Discover New Releases Audiobooks in Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

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Title: Blind Justice

Author: Anne Perry

Narrator: Deirdra Whelan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-25-13

Publisher: Headline Digital

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Anne Perry's Inspector William Monk: in search of justice, he will not stop until he has found the truth...Oliver Rathbone, William Monk's close friend, has presided brilliantly over his first cases as a judge. But the next will bring a far greater challenge.

Abel Taft, a charismatic minister adored by his congregation, stands accused of terrible corruption and fraud which has ruined the lives of those he's betrayed. In court, each victim affirms Taft's guilt, but when the defence's star witness tears their stories apart, the case seems lost.

Rathbone realises he holds, locked away, a piece of evidence that could change the outcome of the trial and bring true justice, but can he, as the judge, become involved? The decision Rathbone makes will draw Monk deep into a dangerous case that will shape the rest of both their lives...

Members Reviews:

Wonderful Story but......

Wonderful Story but so spoiled by the narrator.

The narrator is speaking far too fast which really spoiled the book for me.

This reader Gabbles

I have ditched the book; I simply cannot listen to this reader. Deirdra Whelan reads at an incredible rate of knots, such a shame but I find it so irritating that it gets in the way of the story. The story gets one star simply because I haven't heard it.

slow

There are too many repetitions of known and established facts in the central part of the book. The ending is good and is well thought out. A good read but slow in parts

Really Poor Narration

If this book wasnt for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

The narrator detracts from enjoying the story

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Deirdra Whelan?

Almost anyone. The narrator reads it too fast, as if she can't wait to get to the end. There is no depth to the narration. It spoils the story completely.

Any additional comments?

Don't buy this version of the novel.

Nonsence

What would have made Blind Justice better?

Normally I would not bother if something is really bad to write a review but this book is SO bad I thought I should protest! From beginning to end the story is repetitive illogical and badly thought out - with really weedy characters doing truly uninteresting and unbelievable things. I have enjoyed Anne Perry before and thought it would be the usual Victorian crime melodrama - but frankly the premise makes no sense, nothing that happens makes any sense and the conclusion makes no sense either!

Would you ever listen to anything by Anne Perry again?

Well yes I would, the earlier books are good fun and easy listening/reading but frankly this one is dire.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Deirdra Whelan?

Anybody really - but I see the wonderful Davina Porter has done some - if she had read the book she MIGHT have made it tolerable.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

This might have been a one-off so maybe listeners should try some of Perry's earlier books.

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Title: Last Case

Subtitle: A Pittsburgh Homicide Squad Mystery, Book 1

Author: John Luciew

Narrator: Robert King Ross

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-19-13

Publisher: John C. Luciew

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A brutal crime. A dogged detective. And 34 years of unreasonable doubt.

It's 1978 and horror director George A. Romero is gearing up to shoot his zombie cult classic Dawn of the Dead just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On Halloween night, a 12-year-old girl dressed as Olivia Newton-John's character from Grease is slashed to death in a brutal crime. Her blood-soaked corpse is found on the back patio of an unhappy steelworkers home on the outskirts of the city. But as imperfect as they both are, the girl's estranged parents seem incapable of this level of violence.

The shocking case ignites a war within the police department, pitting old-school detective Sal Flores against college-educated upstart Finbarr Mulcahy. Forced to work together, the two detectives follow a trail of evidence to a special-effects guru working on the Dawn of the Dead production. Did this makeup man's obsession with bloody violence veer from make-believe into murder? A key piece of evidence tied to the zombie movie set seems to clinch the case.

But Mulcahy isn't so sure. And the uncertainty nags at him for the next 34 years. Until the veteran detective, now in the late stages of cancer, decides to revisit the case one last time. The detective is joined by a young protege in the department who lost a limb in the Iraq war. Along with Mulcahy's beautiful nurse, they pursue the real killer in hopes of unraveling more than three decades of mystery. All before Mulcahy takes the final secrets to his own grave.

Told in chapters that alternate between past and present, this mystery will leave you guessing until the very end. It's a battle against bureaucracy, a stone-cold killer's unmerciful evil - and mortality itself. You won't be able to stop listening until Mulcahy discovers the final twist hidden at the heart of this case. It was his first case. Now, it will be his last. The only question is, can Mulcahy uncover the truth in time?

Members Reviews:

A Thoughtful Mystery

Good characters,. A dying detective goes back to solve the one case he knows he botched. The involvement with the making of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead is a great addition to the story

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Title: Cezanne's Quarry

Author: Barbara Pope

Narrator: David Drummond

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-25-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A young woman is found murderedand the clues to her death point to her spurned lover, Paul Cézanne

In this richly atmospheric novel, a mysterious young woman named Solange Vernet arrives in Aix-en-Provence with her lover, a Darwinian scholar named Charles Westbury, and a year later is found strangled in a quarry outside the city. The young and inexperienced magistrate, Bernard Martin, finds his investigation caught in the crossfires of a raging cultural debate.

