Get the Most Popular Audiobooks in Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

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Title: Everybody's Somebody's Fool

Author: Ed Gorman

Narrator: Bronson Pinchot

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-15-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

There is a body in a gazebo, and the chief suspect is not long for this world.

Small-town lawyer and private detective Sam McCain is enjoying a cocktail party, dancing with a lovelier specimen than his five-foot-five-inch frame usually attracts, when the hostess confronts him with a problem the likes of which Good Housekeeping has never seen. There is a corpse in the backyard gazebo, and the party is definitely over.

The murdered girl was the twenty-year-old daughter of the town's Cadillac dealer, a troubled young woman with a self-destructive streak. The police focus their investigation on her drag-racing boyfriend, local bad boy David Egan, whom McCain agrees to defend. When Egan dies in a freak car accident, the case seems closed. But examining the hot rod shows a cut brake line - and a motive for a killing far more complicated than good girl gone bad.

Members Reviews:

Brilliant series from overlooked master storyteller!

This is a very special 'private eye' series build around a lawyer and special court investigator, Sam McCain, in a small town in the midwest (Iowa) in the fifties and sixties. I absolutely love this series for several reasons:

1. the wonderful immersion into a different time, spanning a decade from the late fifties to the late sixties. The descriptions are detailed, evocative, engaging and realistic. They are exceptionally well done.

2. The protagonist is a likeable average joe, who is easy to identify with and tells the stories in the first person. His back story is as engaging and interesting as the murder mysteries he gets involved in, and has become the main reason why I have become hooked on this series.

3. There are plenty of connections to the pop culture of the fifties and sixties, which is a bonus for any lover of music, books, cinema and culture of the period.

4. The mysteries are well crafted and keep you guessing until the end.

5. Every single one of the entries in these series is excellent without exception and well worth the read.

Give this a try, you won't regret it. I read all 9 books in 2 months and can't wait for the 10th entry, 'Riders' on the Storm', that will appear in October 2014! I hope Mr. Gorman gets the opportunity to write several more before he retires.

Five Stars

Read the whole series folks... It is great

Fun mystery fiction

This is a fun mystery novel. It's part of the Sam McCain series, which is set in Iowa in the 1950s and 1960s. One of the best things about the McCain novels is the portrait of small town life in that long ago era and the author's utilization of period details such as books, music, cars and current events.

In this book, small town lawyer and investigator, Sam McCain sets out to find a triple murderer. First he finds a girl's corpse in a gazebo at a party. Soon after, a James Dean wannabe and a cheating wife wind up dead. As McCain sets out to find the killer he encounters some of the best minor characters in genre literature--a local hippie writer, a ditzy secretary and a pair of Irish old maids. The best part of the book is a sensitive love story that Gorman pulls off with unusual compassion and understanding.

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Title: The Devil in the Marshalsea

Author: Antonia Hodgson

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-10-14

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 73 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

It's 1727. Tom Hawkins is damned if he's going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a country parson. Not for him a quiet life of prayer and propriety. His preference is for wine, women, and cards. But there's a sense of honor there too, and Tom won't pull family strings to get himself out of debt - not even when faced with the appalling horrors of London's notorious debtors' prison: The Marshalsea Gaol. Within moments of his arrival in the Marshalsea, Hawkins learns there's a murderer on the loose, a ghost is haunting the gaol, and that he'll have to scrounge up the money to pay for his food, bed, and drink. He's quick to accept an offer of free room and board from the mysterious Samuel Fleet-only to find out just hours later that it was Fleet's last roommate who turned up dead. Tom's choice is clear: get to the truth of the murder-or be the next to die.

Critic Reviews:

"[Hodson] conjures up scenes of Dickensian squalor and marries them to a crackerjack plot, in her impressive first novel. . . . Hodgson makes the stench, as well as the despair, almost palpable." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Well researched riveting historical fiction

I had been searching for new books narrated by John Lee - he is one of my favorite narrators - and found Marshalsea. I knew nothing about history of debtors prisons in England, so this book was educational as well as entertaining. The characters are well developed and believable. The author illuminates the complexity of human attachments and emotions, delivering a thoughtful description of inner "grayness" of souls. No one is perfect, every one is flawed in one way or another. I loved the book. It has a satisfying ending and the historical information is well researched.

Mixed Bag

The Devil in the Marshalsea had some very strong points and some very weak points, and some points that are very difficult for any author of his genre to escape with me. The strength is in the character building and the duality that Hodgson manages to create in almost every character, while still staying true to their individual natures. We really don't know who to suspect, who to like or dislike, or what the outcome and motive is going to be until the mystery is solved. Unfortunately, the solution to the mystery is a head-scratcher on a number of levels, and ultimately a letdown. The resolution of the mystery isn't the end of the story. Hodgson decided to spend the end of the story resolving some relationship lines, and that drags it out a bit, but it provided a couple more twists that weren't bad. The point that she couldn't escape with me is the "Scooby-Doo" feeling of murder mysteries, and hers having a Dickensian flare made it maybe a bit more pronounced for me.

Overall, I loved the characters, and missed them after I finished the book, but the story architecture had some serious issues. It was still an enjoyable read that I would probably recommend to someone who likes a mystery that has sufficient twists and very well-written dualities of character to keep it interesting enough to the end, with a warning that the ending can (but didn't for me) make the story feel like a waste of time in the "no way, really? I just read this whole story for >that

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Title: The Three Emperors

Subtitle: An Ethan Gage Adventure

Author: William Dietrich

Narrator: William Dufris, Carrington MacDuffie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-14

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 21 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Venice: Ethan Gage has escaped after surviving the naval battle of Trafalgar. His plan: To circumvent the French Empire and rescue his wife, Astiza, and son, Harry, from imprisonment by a ruthless mystic who seeks revenge for disfigurement, and from an evil dwarf alchemist who experiments with the occult on Prague's Golden Lane.

