New Reviews: Mystery & Suspense

In the latest audiobook in the Women's Murder Club series, Lindsay Boxer is investigating the murders of homeless people in another precinct because she thinks the lead detectives there are incompetent. At the same time, Yuki Castellano brings a rape case to trial, with a male plaintiff who claims he is the victim. Narrator January LaVoy depicts these characters beautifully.... Read More

Part family drama, part thriller, Lisa Scottoline's latest does not disappoint! Maggie Ippolitti, who is portrayed by narrator by Mozhan Marnò, rebuilt her life after her first husband divorced her and took her infant daughter. She's now married to widowed, single dad Dr. Noah Alderman, portrayed by Jeremy Bobb. Maggie is thrilled when her daughter, Anna, now 17, initiates... Read More

From the perspective of a beloved nephew who is visiting his eccentric aunt in Sicily, narrator Matt Addis tells the story of Aunt Poldi, an expat from Germany, who boldly sleuths out clues to determine the cause of her employee's death. Matt narrates her exploits with wonder, pride, and shock. While the cast of characters is German and Sicilian, they are all delivered with a... Read More

Dion Graham is the perfect narrator for this action-packed audiobook. Eric Jerome Dickey's latest introduces listeners to Ken Swift, a low-level enforcer for the infamous mobster San Bernadino, and his partner, Jake Ellis. All at once, Swift is dealing with the reappearance of his estranged, pregnant daughter--who happens to be blackmailing him for $50,000--along with a... Read More

Scott Brick reprises his narration of the Cotton Malone series. Brick's gutsy, virile voice is appropriate for Malone's first-person recounting of his first case with the Justice Department. He unfolds astonishing events from 18 years earlier, and Brick portrays his regrets and bewilderment as he unravels the battle between the Justice Department and FBI over secret files from... Read More

Former NEW YORK TIMES reporter, now freelance, Jack McMorrow takes listeners on a heartbreaking but spirited journey through rural Maine as he researches an article about teenagers having babies. Narrator Michael Smith's delivery of the local accents, which combine traditional New England and rural inflections, sound authentic, while phone conversations have a sound all their... Read More

A woman who endured an unthinkable abduction tries to move on with her life. But she finds herself being used as prey by a rogue agent for a company's experimental drug. Narrator Lauren Ezzo captures the many tense moments throughout the audiobook as protagonist Charlotte Rowe chases a serial killer with the help of a family friend, Marty, and Luke, a bully turned cop. Ezzo's... Read More

David Mamet's latest opus would work better as a play--the kind he won a Pulitzer Prize for writing--but it also succeeds as an audiobook. Skilled narrator Jim Frangione does his level best to help listeners keep track of who is speaking in a novel that is 99 percent dialogue. Still, it's a fascinating trip to the seedy side of post-WWI Chicago--even with its verbose, overblown... Read More

Rebecca Mitchell narrates this creative mystery in a steady voice that captures the personalities of characters. Florrie Fox, a coloring book artist who manages Professor John Maxwell's bookstore, called Color Me Read, has just moved into his carriage house. When his nephew is murdered the same night, Maxwell is accused of the act and must investigate to clear herself. Mitchell... Read More

Mind-controlling Techno Arcadians have increased their grip on society in Koontz's latest Jane Hawk thriller, which will captivate audiobook listeners from beginning to end. Elisabeth Rodgers's narration is outstanding. She propels the story with an effective style that creates unique personas for the book's central characters, including Hawk, and those who pursue her, Dubose... Read More

Listeners unfamiliar with Pearl's earlier work, THE DANTE CLUB, will easily follow his second installment, set four years later in London, 1870. Narrator Steve West's measured cadence and deft characterizations infuse British literary luminaries Christina Rossetti, Alfred Tennyson, and Robert Browning with depth and emotion as they race to find a missing Dante Gabriel Rossetti... Read More

