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Title: The Majestic Mystery

Author: Denis Mackail

Narrator: Steven Crossley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-13-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Two journalists, Peter Langley and James Vincent, are recuperating from winter colds at the Majestic Hotel in Newcliff-on-Sea one February when they get mixed up in a murder mystery: Peter is on the scene just after Howard Impey, theatrical impresario, is shot in Kenneth Paisleys hotel room, the night before the opening of the latters new play starring the beautiful Anna Worthington.

Peter is unimpressed with the police investigation, so he and James follow their own leads and uncover several vital clues, in which the police dont seem to be very interested. The inquest concludes that it was an accidental shooting by a now vanished hoodlum, but Peter remains unconvincedalthough with the evidence pointing so many different ways, will he believe the incredible truth when he discovers it?

Members Reviews:

NOW I get it!

The audio sample seemed pretty good, so I was baffled by the low rating here. However, now that I'm finished, I have to report that it was a real chore getting through this one -- proof that a great narrator can't save a weak story.

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Title: Dark Harbour

Author: David Hosp

Narrator: Jeff Harding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-08-13

Publisher: Oakhill Publishing

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Scott Finn worked his way out of Boston's toughest neighbourhood to become a rising star in the city's most elite law firm. When the body of Natalie Caldwell, one of his closest colleagues and former lover, is found floating in Boston harbour, it appears she is the seventh victim of the Jack-the-Ripper-style murderer terrorising Boston. But police detective Linda Flaherty isn't so sure.

With Natalie's death, Finn inherits a coveted, high-profile assignment that could clinch his career. Suddenly he finds himself the prime suspect in her murder. Finn needs to save himself, and the only way is to dig into the secrets of Natalies life.

Critic Reviews:

"The characters are sufficiently rendered to be remembered long after the book has been finished." (oncewritten.com)

Members Reviews:

Ok crime novel

This was an ok novel that started slow as it built background characterisation. When it eventually got going it did pick up pace. I must admit I didn't guess the end, which was a bonus. The narrator can be quite loud when he does the tough guy parts which put me off a bit, but otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

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Title: Black Moon

Subtitle: The Tango Key Mysteries

Author: T.J. MacGregor

Narrator: Melba Sibrel

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-31-13

Publisher: Crossroad Press

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Tropical bliss deserts sleepy Tango Key when a local dancer is found in a dumpster, stripped of her fingers - and her life. The investigation takes homicide detective Aline Scott into the strange world of santeria, a Cuban mystery religion. But Scott is puzzled until she realizes the macabre dismemberment bears a chilling resemblance to murders that occurred on Tango Key more than fifty years ago. Gradually, Aline realizes that the ritual deaths are part of a gruesome legend called Black Moon - and that she has been chosen as the next victim....

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

I love anything by T.J. MacGregor.. Have been reading this author for years and can not get enough.

Great Book

Bought it years ago and bought it on kindle now. Great read, love most of TJ MacGregors books. I wish Black Water was on Kindle!

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Title: Saturday Night Dead

Subtitle: The Harvey Blissberg Mystery Series, Book 3

Author: Richard Dean Rosen

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-26-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

A late night TV executive falls to his death, and Blissberg must crack the case before the killer has the last laugh. When Harvey Blissberg is hired by Roy Ganz, the pretentious, pint-sized producer of a legendary but fading, late night network comedy show, he has no idea that hes about to walk right into a television tragedy.

The private eye thinks hes doing a short, easy job by dragging a missing guest host out of a Times Square bar. The show goes well but just as the cast and crew start to celebrate, Ganz exits a twenty-fourth floor window, plunging faster than his shows ratings. Hastily hired by the network to conduct a discreet investigation, Blissberg slowly makes his way through the shows ragtag roster of writers and actors, many of who would have relished a chance to defenestrate their manipulative boss. The jokes on Blissberg, however, when hes forced to make an unexpected detour back to the early days of television.

Members Reviews:

Richard Rosen

Great read! Wish he had more fiction in his list! He is worth picking up for a fun and entertaining night's entertainment.

