Discover the New Releases Audiobooks in Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

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Title: The White Ghost

Subtitle: A Billy Boyle World War II Mystery

Author: James R. Benn

Narrator: Peter Berkrot

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-11-15

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 43 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The 10th book in James R. Benn's Billy Boyle WWII mystery series, normally set against a backdrop of WWII Europe, moves us to a flashback in the Pacific.

It's 1943: Amid the bitter, violent Solomon Islands campaign, Billy is assigned the murder investigation of a native coastwatcher whom future president Jack Kennedy discovered on a nearby island with his head bashed in. As the body count climbs, Billy must figure out whether Jack is a cold-blooded killer, even as war rages around him.

A fan-favorite series with built-in readership of historical fiction fans and military history buffs, by one of Soho Crime's best-selling authors.

Critic Reviews:

"Spirited wartime storytelling." (The New York Times Book Review)

"A fast-paced saga set in a period when the fate of civilization still hangs in the balance." (The Wall Street Journal)

"Consistently entertaining." (WWII Magazine)

Members Reviews:

Another Great Billy Boyle Mystery

James R. Benn just seems to be getting better with this character. The change in setting to the Pacific theater of operations was a brilliant and well developed idea. The narration of Peter Berkrot was exceptional. Overall, the only disappointment is that I now must wait for the next installment of Billy Boyle.

Another Great Billy Boyle Mystery

Would you consider the audio edition of The White Ghost to be better than the print version?

Always. Love hearing the accents. Definite keeper.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The White Ghost?

The interaction with Lt Kennedy was a high point, though the cameo of Dick Nixon was great too. The battle of the Solomons gets little attention in war novels.

What about Peter Berkrots performance did you like?

He does wonderful accents. South boston vs Haaavad.

Outstanding Story

I have always enjoyed the Billy Boyle series and this nay be my favorite entry. I was not sue I would like the change in theater of the war...but it really added to the story....if you follow the series, I am sure you will like this one!

As always

Pretty much every book in the series is excellent, and this was actually a step up. Going to the South Pacific was a great choice. I can't wait for the next installment.

Thank you, Mr. Benn.

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Title: The Cold Six Thousand

Author: James Ellroy

Narrator: Jeff Harding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 24 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-01-15

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Dallas, November 2, 1963. Wayne Tedrow, Jr., has arrived to kill a man. The fee is $6,000. He finds himself instead in the middle of a cover-up following JFKs assassination. There follows a hellish five-year ride through the sordid underbelly of public policy via Las Vegas, Howard Hughes, Vietnam, CIA dope dealing, Cuba, sleazy showbiz, racism and the Klan.

This is the 1960s under Ellroys blistering lens, the icons of the era mingled with cops, killers, hoods and provocateurs.

Members Reviews:

Different style

I found the style he wrote this very difficult at first, the short repetitive sentences grated. But as a previous reviewer said you do get used to it.

The actual story is terrific.

The Cold Six Thousand - didn't enjoy this book

The Cold Six Thousand - didn't enjoy this book as I

have with other James Elroy books like The Black Dahlia

Narration was great by Jeff as always

mind blowing

an amazing book,I could believe it may sv bin done that way I n real life,no one like ellroy

Baroque and Epic Ellroy

Its Epic length with pace maintained makes this a fantastic book. I preferred the snappier plot of American Tabolid, but if you enjoyed AT you should enjoy this too.

Read them and then listen to them.

I devoured this book about 10 years ago along with the other two in the trilogy. When I signed up for Audible they were my first ports of call. Nobody writes like Ellroy in my opinion and to be able to hear the style and the characters was fantastic. I'm convinced Pete Bondurant is the inspiration for Reacher.

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Title: Drums Along the Hudson

Author: K. T. Tomb

Narrator: Clay Lomakayu

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-08-15

Publisher: K.T. Tomb

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

What if Manhattan wasn't really purchased from Native Americans? What if the land was really leased?

When Native American anthropologist Linda Lightfoot approaches Mayor Vincent Patch of New York City for permission to dig in Central Park, he denies her request. After consulting with an NYU professor, he learns the tribe is searching for lost documents that may prove that Manhattan's land was leased, not purchased, from the Canarsee tribe.

Shocked at what could happen to his city if the documents were recovered, Patch goes undercover with his attorney brother, Nathan, to find out what the tribe knows. When the brothers show up in disguise at a powwow on Long Island, Patch smokes a peace pipe with them. When asked for his name, he invents one that accidentally identifies him as the tribe's chosen one - the one they have been waiting for to save their tribe and reclaim their homeland.

However, a tribal member named Pale Fox does not take kindly to being usurped as the next chief - he aims to prove that the sudden appearance of the "chosen one" is a fraud.

Things heat up when Patch learns of the tribe's intent to dig in Central Park without permission. The tribe is armed and determined to find the document that could bankrupt New York City.