Author Christina Dodd always delivers, and this audiobook is no exception. Former Army captain Kellen Adams is a woman who can't recall a whole year of her life and has more than her share of secrets, including a scar on her head from a gunshot wound. In Maine, where she is keeping a low profile and running a hotel, murder comes calling, and it isn't Kellen's first such... Read More

Simon Mattacks is a gifted narrator, and he does all an actor can to hold the listener's attention with this patchy ghost story. Maggie, a gifted young artist, escapes to an isolated, abandoned cottage on the Irish coast after a violent relationship comes to an end. The story is told from the point of view of Mike, the art dealer who discovered her and continues to support her.... Read More

Narrator Jane Jacobs helps to create the cozy atmosphere of this mystery. Not believing that their friend committed suicide, Kelly and Megan undertake their own investigation in this audiobook whodunit. In conjunction with friends from the House of Lambspun, they seek to discover the truth. This knitting-focused story takes place in a Colorado town. Jacobs's voicing of the... Read More

Narrator Cynthia Farrell gives a strong portrayal of an American visiting Cuba during its Black Spring of 2003. When Matt arrives in Havana to marry his Cuban girlfriend, he discovers her murdered, a situation that leads to an investigation that uncovers her second life. Farrell effectively channels the many different people who recount their stories of Yarmila, giving them... Read More

Narrator Joel de la Fuente captures the underbelly of Chinese society in this third installment of a crime series. His performance magnifies the drama and danger present throughout the investigations of Sergeant Zheng Haoming--including his murder and the manhunt for his killer. De la Fuente portrays the various characters, mostly male, using a range of techniques, including a... Read More

Imogen Church is a lively and versatile narrator. Hal reads fortunes on Brighton Pier on the English south coast. Struggling to make ends meet, she receives a letter from a solicitor telling her she is a beneficiary in her late grandmother's will. But Hal's only known grandmother is long dead. Pursued by a ruthless loan shark, she is desperate enough to think she can employ her... Read More

Narrator Stephanie Willis utterly shines in delivering this elegant and intriguing mystery. Jane Prescott is a clever lady's maid to the daughters of a nouveau-riche family in New York City. When the fiancé of one of the sisters is murdered, Jane investigates. Willis transports the listener into the formal and complicated society of the very rich in 1910. Her acting is superb.... Read More

Narrator Jack de Golia's style is ideally suited for this zany story about James Gaffney, a "child killer" who, in reality, rescues kids. De Golia's rendering of Gaffney's quirky personality, which abounds with sarcasm and self-deprecating humor, will have listeners laughing out loud. In addition, Gaffney's put-downs for those who have it coming are surprisingly satisfying.... Read More

Narrator Gordon Griffin outdoes himself with a mystery that focuses on the interrogation aspect of a police investigation. In an antique shop, Charles Middleton of York is shocked to notice a familiar vase that was stolen 20 years earlier when his parents and blind sister were killed in an unsolved murder at their home. It's impressive to hear Detective Inspector Hennessey and... Read More

An autistic software genius named Stuart and a self-directed AI named Frigg are once again at the center of an Ali Reynolds mystery. Narrator Karen Ziemba portrays Stuart's initially clumsy social skills and growing confidence, and rises to the challenge of voicing the AI with a robotic-sounding voice that isn't over the top. She does best at portraying Ali, who marshals her... Read More

Fifteen years ago Harper McClain discovered her mother naked and dead on her kitchen floor. Her mother's killer was never found. Now Harper is a first-rate crime reporter in Savannah. At a recent murder scene she discovers the same modus operandi used in her mother's killing. Narrator Sophie Amoss creates a menacing dark drama that will grab listeners right away. She enhances... Read More

Listeners join "memory man" Amos Decker as he finds himself in the midst of a series of murders. What starts out as a simple trip ends up as a race against time to stop more murders, with Decker using his special talent to bring the story to a thrilling conclusion. Set against the bleak backdrop of a former mining town struggling with a crumbling economy and extensive drug... Read More