3 1/2 Stars -- Entertaining But Not Very Memorable!

Due to its close, albneit fictitious, association with the show and its producer (Lorne Michaels), the plot of Saturday Night Dead kept me involved in the story moreso than it would have if it was a straight mystery centered around a made-up TV show. However, while the story holds your interest, it is somewhat contrived and the believabilty of some of the characters requires a big stretch of the imagination -- especially, the main character, Harvey Blissberg, who shortly after retiring as a professional baseball player becomes such an adept private-eye that he's able to solve a murder case that the NYC police department can't begin to get close to solving. All this aside, if you're in the mood for a very fast read and a mystery that holds your attention, you could do a lot worse than reading Saturday Night Dead.

It kept me laughing and wondering.

I loved it! I couldn't stop reading because I wasn't bored by it.

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Title: A Bitter Taste

Subtitle: Catherine Berlin, Book 2

Author: Annie Hauxwell

Narrator: Caroline Lennon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-18-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

London sweats in the height of summer. The parched city has slowed to a claustrophobic shuffle and there's no end in sight. Heroin-addicted investigator Catherine Berlin hides her scars from prying eyes while working the worst of all cases: matrimonial. The capital's junkies suffer from a drought of a different kind.

A strung-out ghost from Berlin's past turns up on her doorstep with a desperate plea for help: her 10-year-old daughter is missing. Reminded of a debt owed, Berlin agrees to help, but the search becomes far more deadly than she could ever imagine, drawing her deep into an underworld of corrupt detectives, ruthless drug dealers, and a child killer....

Annie Hauxwell was born in London. She abandoned the law to work as an investigator and now combines this with writing. She lives in a small country town in Australia when not in London. Her career includes prize winning short crime fiction and professionally produced theatre and film, and her feature screenplays have been optioned in the U.S. and Australia.

Critic Reviews:

"A blood-soaked world of corruption and abuse.... Catch the wave now, while it's building." (The Times)

"A stylishly written and assuredly paced debut that heralds a promising new series." (Financial Times)

Members Reviews:

Compelling, great listen

Would you listen to A Bitter Taste again? Why?

Unusual story and story environment.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character - Berlin, very well thought through

What does Caroline Lennon bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

I look different at my local area now - living were the novel takes place

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Smirk

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Title: Sugar Pop Moon

Subtitle: A Jersey Leo Novel, Book 1

Author: John Florio

Narrator: Kevin T. Collins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-09-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Jersey Leo is the quintessential outsider - an albino of mixed race. Known as "Snowball" on the street, he makes a living as the bartender at a mob-run speakeasy in Prohibition-era Hell's Kitchen. Being neither black nor white, he has no group to call his own. His own mother abandoned him as a baby. And his father - a former boxing champ with his own secrets - disapproves of Jersey's work at a dive owned by one of New York's most notorious gangsters. So when he inadvertently purchases counterfeit moonshine ("sugar pop moon") with his boss's money - a potentially fatal mistake - he must go undercover to track down the bootlegger who took him in.

The clues lead to Philadelphia, where he runs into a cleaver-swinging madman out for his femurs and a cold-blooded gangster holed up on a Christmas-tree farm. Now with a price on his head in two cities, Jersey seeks help from the only man he can trust, his father. As the two delve into the origins of the mysterious sugar pop moon, stunning secrets about Jersey's past come to light. To ensure his future, Jersey must face his past, even if it means that life will never return to normal.

Members Reviews:

Breakneck Pacing--Great Read

If you're a fan of Hammett or Chandler, do yourself a favor and snatch up a copy of John Florio's Sugar Pop Moon. Florio gives his main character, Snowball, a simple problem to solve: a double-crossed booze delivery. But this acts merely as the starting point for a whip-cracking race along the Eastern seaboard as characters run afoul of hard men, thugs, and voodoo fanatics between New York and Philly.