Patch must now choose a side. Will his decision be the right one? No matter what he decides, what will the tribe do to him when they find out he's a fake? Political hijinks, Italian mob action, and a colorful cast of characters make the race for the missing documents into a fast-paced and sometimes humorous tale of New York City history.

Members Reviews:

And you thought NYC couldn't get any crazier!

The Publisher's summary covers the basics, and I'm not into spoilers. But. This book is just too much fun, in an understated, almost sneaky way. The characters are a hoot. The plot is rather farce meets pay attention here. I'm thinking James Garner for the mayor. Anyway, it's short and will have you in stitches. Don't. Miss. It.

Clay gives a marvelous performance and definitely adds to the fun.

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Title: The Battling Prophet

Subtitle: An Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte mystery

Author: Arthur W. Upfield

Narrator: Peter Hosking

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-02-15

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 28 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Ben Wickham, a famous meteorologist whose uncannily accurate forecasts have helped famers and graziers all over Australia, has died after a three-week drinking bout.

The doctor certifies that his death was cause by heart failure due to alcoholic poisoning.

But Ben's neighbour and drinking partner, John Luton, is convinced his friends didn't die from too much gin. He manages to lure Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte to his riverside cottage near the South Australian coast, on an unofficial visit for a spot of fishing.

Bony, thinking at first he's on holiday and paying a casual visit, is intrigued and decides to investigate.

Members Reviews:

bony again

If you could sum up The Battling Prophet in three words, what would they be?

another classic tale from a brilliant writer of his time a classic that is gripping

What did you like best about this story?

the sly detective work and characters that seem real

Which character as performed by Peter Hosking was your favorite?

alice she is one tough policewomen with style

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the scene ot the house when badguy won,t talk

Any additional comments?

another book read by peter of this great classic series please

Great fun

Love the story, the language, but truly enjoy Peter Hosking's characterization. I'm a hooked fan!

It's a Bony story ... have not yet hit a bad one

What made the experience of listening to The Battling Prophet the most enjoyable?

It is a great story well told

What other book might you compare The Battling Prophet to and why?

I tend to compare all other crime novels to the Bony series

What about Peter Hoskings performance did you like?

Brilliant as usual

Predicting the . . .

What did you love best about The Battling Prophet?

I like all the Bony books. I like the period feel. This one had a more narrow focus than most of the others.

What other book might you compare The Battling Prophet to and why?

None that I have read.

Have you listened to any of Peter Hoskings other performances before? How does this one compare?

Only a the narrator of the other Bony books.

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Title: Death in Salem

Author: Eleanor Kuhns

Narrator: Susie Berneis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-23-15

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

It's 1796, and traveling weaver Will Rees is visiting Salem, Massachusetts. He's in town to buy a luxurious gift for his pregnant wife. While traveling through Salem, however, Rees comes upon a funeral procession for the deceased Mrs. Antiss Boothe. When Rees happens upon Twig, a friend who fought alongside him in the war, he learns that Mrs. Boothe had been very ill, and her death had not come as a surprise. But the next morning, Mr. Boothe has also died - and this time it is clearly murder. When the woman Twig loves falls under suspicion, Twig persuades Rees to stay in Salem and help solve the murder. Everyone Rees meets seems to be keeping some kind of secret, but could any of them actually have committed murder?

Members Reviews:

This was not the best book of the series

This was not the best book of the series. It dragged along until the last chapter, then it got suspenseful.

Great Story

Great story, keeps one wondering what is going on happen next.

Excellent, descriptive writer. So nice to read about Salem in the days when shipping

was a major contributor to the area.

This well-ploted, atmospheric continuation of the adventures of Will ...

This well-ploted, atmospheric continuation of the adventures of Will and Lydia Rees is a welcome addition to the series. Kuhns characters are vividly realized and the eighteenth century setting comes alive. This is a thoroughly enjoyable novel.

Delightful Mystery

A good story that keeps you wanting to read on and find out "who did it". A cliff hanger to the end without a lot of violence etc. Enjoyable mystery.

Look forward to more stories from Eleanor Kuhns.

Five Stars

Another good read.

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Title: The King's Spy

Author: Andrew Swanston

Narrator: David Thorpe

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-15

Publisher: Random House Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 37 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Summer 1643: England is at war with itself. King Charles I has fled London, his negotiations with Parliament in tatters. The country is consumed by bloodshed. For Thomas Hill, a man of letters quietly running a bookshop in the rural town of Romsey, knowledge of the war is limited to the rumours that reach the local inn.

When a stranger knocks on his door one night and informs him that the king's cryptographer has died, everything changes. Aware of Thomas' background as a mathematician and his expertise in codes and ciphers, the king has summoned him to his court in Oxford.