Initially assuming that Solanges murder was a simple crime de passion by either a jealous Cézanne or a betrayed Westbury, Bernard soon finds himself on a mission to unravel the secrets of Solange and Cézannes hidden past - the key to which may be a series of his paintings which depict the strangulation and violation of a woman with golden-red hair.

Exploring the questions of science and religion - and the role of women in these realms - that persist even today, Cézannes Quarry is an impressive debut mystery about life, death, love, and art.

Critic Reviews:

Could Paul Cézanne be a killer? Pope animates her canvas with plenty of vivid period detail. Francophiles and history buffs will find much to savor. A provocative debut." (Publishers Weekly)

Cézanne's Quarry is a highly accomplished, compelling novel. Beneath an exquisite veneer of historical detail lurks a thoughtful exploration of science and religion, of old values and new, and of a woman's place in the world." (Hallie Ephron, The Boston Globe)

Members Reviews:

Weak Story, Awful reader

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I can't imagine.

What could Barbara Pope have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

A less predictable plot. Fewer Americanisms in the mouth of 19th century French people.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

No pizzazz to his reading. And I have a better French accent than he does. He sounds like a Caricature of an American pronouncing French.

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Title: Naked Cruelty

Subtitle: A Carmine Delmonico Novel, Book 3

Author: Colleen McCullough

Narrator: Bill Ten Eyck

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-13-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

America in 1968 is in turmoil and the leafy Holloman suburb of Carew is being silently terrorised by a series of vicious and systematic rapes. When finally one victim finds the courage to speak out and go to the police, the rapist escalates to murder.

For Captain Carmine Delmonico, it seems to be a case with no clues. And it comes as the Holloman Police Department is troubled: A lieutenant is out of his depth, a sergeant is out of control, and into this mix comes the beautiful, ruthlessly ambitious new trainee, Helen MacIntosh, daughter of the influential president of Chubb University.

As the killer makes his plans, Carmine and his team must use every resource at their disposal - including a team of highly motivated neighbourhood watch, the Gentlemen Walkers.

Critic Reviews:

"As an artful storyteller, McCullough has more than a few tricks up her sleeve." (The Sydney Morning Herald)

"Very much in the tradition of P. D. James! McCullough is a tremendous storyteller." (The Times)

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Title: Montana Gunfighter

Author: Lewis B. Patten

Narrator: Jeff Harding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-13

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A western duo, two stories about gunmen, warring ranchers, fierce reputations and gold.

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

GREAT!

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Title: Miss Dimple Suspects

Subtitle: A Miss Dimple Mystery, Book 3

Author: Mignon F. Ballard

Narrator: Pam Ward

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-13

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

With the country in the midst of World War II, you can be sure that the small town of Elderberry, Georgia, will pull together to find a missing child. And you can be equally certain that first-grade teacher Miss Dimple Kilpatrick will be in the rescue party - especially since Peggy Ashcroft is one of her students. Miss Dimple carves out a search path all her own and, once again, the sharp-as-a-tack teacher is right on point. She finds Peggy in the woods, but the child is too sick to walk and it's too difficult for Miss Dimple to navigate the uneven terrain in the dark.

Luckily, she comes upon the home of an elderly artist, Mae Martha, and her young companion, Suzy, who help ensure that Peggy returns home safe and sound. A few days later, however, Miss Dimple receives a frantic call from Suzy: Mae Martha has been murdered and Suzy is considered the most likely suspect because her family is Japanese. Miss Dimple and her fellow teachers, Annie and Charlie, don't buy it and set out to prove Suzy's innocence, only to discover danger where they least expect it. Quick thinking and loyal to a fault, Miss Dimple is an amateur sleuth who will always stand up for what's right.

Members Reviews:

WWII Georgia Homefront Mystery

I am enjoying this mystery series set in WWII Homefront small town Georgia. The first two books in the series are not available here on Audible so I read them in print. You could probably jump into book 3 without reading the first two books--but you would miss some back story and character development. I will say that the books improve as the series progresses. This book--#3 is the best so far. Full blown cozy and fun low stress listening.

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Title: Borderline

Author: David John Crookes

Narrator: Nicole Poole

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-20-12

Publisher: Big Indian

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In the year 1970, a Mexican truck driver transporting illegal migrants into the United States is shot dead in Arizona by a U.S. Border Patrol officer. Thirty years later after an airline crash, Hope Lacy, a high profile television current affairs presenter from a prominent Chicago family, discovers that her entire privileged life has been a lie, that the woman she always believed to be her mother was not her mother at all.

With her lover an Illinois state senator and her father a construction industry magnate, Hope is well connected at the highest levels, and using her influence in the media, she embarks on a desperate search for the truth about her origins. But her road to discovery becomes increasingly dangerous when she finds deceit, betrayal, political corruption, and even murder lying around almost every corner.

Members Reviews:

Predictable but well done.