At times, it's clear that this is a freshman novel--there is a slight dependency on exposition, and neither of the two female characters are developed. But these minor issues pale in comparison to the amazing pacing, and the way Florio weaves the first-person, white-knuckle, action-packed prohibition-era adventure with the story of Snowball's father as a boxer who gets caught up in both racial inequity and mobster's avarice. Florio's senses of humor and the every-day-absurd shine through with a clarity that will leave you chuckling, entranced, and gripped.

It's rare that I read a book in a single sitting. This was one of them.

Goes down easy ... thirsty for more!

This novel goes down easy as the "Sugar Pop Moon" moonshine that provides the title. If I were going to compare it to other books and movies, I'd say it's one part "Miller's Crossing" with one part "Boardwalk Empire" with a few drops of Lawrence Block's excellent Matthew Scudder series mixed in. As a reader, I liked how the author shifted from 1930 to an even earlier era to provide the characters' history. The prohibition-era settings from Baltimore to Philadelphia to Brooklyn rang true. The time period and the mobsters really came alive. As a longtime print journalist, I loved the newspaper history as we follow the story of a young reporter on the trail of what really happened during a brutal 1906 prize fight. Tweeting the news just ain't the same. The main character, Jersey Leo, is a standout because he's an albino with a lot of moxy and a wonderful voice: "I get out of the car and Philly's icy air makes my eyes feel like they've been doused in bathtub gin." You enjoy spending time with this guy.

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Title: The Blood Doctrine

Author: Ross Poore, Ryan Poore

Narrator: R.C. Bray

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-02-13

Publisher: Patterson Crossroads

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Practicing past teachings, a Mormon missionary viciously murders a gay man in the avenues of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Elder Aaron Lee and his mission companion walked the Salt Lake City streets spreading the teachings of the LDS Church. After talking with James Barone on the porch of his avenues home, Aaron couldn't get the thoughts to cease. "Homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of the lord." "Why would a Mormon missionary murder?

That was the one question that kept looping through Detective Klingensmith's mind. He and his partner Detective Robbins were about to find out in a journey that would take them from Salt Lake City to the red rocks of southern Utah.

Members Reviews:

Nothing But Potential

I was interested when reading the synopsis of the book. However what followed was a disappointment, the story was so disjointed, and failed to have any semblance of a slow burn. The style and prose of writing was that of a high school senior. Having been raised a member of the LDS faith, (since having left) the history of the LDS church in Utah is very rich with history and bloodshed, and to hear the narrator pronounce the name or word Melchizedek ( in context of the higher Mormon priesthood) was highly distracting and frustrating, considering that the main target audience is going to be either former LDS members or somewhat scholarly LDS members.

What had the potential to be a fascinating story was unfortunately bastardized by amateurs writing a novel that couldn't figure out if it wanted to be a true crime style writing or a fifth rate John Grisham novel. The only positive to the book was the time spent trying to develop the main antagonist in Aaron Lee. Unfortunately had half the time even been spent on developing a protagonist there could have been a modicum if depth.

Sadly this book suffers from the same fate of Mormonism in that, as author Grant Palmer has popularly termed, being like a lake that is a mile wide, but an inch deep.

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Title: Cold Courage

Author: Pekka Hiltunen

Narrator: Candida Gubbins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-01-13

Publisher: Strathmore Publishing

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Nominee: Glass Key Award for Nordic Crime Fiction 2013

Winner: Finnish Booksellers Laila Hirvisaari Grant 2012

Winner: Finnish Whodunnit Society Clue of the Year Award 2012

Winner: Kaarle Prize 2012, Nominee: Helsingin Sanomat Debut Prize 2012

Cold Blood. Cold Case. Cold Courage. The body of a young woman body is abandoned in a car boot in the middle of London as a warning to others. The police have no leads and no clues as to the identity of the victim. As weeks go by and the story drops from the headlines, it seems that Lia, who saw the discovery of the body from the bus on her way to work, is the only one who refuses to let the murderer go unpunished.