On arrival Thomas soon discovers that nothing at court is straightforward. There is evidence of a traitor in their midst. Brutal murder follows brutal murder. And when a vital message encrypted with a notoriously unbreakable code is intercepted, he must decipher it to reveal the king's betrayer and prevent the violent death that failure will surely bring.

Members Reviews:

Good historical piece

I liked the authors use of accurate history setting to place the character Thomas. The use of codes was real, in fact, separating what was real from fiction from this book would be difficult. The reader/performer did a great job with all of the voices, especially the king. The pace of the book was good and the writing was well done.

Simplistic and Contrived

Could not even finish it. Plot is silly and the author's conventions are contrived and distracting. To explain ciphers to the reader, he had one character explain it to another. Really? Could not generate any interest in the slow and plodding plot.

The narrator would have been fine without the theatrical attempt to create different voices for different characters.

Slow moving

The story is very slow moving and the information about decoding the ciphers excessive. I would not recommend the book.

excellent spy story

Good story. The codes sounded complicated but you don't really need to know them but just accept the explanation. The narrator read clearly and well

Gently compelling

Reminds me somehow of Reade. A good storyline with a double bluff as to who the real villain will turn out to be

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Title: The Spook Who Spoke Again

Subtitle: A Flavia Albia Short Story

Author: Lindsey Davis

Narrator: Thomas Judd

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-17-15

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 34 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Marcus Didius Alexander Postumus is a special boy. He is 12 or perhaps 11. He has two mothers and various possible fathers, so he worries who will take care of him. He is self-confident yet vulnerable, intelligent yet sinister. He knows not many people like him.

When his birth mother, Thalia the snake-dancer, takes him to live with her troupe of exotic performers, Postumus sees it as useful experience even though it involves him mucking out menagerie cages. No one anticipates how much havoc he will wreak. On his first day a tragedy occurs. No one else cares, so Postumus decides he alone must solve this crime and impose retribution on the guilty.

As son and brother to the famous investigators Falco and Albia, he knows murder is punished by execution. Postumus single-mindedly sets out to accomplish this, sidetracked by nothing, not even a rehearsal of Falco's legendary play The Spook Who Spoke....

Members Reviews:

Entertaining listen. Adequate story. Enjoyable narrator.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book, mostly. The storyline weakened as the tale drew to a close. I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator - Thomas Judd was perfect. I was reminded of how Falco may have sounded as a precocious young Roman. Or how T.D. Fitzgerald ("The Great Brain" series) would have been portrayed as an early Roman rather than growing up in early Utah. I would have preferred a longer tale with more development. Or a conclusion that seemed less rushed. However, I liked the listen; would purchase it again; would return for a sequel. Furthermore, this short will likely prove to be the seque I needed to begin the Flavian Alba series.

Little bit of Fun

Well, now we know. Falco and company lived on. Postumos the abandoned babe is growing up and shows his smarts and not so smarts as he visits his mother at the circus. Fun short ride.

Fun and fitting

An amusing short book from the perspective of an odd and intelligent boy. You have the fun of hearing events unfold from his POV but reinterpreting from your own adult perspective.

The boy's narration and amateur sleuthing reminded me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Well worth the fun at a few bucks, and a nice pivot on the other characters.

Wonderful

Written from the very realistic perspective of a 12 year old boy. Utterly hilarious in parts, very well read by Thomas Judd.

A book that I'll be happy to listen to several times. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Curious tale of the ferret in the Circus

Falco and Helena Justina are saints for raising this extraordinarily energetic and inventive young man. Postumous often made me laugh out loud -alternately too wise and observing for words, and then totally naive. Between Helena Justina's bedtime stories, and Falco just being himself, Postumous has obviously got the jump on every mystery and adventure cliche for the next two centuries.

The narration was perfect, and the story a gem.

And it was great to get a look at Falco from outside eyes!

Thank you, Ms Davis - thank you!

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Title: Ode to a Banker

Subtitle: Falco, Book 12

Author: Lindsey Davis

Narrator: Gordon Griffin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-12-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

"The first concern of an author is to do down his colleagues."

In the long, hot Roman summer of AD 74, Falco, private informer and spare-time poet, gives a reading for his family and friends. Things get out of hand, as usual. The event is taken over by Aurelius Chrysippus, a wealthy Greek banker and patron to a group of struggling writers, who offers to publish Falco's work. A visit to the Chrysippus scriptorium implicates Falco in a gruesome literary murder, so when commissioned to investigate, Falco is forced to accept.

Lindsey Davis' twelfth novel wittily explores Roman publishing and banking, taking us from the jealousies of authorship and the mire of patronage to the darker financial world, where default can have fatal consequences.

Critic Reviews:

"Davis's writing zings with fun." (Daily Mail)

Members Reviews:

Narrator lets it down.