Erin Spencer is the main narrator for this psychological thriller focusing on an alcoholic flight attendant, Cassie Bowden, who makes poor choices in life. After her latest one-night stand, she gets pulled unknowingly into a world of espionage. Spencer does an admirable job with Cassie's character, while Grace Experience narrates scenes involving a woman on Cassie's trail. Mark... Read More

Karissa Vacker's narration never intrudes on this story; her delivery is understated but so perfect that listeners can lose themselves in the the action. When the ship PACIFIC LION founders, McKenna Rhodes, captain of GALE FORCE, finds herself in a race to win the LION's salvage contract. Tormented by guilt over her father's death, she is struggling to keep his beloved ship in... Read More

Narrator Kathleen McInerney returns as compassionate and determined Chief of Police Kate Burkholder. In the latest audiobook in Linda Castillo's popular series, the suicide of a teen girl and the murder of a young man by arson rock the small Amish community Kate serves. As she and her department investigate, they soon find that there is much more to the lives--and deaths--of... Read More

Narrator Chloe Cannon delivers an elegant and emotionally devastating performance of Abbott's latest psychological thriller. The story is told in the first person by Kit Owens, an up-and-coming lab scientist who is gunning for a coveted spot on a premenstrual dysphoric disorder research project. Cannon sounds so authentic that it's impossible not to be moved by Kit's... Read More

Narrator Charlie Hardwick gleefully captures the grumpy personality, sharp tongue, and hidden heart of gold of Vera Stanhope, a police detective in the north of England. In this installment, Vera is investigating a murder at a writer's program, and the list of suspects includes Vera's hippie neighbor, Joanna. Hardwick's timing is impeccable for Vera's honest and... Read More

Listeners will sit tight as Emma Galvin uses her narration skills to draw them into the madness of this dark story. Having given up her newborn son as a teenager and then descending into the world of illicit drug use have left Rain scarred. And now strange things are happening, but maybe she's not alone. She often find solace in her friends who met each other in Narcotics... Read More

Twenty-something Yu-jin is the type of character every talented narrator might wish to portray. He's unreliable, sick, prone to fits of epilepsy, and possibly a murderer. Narrator Johnathan McClain capitalizes on the drama of Yu-jin, an unreliable narrator, using an emotionless voice that makes him seem capable of anything. Did he kill his mother? Yu-jin finds her at the bottom... Read More

Kevin Stillwell narrates this gritty collection of interconnected crimes and misdemeanors in East Oakland, California, in 1983, bringing the era to life. Hanson, a Vietnam veteran who is now a police officer, lives and works in this blighted part of the city, where he investigates murders, deaths, domestic squabbles, and drugs. He's known for his common-sense solutions,... Read More

Narrator Stephen Shanahan's precise style makes for cold and calculating depictions of the Archer family. He guides listeners through this creepy page-turner featuring Hades, father of Eric and Eden Archer. Shanahan shows his flexibility as a narrator when he takes on the various personalities of the Archers as well as Eden's police partner, Frank. For those who love crime... Read More

A chance encounter between American scientist Jean and Ghanaian psychiatrist Attila proves beneficial for both. However, it's listeners who benefit from Robin Miles's superb performance. She makes every moment, every encounter, every new character completely credible. Jean is studying the habits of urban foxes, while Attila, an expert on trauma, is in London to search for the... Read More

CNN anchor and novelist Jake Tapper narrates a great summer listen as he re-creates 1950s McCarthy-era Washington in this thriller. Tapper uses his best broadcasting voice when describing the trials and tribulations of newly minted Congressman and war hero Charlie Marder as he acclimates to hardball national politics. At times, Tapper's dramatic pacing falters, and his... Read More

Narrator Elizabeth Bower does her best with this new audio entry in the DI Helen Grace crime series. She is good at accents and does her best to accommodate choppy shifts of scenes and points of view, but Arlidge's prose style is a pretty blunt instrument. Clichés abound, not always even carefully chosen, the vocabulary is repetitive, and the plotting excessively violent. Also,... Read More