A chance encounter with the mysterious Mari gives Lia fresh hope that she can unravel the mystery. But just who is Mari? Can Lia trust her? Can Lia afford not to trust her?

In Lia and Mari, Finnish journalist Pekka Hiltunen has created two characters to care about. The London setting is detailed and contemporary. The mix of detection, moral dilemma and thriller adds a whole new sub-genre to 'Nordic Noir'.

Critic Reviews:

"'Rich in details, sure in its descriptions of London, and smoothly written a stylish debut" (Turun Sanomat)

"Confident, unique and captivating" (Kaleva)

"Pekka Hiltunen hooks the reader of his new thriller from the very first page. The characters are likeable and credible. A very topical novel." (Apu)

"A quirky, unusual psychological thriller evil gets its just rewards in a way which, while complex, is also often amusing and touching." (Kirjavinkit)

Members Reviews:

Plodding, implausible

The real mystery is how this ever got published. A weak and plodding attempt at a teenage version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, maybe? The narrator certainly seems to be reading to children. An implausible, rambling plot littered with unoriginal philosophy explained in wearying detail. My patience wore out in the first half - in which very little happened.

This one is to be avoided

I have downloaded and listened to dozens of books from Audible over the last few years and have never picked one which was as disappointing as Cold Courage.Within 10 minutes of listening I was intensly irritated both by the narrators voice and by the ridiculous premises on which the story is built.The characterisation is nonsensensical as are most of the actions within the story.I have never felt the desire to write a review before but I was so angered by this unbelievably silly book that I felt I wanted to warn other listeners of what is in store for them.Just don't waste your money on this one.

Most Disappointing

Any additional comments?

Having read the initial blurb and suggested awards I was looking forward to another strong Scandinavian writer. I have been completely disappointed. Almost nothing happened in the fist third of the book apart from some very dubious strands of a forming friendship [it was described as a 'thriller']. When the action did begin it seemed as though the author was trying to find as many unbelievable happenings as possible and weave them together to make a plot.

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Title: Murder Song

Subtitle: Scobie Malone, Book 7

Author: Jon Cleary

Narrator: Shaun Grindell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-19-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

A young woman named Mardi Jack is killed by a snipers bullet in a Sydney apartment apparently owned by a wealthy businessman, Boru OBrien, who has ties to seedy goings-on and to the prime ministers wife. OBrien, the real target of the assassin, had been a cadet with Detective Inspector Scobie Malone two decades earlier, and after Jim Knoble, another police academy classmate, is also professionally shot, the mantle falls to Malone to investigate the case. Forced into hiding and afraid for the safety of his family, Malone must find a psychopathic murderer before he too is stopped by a killers bullet.

Critic Reviews:

"A psychopaths killings converge with organized-crime efforts to wipe out a crooked financier before he talks in this taut, suspenseful addition to the series featuring Australias detective-inspector Scobie Malone.... With convincing characterization and a realistic portrayal of Australian life, veteran writer Cleary has produced an absorbing tale." - Publishers Weekly

Members Reviews:

Treat Yourself To A Good Read

If you have never read one of Mr. Cleary's Scobie Malone books,, you are in for a treat if you do! The writing style is easy, the characters believable, and in the case of Scobie, his family, his police partner, very likeable.

Five Stars

Excellent

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Title: A Luring Murder

Author: Stacy Verdick Case

Narrator: Susan Saddler

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-14-13

Publisher: Before the Fall Books

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

The irreverent detective is back, and this time she's on vacation. God help us all...

St. Paul, Minnesota Homicide Detective, Catherine O'Brien, and her loving husband Gavin, are vacationing on one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. When a local is murdered, Catherine is tapped to help the small town Sheriff until the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrives to take over the investigation. Catherine is surprised when her partner Louise and Diggs, the forensic pathologist, whose crush on Louise is only dwarfed by his own genius, show up to assist instead of the BCA. Before long, Catherine and Louise discover this sleepy little town has a dark side hidden beneath its placid lake charms. Somewhere in the tangle of cheating and deception is a motive for murder.