disappointed after House by the Sea
Depressing, awful characters, druggies, disturbed.
Have deleted. Too much to bear! Jj

9 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A slow burner

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 July 2021

Verified Purchase

The story unfolds slowly and gives almost too many options for ‘who dun it’ until it reaches its conclusion. In some ways, it’s a bit like the tide in the estuary around which it is set - gently ebbing and flowing. I would have liked a little more detail at the climax of the story - maybe told through the eyes of the perpetrator - but I liked the way the 3 main characters’ lives were laid out at the end. Good read, will appeal to those keen on animals, and full of interesting characters without dwelling on their foibles.

2 people found this helpful

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Mairi Chong

Compelling and hard to put down!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 April 2022

Verified Purchase

Louise Douglas is a new author to me and her genre might be described as a cross between thriller, women's fiction and gothic romance. I really did enjoy The Scarlet Dress despite it being a bit of a break from my normal reading. In it, the body of a woman (Alice) missing for twenty-five years, is uncovered when renovation work is done at the holiday park beside which Marnie (the central character who is apparently mute since Alice disappeared) lives. It becomes clear that Alice was murdered and alongside Will (an old friend who returns to the small town after hearing the news) Marnie begins to piece together the events of the fateful night Alice was killed.
I thought this was brilliantly written, swinging between the events from twenty-five years before and the present day. The story was compelling and hard to put down and I found myself thinking about the characters long after finishing the book. If you enjoy vivid descriptions, evocative prose and a load of intrigue, this one's for you!

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Julie Newell

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2021

Verified Purchase

I always enjoy Louise’s novels and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. It kept me gripped from the very first page . The characters were intriguing and I particularly warmed to Marnie such a damaged but gentle generous soul. I didn’t predict the ending kept me guessing right to the last page. Well done Louise for another brilliant read .

3 people found this helpful

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The Scarlet Dress Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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