A audiobook that adds supernatural elements to a legal thriller sounds a bit odd, but John Hart pulls it off. The story is greatly enhanced by narrator Jeremy Bobb. No character is too small for Bobb's vocal attention. As Johnny Merrimon clings to his beloved--and valuable--land, he remains steady and measured, while his father-in-law sounds gentle and calm. Johnny's best... Read More

As this new series by author T.E. Woods begins, Sydney Richardson has just opened an upscale restaurant named Hush Money and a bar next door that caters to the police. Narrator Xe Sands portrays Sydney as a strong but conflicted woman. Soon, she finds herself defending and supporting a young woman called Windy (Wanda), who works at the restaurant and has been accused of... Read More

Narrator Lucy Paterson's smart pacing and subtle applications of intensity and tone guide listeners through Icelandic author Sigurdardottir's two seemingly unconnected plots and characters. Both are masterfully entwined at the denouement. The separate threads of an ill-advised winter visit to a remote Icelandic island and the unresolved search for a missing child, presumed... Read More

For this tightly plotted drama of rumors and small-town gossip that can kill, Cassandra Campbell's beautiful cello voice is the perfect instrument. Jackie Reed is the divorced mother of one very squirrelly teenage boy named Wade, whose inner life has become opaque to her, and to Wade's likable little brother, Connor. When a popular classmate is killed during a bizarre... Read More

Peter Forbes is the regular narrator of the Isle of Lewis series. In this latest entry, he is joined by Anna Murray, with mixed results. Forbes is a superb narrator--his natural Scottish voice is a joy to listen to, and he handles additional accents with aplomb. Murray reads with a poignant wistfulness that is easy on the ear, but her characterizations are lacking. May's books... Read More

Dennis Danson was jailed 20 years ago for the murder of a teenage girl in Florida. When a documentary reexamines the case, positing that the wrong man was convicted, Samantha, a teacher from England, becomes enamoured with the case, subsequently meeting Dennis--and marrying him. Christina Cole's soft, quavering voice and British accent successfully convey Samantha's mounting... Read More

Nora Watts is back in a second book, after THE LOST ONES, that gets more personal and violent. Bahni Turpin is a capable narrator for this thriller about a female crime fighter who's out to settle old scores. Turpin's narration is contemplative as she recounts Nora's inner turmoil over her discovery that the death of her father may not have been suicide. Turpin takes listeners... Read More

For almost 30 years, the detective team of Hap and Leonard has been solving crimes, doling out beatings, and delivering their unique brand of Texas humor--much of it dealing with excrement, flatulence, and male sex organs. Although a lot of this audiobook is laugh-out-loud funny, Christopher Ryan Grant--in his third turn narrating the series--wisely doesn't play it for laughs.... Read More

In the prologue of the second book in Dazieri's series, narrator Cassandra Campbell introduces three people who are imprisoned in a concrete silo, one of them called "the girl." Years later, a lethal gas massacre takes place on a high-speed train, with ISIS claiming responsibility and threatening more to come. Enter Colomba Casselli, Rome's deputy police commissioner, and her... Read More

This well-realized novel, narrated by Steve West, was inspired by "The Knowledge"--the encyclopedic information about the city of London that its most prestigious cab drivers possess. When a couple is murdered outside an exclusive casino, Detective Inspector Richard Jury calls his usual sidekicks, Melrose Plant and Marshall Trueblood, into action. West makes both sound... Read More

Listeners will wonder if this highly entertaining audiobook is truly fiction as they listen to dialogue from both the White House and the Kremlin. Narrator Adam Grupper's deft use of accents and emotions defines author Rosenberg's characters. The audiobook features a Russian leader who wants to return his country to its days of glory by provoking a war, an American president... Read More

Deception is the theme of this thriller, narrated in soft, gentle tones by Gemma Whelan. She draws listeners into a haunting story about Anna, who is frozen in her grief after the suicides of her parents. Then, she receives two shocking messages: "Suicide, think again." and "Don't involve the police." She begins asking questions, and questions are also asked by Murray... Read More