The setting is interesting and colourful, but it's read in a rather bland, characterless way - more BBC Newsreader of the last century at an elocution lesson than Falco of the Aventine, although the narration does warm up a wee bit as the tale goes on. Perhaps not the most convincing denouement but then Falco's "body in the library" story wouldn't be the classic 20s/30s "snobbery with violence" tale, would it?

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Title: Plague

Author: C. C. Humphreys

Narrator: C. C. Humphreys

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-15

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

London, May 1665. On a dark road outside London, a simple robbery goes horribly wrong when the gentlemanly highwayman, William Coke, discovers that his intended victims have been brutally slaughtered. Suspected of the murders, Coke is forced into an uneasy alliance with the man who pursues him--the relentless thief-taker, Pitman.

Together they seek the killer and uncover a conspiracy that reaches from the glittering, debauched court of King Charles to the worst slum in the city, St .Giles in the Fields. But there's another murderer moving through the slums, the taverns, and the palaces, slipping under the doorways of the rich. A mass murderer. Plague.

Members Reviews:

Excellent

Any additional comments?

An interesting and exciting book. I hope there will be more books with these characters. I generally avoid audiobooks read by their authors but in this case the author actually is a very good narrator.

Brilliant and colourful.

With kings and cripples, rats and rotters, highwaymen and loose women, youd never think a lethal virus could be so much fun!

Kept me enthralled

Thoroughly enjoyed this! C C Humphreys is superb at narration. As he knows his characters he manages to bring them alive through voice and expression. Definitely recommend this and would love to hear C C Humphreys narrate more of his work.

brilliant

Couldn't put it down,engaging narrative, captivating story. Really enjoyable,would have liked it to be longer.

Almost as good as Company of Liars

Would you listen to Plague again? Why?

Probably not, but I'm not one to return to novels.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Captain Coke of course - such a superb character and darn good bloke.

What does C. C. Humphreys bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

Great that this was read by the author, he really put his heart and soul into it. These days I really prefer audio books.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Bring out your dead !

Any additional comments?

Great story that really gets on with it and is a romp through plague infested London. Loved every minute and was sorry when it ended.

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Title: The Honest Folk of Guadeloupe

Subtitle: An Anne Marie Laveaud Mystery

Author: Timothy Williams

Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-13-15

Publisher: Recorded Books

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

April 1990, Guadeloupe: The body white female French tourist has been discovered on a nudist beach. The victim's remains offer no clues about her final hours. What turned this woman's vacation in paradise into a final nightmare? French-Algerian judge Anne Marie Laveau is assigned the high-profile case as a top priority. As always, the story of a murdered white woman has attracted the attention of international media. The economy of Guadeloupe, so dependent on the tourist industry, could suffer a terrible hit if this case isn't brought under control with some quick, impressive police work.

Members Reviews:

Flat mystery filled with racial politics

Before reading The Honest Folk of Guadaloupe, I read the first book about Anne Marie Laveaud,Another Sun. Unfortunately, it was not beneficial to be more familiar with the character as I was even more irritated with her tiresome personality and the disjointed or even rambling style of writing the author employed. But most of all, I felt the mystery element fell flat.

Another Sun takes place in 1980, and The Honest Folk of Guadaloupe in 1990. In between, Laveaud seems to have had a basically uneventful life and the high profile cases she is assigned to in each are, apparently, the only time periods worth reporting on. Her break-up with her husband occurs in Another Sun, where she discovers her pregnancy with her daughter. In the interim, she stays in Guadaloupe. When we meet her again, she is suffering from yet another mysterious physical ailment (although this is not played up nearly as much as it was in Another Sun) and personal drama (her relationship with a married man) while she investigates the death of a young woman: her (intact) corpse is found lying on the beach with no identification.

Her investigation consists of talking to seemingly everyone on the island in order to determine what happened: who is the woman who is found dead, why was she there, and how did she die. Laveaud is herself a "pied noir" (French, born in Algeria) of paternal Jewish ancestry and a transplant to Guadaloupe, as well as the mother of two mixed children with her ex-husband; she has a high-school aged son and a ten year old daughter who appear only a few times in the text but perhaps more frequently in her thoughts. While you might think all these experiences would make her somewhat open minded or slow to stereotype, in fact, she is quite color-conscious and quick to categorize. She makes this claim: "One thing to define people by their color; it's quite another to judge them because of their color" (p 176). Throughout the book, she is indeed quick to define people by their color, which even takes the form of "outing" someone as not "truly" white, despite her pale skin, because of the brownish tinge to a certain two parts of her chest skin revealed when her shirt is off (apparently I cannot name the body part here) and prominent rear end. In fact, the bottom, particularly the black female bottom, is a recurrent theme throughout this book. Discussions about "steatopygous" abound:

"You realized she was of mixed blood?"

Madame Lecurieux laughed. "Her backside's not a white girl's."

"Steatopygous." Anne Marie smiled.