This is supposed to be a mystery, but what mystery there is in this selection could be solved by Encyclopedia Brown. The romantic situations in the book are equally predictable. That being said it was an enjoyable listening experience. It was especially interesting that the story line was based on immigration issues. A controversial subject currently in the news on a regular basis. A relaxing listen, and if you miss a few seconds; no problem. There aren't a lot of surprises.

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Title: Birdcage Walk

Author: Kate Riordan

Narrator: Peter Kenny

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-10-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

George Woolfe is a young working class East London printmaker in 1900. Frustrated by the constraints of his class and station, he sees an opportunity to escape when, by chance, he meets Charles Booth, author of one of the most comprehensive social surveys of London ever undertaken. But this apparently auspicious encounter has tragic consequences for George who, within six months, is charged with the murder of a young woman. But did he do it?

Set at the dawning of a new century, when the rigid class and gender boundaries of the Victorian age were soon to shift and realign, Birdcage Walk is a historical novel that vividly brings to life a real-life Edwardian murder and the possible miscarriage of justice that followed it.

Members Reviews:

Grim

The view of working-class London is predictably grim, but the story has no uplifting moments. I read for entertainment and escape, and this one didn't work for me. Absolutely no humor.

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Title: A Bitter Field

Subtitle: Road to War, Book 3

Author: Jack Ludlow

Narrator: Michael Tudor Barnes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-12

Publisher: Soundings

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

1938: As Hitler sets his sights on the Sudetenland, not everyone in Britain is willing to appease him. Convinced that the fürhers land hunger is insatiable, the head of the SIS recruits Cal Jardine to help him prove that Czechoslovakia is threatened with invasion. Before heading undercover to Prague, however, Jardine must first extricate himself from France, where his attempts to smuggle guns to Spain have been held up by a group of fanatical fascists. Finally arriving in Czechoslovakia, working undercover for the SIS proves no less dangerous. As jealousy and mutual suspicions within Secret Service ranks make it impossible for Jardine to tell friend from foe, he rediscovers old friends of dubious loyalty and makes new enemies of untested ruthlessness.

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Title: Painted Veil

Subtitle: The Second Baroque Mystery

Author: Beverle Graves Myers

Narrator: Geoffrey Blaisdell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-17-12

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Venice, 1734. Castrato soprano Tito Amato, star of Venice opera, has let fame go to his head. Neglecting his vocal practice for dubious pleasures, Tito finds himself demoted to secondary roles and overshadowed by a visiting singer who usurps his position. But when the murder of scene painter Luca Cavalieri threatens to close the opera house, Tito sees an opportunity to reclaim his status and jumps at the chance to find the killer. He is aided by Englishman Augustus Gussie Rumbolt, who is in Europe making his grand tour. The hunt for the person who wears the mask of Palantinus carries Tito and Gussie into the treacherous depths of the city of Venice, where Tito matches wits with the masked leader of a secret society bent on the destruction of Venices Jewish ghetto.

Beverle Graves Myers, former psychiatrist, switched to writing and has since won the 2006 Million Writers Award. She is the author of short story collections, the Helluva War series, and the Tito Amato mysteries.

Critic Reviews:

Set in 1730s Venice, Myers second baroque mystery skillfully guides the reader past the dangers of fame to the nature of music and love, fulfilling the promise of her well-received debut,Interrupted AriaMyers provides an insightful and tender look at how those who are different - castrati, women, Jews - were treated at the time, as well as a wonderful view of elegant, decadent, nothing-is-as-it-seems-from-behind-the-masque Venice. (Publishers Weekly)

Myers second Baroque mystery returns readers to eighteenth-century Venice, where castrato soprano Tito Amato is again preparing for an opera role at Teatro San Marco - but not the leadAlong the way, Myers exposes readers to a dark side of Venice: prejudice. Often a victim of ridicule himself, Titos heart aches for the Jews, who are forced to live in a locked ghetto and treated with contempt. Like a grand opera, Myers story transports readers to a fascinating world of glamour, deceit, intrigue, and passion. Bravo! (Booklist)

Myerspowerfully evokes a long-ago world where beauty walks with treachery and an intrepid hero who cant afford to lose his voice.(Kirkus Reviews)

Members Reviews:

Great combination of history and mystery.

Interesting history woven into an exciting mystery of the first order. Skillfully written with characters who come to life.

Fascinating Mystery Exploring the Intrigues and Personalities of Early Venetian Opera

I loved the second Tito Amato book as much as the first...the author uses the mystery genre to explore the intrigues and backstage personalities of early Venetian opera in a world musically dominated by the great castratos of the day. An excellent read, for those who are interested in this fascinating era of musical personalities.

Much useful information about the castrati

This is not a topic that is discussed very often and I found the information very interesting and also very disturbing. As much as I love the treble (male soprano) voice, the mutilation that is required to make such a voice continue past puberty is terrible. The greatest irony (or perhaps not) is the Roman Catholic Church's approval of such mutilations for so many years.

Painted Veil

I have thoroughly enjoyed all four of the Tito Amato Series books that I have read. They're filled with mystery and intrigue set in Venice during the height of Venice's opera days.