Narrator Stephen Mendel really knows how to milk suspense from the written word as Nick Petrie creates something new in this audio crime novel--exploring crime in the world of legalized marijuana. Combat veteran Peter Ash is helping the daughter of a friend move a huge load of cash from a marijuana operation to a safe location when everything falls apart. The routine mission... Read More

Narrator Kate Tyler gives each of three short mystery stories appropriate distinction. In "Live Free or Die," a womanizing efficiency expert is hired by an insurance company. Tyler's conversational style is ideal as two women deceived by him hatch a shrewd plan for revenge. "Murder in the Marsh" finds Carrie-Anne Camack training for a triathlon in a rural area. Vivid... Read More

If you feel like getting away for awhile, I suggest the ancient British-Roman spa town of Aquae Sulis, circa AD 125. While people are being murdered there, your outstanding guide, Simon Vance, will keep you safe and entertained. In this eighth novel about Roman Medicus Ruso and his feisty British wife, Tilla, we've been called to what's now Bath, England, because Ruso's friend... Read More

What starts as someone simply doing a good deed develops into a twisty tale of murder, scandal, and crime that a group of friends and knitters gets together to investigate. Julie Mckay narrates with style, characterizing the numerous characters young and old, male and female with ease. In particular, her voicing of one of the main characters as she develops from being extremely... Read More

With their appealing British accents, narrators Adam Newington and Gemma Whelan convincingly portray young marrieds Jack and Sydney. In the beginning of Lelic's clever psychological thriller, the couple are almost giddy about finding a home they can afford in London. But their outlook turns darker as the eeriness of the house and the neighbors triggers a downturn of events that... Read More

San Francisco is a crumbling near-future hellscape in Moore's latest audiobook, narrated by James Patrick Cronin. Homicide Inspector Ross Carver and his partner aren't sure what to make of a body they find that is seemingly being eaten away by a moss-like substance. Minutes after their discovery, they are shoved into a decontamination chamber and drugged unconscious by the FBI.... Read More

Narrator Johnny Heller nails the wry tones and rhythmic pacing of the working mugs, corrupt cops, streetwise urchins, and tough dames who people Christopher Moore's novel, which the author calls "perky noir." Occasionally, a slight Bogey-esque slur muddies the words a bit, and it can be puzzling at the beginning of each chapter to suss out whether the speaker is Sammy, the... Read More

Linwood Barclay's spine-tingling thriller is masterfully narrated by George Newbern. Paul Davis is driving on a remote road when he stumbles upon a killer disposing of two bodies. Paul is brutally attacked but survives, and the killer is arrested. Months later, Paul, still in recovery, is taunted by increasingly bizarre sounds and messages in his house, which are connected to... Read More

Golden Voice George Guidall continues his narration of the Gabriel Allon series. Listeners will be swiftly carried along by Guidall's confident voice and varied accents as he recounts Allon's search for a mole in the highest levels of Western intelligence. Silva has skillfully adapted the true story of Kim Philby, a famous double agent who rose to the heights of Britain's MI6... Read More

Indiana Jones fans, fasten your seat belts--or more appropriately, your camel saddles--and hang on for a nonstop ride. This audiobook is the fifth entry in the Gideon Crew series. Having had his fatal diagnosis confirmed, Gideon chooses to spend the remaining months of his life with his colleague, Manuel Garza, and an enigmatic geoarchaeologist, Imogen. They're tracking down a... Read More

David Thorpe's narration is sublime in this first installment of 23 mysteries featuring Matthew Bartholomew, who teaches medicine at Cambridge University in the fourteenth century. Thorpe masters the accents of the scholars, townsfolk, and servants. Bartholomew discovers an insidious plot between Cambridge and Oxford--each attempting to discredit the other--at the same time as... Read More

