The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen (Author & Narrator), Rupert Penry-Jones (Narrator )

Published June 4th 2019 by Harlequin Audio

3.5 Stars: 

I loved the premise of this book. The idea that there are people who are hired to get lost post back to the rightful owners and it would be wonderful if there really were a Dead Letters depot somewhere. Some of the personal stories behind the letters and packages were beautiful and emotional. With the world using email and text to communicate today, it was beautiful to read these letters, many from the past. When there was a connection made, it was sweet and emotional to hear the reactions of the intended recipient. My big complaint is that I would have liked more letters, more mysteries being solved.

William is an interesting character. He is a bit of a loner and a dreamer. He is also a bit of a geek and quite happy with his job. He wants to write a book and that is a motivator for him. He loves the happy endings when he can return a letter to its proper recipient and learn a bit more. He is a bit closed off with his emotions in real life though and that causes problems in his personal life. His obsession with finding Winter when he has a wife who loves him was also a bit frustrating for me, especially since that might have exacerbated the situation at home. I enjoyed getting to know William, his wife and her sister Florence. The secondary characters added much to the story and I loved their stories. The inner turmoil that William struggled with slowed the story quite a bit. All in all, I enjoyed this story, but it moved slowly and meandered a bit more than I would have liked. William has just a bit too much angst.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Rupert Penry-Jones. His narration fit the story perfectly. It was a slow, quiet voice that fit my idea of William perfectly. Helen Cullen narrated the female voices and it is always nice to have the author perform a story as they know exactly where the expression should go and the intonation of the text. I received a copy of this audio book from Harlequin Audio upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

About the Book: Lost letters have only one hope for survival…

Inside the Dead Letters Depot in East London, William Woolf is one of thirty letter detectives who spend their days solving mysteries: Missing postcodes, illegible handwriting, rain-smudged ink, lost address labels, torn packages, forgotten street names – they are all the culprits of missed birthdays, broken hearts, unheard confessions, pointless accusations, unpaid bills and unanswered prayers.

When William discovers letters addressed simply to ‘My Great Love’ his work takes on new meaning. Written by a woman to a soulmate she hasn’t met yet, the missives stir William in ways he didn’t know were possible. Soon he begins to wonder: Could William be her great love? William must follow the clues in Winter’s letters to solve his most important mystery yet: the human heart.