Detective Salt (Sarah Alt) is portrayed with passion in a clear, warm voice by narrator Allyson Ryan. Well-developed characters and authentic dialogue are Boyce's strengths, and Ryan splendidly enhances them. This gritty police procedural takes place before Salt has been promoted to detective. The current case involves a drug-addicted hooker, Shannell, and her boyfriend, "Big... Read More

Bill Clinton, James Patterson, and an ensemble of actors combines their expertise to orchestrate a compelling political thriller. The president discovers a major threat that can jeopardize America, along with the rest of the world, and is faced with making the most arduous decisions of his administration. Dennis Quaid's familiar yet authoritative delivery is perfect for the... Read More

Jane Avery's mother went missing just at the moment when Jane was crossing the stage at her law school graduation. Thus begin Jane's adventures. Amy Landon narrates with enthusiasm and aplomb as Jane searches for her mother. Landon carries listeners from start to finish with a steady pace and subtle yet effective portrayals of the rough, and even deadly, characters involved.... Read More

As an alien orb interacts with a group of humans, narrator Ray Porter brings to life a small cast of characters. There's the telepathic orb, Eve; the people she mentally possesses for the purpose of carrying out her mission; and another group of people who are trying to stop her-- without killing her slaves if possible. Porter faces the challenging task of differentiating... Read More

The Shadow is hot on the heels of three villains who are plotting to locate the jewels of the Romanoff family and use them to restore the Russian monarchy. This production has all the markings of the old-time radio show from which The Shadow was made famous but lacks much of its charm. As narrator, Richard Ferrone performs in the perfect gritty voice that such pulp fiction has... Read More

Cold case detective Cormac Reilly has moved back to Galway, Ireland, where he grew up. Narrator Aoife McMahon delivers Cormac's low-key, hard-working style of detective work in an easy-listening manner in this multilayered police procedural. Characters such as Jack Blake, the victim; his partner, Aisling Conroy, a surgical resident who believes Jack was murdered; and Jack's... Read More

In this is a fast-paced story, elderly Nazis have settled in a rural Kansas county, where they continue to commit race-based atrocities. This seemingly implausible plot is made credible through the imaginative verisimilitude instilled by its author and through the assured, matter-of-fact tone of January LaVoy's narration. Listeners can only conclude the danger is real and cheer... Read More

Saul Reichlin faced some hurdles in delivering this new Joona Linna thriller from Swedish husband-and-wife team Lars Kepler. It's not that they haven't delivered a whizbang with a Hannibal Lecter-style serial killer and their usual machine-gun blasts of harrowing plot. They definitely have. The problem is that Neil Smith has phoned in a translation in which he continually... Read More

The author has written passionate historical romances and a series of Elizabethan mysteries under another name. Now writing as Amanda Allen, she gives us the first in the Sante Fe Revival Mysteries, introducing us to intrepid New York socialite Maddie Vaughn-Alwin. Narrator Amy McFadden's voice is well suited to the romantic tone of this narrative. Having lost her husband in... Read More

Colin McPhillamy narrates the seventh Inspector Challis police procedural. Two bodies in a burned car spark an investigation into a local drug ring in the Mornington Peninsula area of Australia, and a new sex crime unit tackles an increasingly elusive serial rapist. McPhillamy's steady delivery of the narrative contrasts wonderfully with the eclectic cast of lively characters... Read More

In Book 5 of the fast-paced Brit in the FBI series, listeners follow Special Agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine as they track a serial killer. The villain's modus operandi mimics that of Dracula. They're also hunting for the killer of several important political figures. Could the murderers be one and the same? MacLeod Andrews and Renee Raudman alternate the narration.... Read More

Narrator Gunnar Cauthery's engaging accent and faultless timing engage the listener at the start of this riveting psychological thriller from award-winning Scandinavian authors Thunberg and Roslund (the pseudonymous Anton Svensson). This sequel to THE FATHER continues the story of how abuse and violence affect a family bound together by darkly twisted versions of loyalty and... Read More

Paul Michael's slightly weary, slightly deep voice is apropos to this contemporary thriller set mostly in France. Michael's articulation of a variety of foreign characters never stumbles, and his expressiveness helps make them distinctive and believable. Many are thugs, some are upper class, and the variety is keeps things lively. The story concerns a freelance fixer, somewhat... Read More

Former Air Marshal Seth Walker's simple assignment to deliver Max Magic, a diva pop star, to the FBI in Los Angeles goes violently awry during a frenetic shoot-out. Walker and Magic go on the run and quickly learn they can't trust anyone, not even the FBI. Narrator JD Jackson's velvety voice gives emotional depth to Walker and, especially, the young Max Magic. The story unfolds... Read More

Robert Ian Mackenzie's mellow delivery of the latest Bruno, Chief of Police, novel is perfect for the relaxed southern French policeman who cooks, romances, rides, hunts, and reads philosophy, in addition to catching criminals. In this case, Bruno investigates a tourist who fails to show up at a cooking school, only to stumble on a case of terrorism and revenge. As the series'... Read More

The latest John Pickett mystery is as irresistible as its predecessors, thanks to Joel Froomkin's skilled delivery. Pickett is trying to avoid Lady Fieldhurst as she pursues an annulment to their "accidental" marriage, but he must ask her to appear with him in society to solve a flurry of jewel thefts. Froomkin's accents for those of all stations and personalities are charming,... Read More

Lucas Davenport, formerly an investigator for Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, is now working to find his place in the U.S. Marshals Service. Narrator Richard Ferrone's gravelly voice is well suited for Davenport, who is called in to investigate an attempted assassination of a U.S. Senator. The probe leads him back to an old nemesis--Taryn Grant, a psychopath who... Read More

Narrator Dan John Miller's deep pitch and intense pacing carry listeners through this high-stakes adventure. Carol Evers is a clever woman with an unusual condition--she has died and returned to life many times, each time spending her dying moments in a bizarre realm she calls Howltown. When her husband decides to capitalize on one of her deaths by attempting to bury her alive... Read More

Ilka Jensen, who lives in Copenhagen, inherits her father's funeral home. But there are three problems: One, it's in Wisconsin; two, she never knew her father; and three, once in the U.S., she happens upon an unsolved murder and the possibility of a killer at large. Narrator Molly Meyers capably takes listeners on this exploration of childhood and the struggle of midlife. She... Read More

Narrator Gabrielle de Cuir is a virtuoso whose sultry voice is the perfect vehicle for Volker's mystery. It's the sensuous story of a pleasure trip that quickly devolves into a nightmare as bodies, illicit affairs, and international intrigue pile up in one of the world's most romantic cities, Venice. With a special talent for dialogue, de Cuir's natural-sounding pacing and... Read More

Narrator Susie Berneis takes listeners to the vast and mysterious Adirondack forest, where Doug and Natalie Larson are setting out on their honeymoon. The book begins with a heart-stopping chase through the woods and then turns into a dark and creepy thriller that will make listeners think twice before setting out on a camping adventure. Berneis uses her talent for evoking... Read More

Soneela Nankani's narration brings 1920s Bombay and Calcutta to life in the first of the Perveen Mistry mysteries. The first female solicitor in Bombay, Perveen works at her father's law firm. Asking questions about donations by the three widows of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner, she uncovers a plot to siphon funds. Nankani adopts a soft, uninflected tone for the... Read More

A grief-obsessed mother struggles to understand what has happened to her missing son and what is happening to her. Emma Gregory narrates this chilling story in a voice that sounds vulnerable, confused, and emotionally charged. As Susannah, the mother, tells her story in the first person, the ominous tone of her account reveals a disturbing mother love, personal alienation,... Read More

Rory Kinnear flawlessly performs this entertaining metafiction in which the real mystery writer Anthony Horowitz is persuaded by a fictional investigator called Hawthorne to shadow him as he solves a murder so Horowitz can write about it and make them rich. This is mad fun, especially if you are a fan of "Foyle's War," "Midsomer Murders," or other of Horowitz's work, since real... Read More