Using death as his ruse, Gage seeks an unlikely ally in the Jewish Napoleonic soldier Gideon Mandel, who saves Ethan's life at Austerlitz, and Gideon's father, Aaron, a rabbi whose knowledge of the legends of the Golem adds another layer to the hunt for the Brazen Head. The three must decipher clues from Durendal, the sword of Roland. Meanwhile, Astiza uses her own research to concoct an explosive escape and find a lost tomb, with their tormentors in relentless pursuit.

William Dietrich skillfully weaves intrigue, magic, romance, and danger in a historical thriller that sprints from the fury of the Napoleonic wars to the mystical puzzles of Central Europe, where a medieval machine promises power over the future.

Members Reviews:

I love the Ethan Gage Series

Would you consider the audio edition of The Three Emperors to be better than the print version?

Why would you ask me this question this is all preference and I prefer audible with books, such as these

Any additional comments?

I love the Ethan Gage serious, it's the new Indiana Jones, but even better!!! Love the historical fiction part, as well as all the other character development. The ONLY bummer is I'm about done with the series, only one more book to go...If you haven't read the Ethan Gage series, get on board, you'll love the adventure and ride...

Up there with the others

This books leaps from one adventure and historical event to the next without taking a breath in between. Good swashbuckling fun with dungeons, battles, sword play, musketry and death defying acts. Slightly different with using two narrators one being a woman, I found this a little difficult to warm to as it changed the pace. I also found the dungeon section slow moving and a little boring. The villains needed to be a little more human with perhaps comedy or a silly weakness thrown in but lets hope William Dietrich throws another Ehtan Gage Adventure together as if you are up to this book, you are probably hooked.

Now if you were to put this into a film interpretation, perhaps Matthew McConaughey would be perfect, unless he thinks he a little too old to play Ethan.

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Title: Murder

Author: Sarah Pinborough

Narrator: Steven Crossley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-01-14

Publisher: Whole Story Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 37 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The sequel to Mayhem, the first gripping Dr. Bond mystery. A gruesome horror story set on the cobbled streets of Victorian London....

Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, is still recovering from when Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of London - and a more malign enemy hid in his shadow. Bond and the others who worked on the gruesome case are still stalked by its legacies, both psychological and tangible. Now the bodies of children are being pulled from the Thames, and Bond is about to become inextricably linked with an uncanny, undying enemy.

Members Reviews:

Beware the Upir!!!

Any additional comments?

Reading the first installment of this tale of woe, "Mayhem," is a must if you want to understand what's going on. Very well-written, with fully realized characters who pay the price for the tastes of the evil entity moving through their lives. Truly a Victorian version of "Fallen," the creepy and tragic 1998 film starring Denzel Washington. Here a similarly evil force is offered as the covert perpetrator of the infamous Whitechapel/Ripper murders. Steven Crossley does a wonderful job as usual, although I wish he didn't read the one American character like John Wayne. Overall a really great read.

Thrillikng

This book was an excellent extension to the first book. The story and the narration was excellent.I look forward to reading more of her books. This is a must read.

Gruesome, creepy and satisfying

Any additional comments?

First of all you need to have read Mayhem to make any sense of this. The details and setting are believable and the characters convincing. It's a satisfying story mixing actual events with fiction. It is a bit bleak but overall I enjoyed it.

The narrator is good for a novel set in late Victorian England but his American accent isn't great.

The Mayhem Continues...

Where does Murder rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

It was very good. I wasn't really intending to listen to it at the time and put it on to remind myself of the world in which it's set as it's a sequel to Mayhem. I couldn't switch it off and now I've just finished it. Excellent.

What other book might you compare Murder to, and why?

It's a sequel to Mayhem so there's that but it's set in the familiar world of Victorian England, around the time of the Ripper and Torso murders. For that, I'd recommend: 'They All Love Jack' and 'The Autobiography of Jack The Ripper'.

Which character as performed by Steven Crossley was your favourite?

The main character, Dr Bond but also Andrews - though the whole cast was portrayed excellently.

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

I don't want to give anything away so I can't really respond other than to say the Author isn't afraid to kill her darlings.

Any additional comments?

Credit worthy indeed!

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Title: The Jingler's Luck

Subtitle: Thomas the Falconer, Book 6

Author: John Pilkington

Narrator: Jeremy Clyde

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-25-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Thomas's friend Ben Mallam, the streetwise jingler (a dealer in used horses) returns to aid him. After a run of bad luck, perhaps Ben's fortunes will change as he helps Thomas unravel a deadly plot which strikes at the very heart of Tudor England, threatening the security of the nation itself.

Members Reviews:

Great book!

All John Pilkington's books are well written, eminently readable, holds one's interest and develops characters that seem real. Thomas the Falconer is one of my favorite fictional protagonists. THE JINGLER'S LUCK is the latest in a fine series.

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Title: Forlorn River

Author: Zane Grey

Narrator: Jeff Harding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-30-14

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Determined to show his father what he can do, Ben Ide pursues a herd of wild horses, leading him to dangerous cattle thieves. His day of reckoning comes at the edge of Forlorn River, where his actions will make him an outcast or a hero.

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

Mighty fine story

Zane Grey at his finest

A good read for those of us Zane Grey fans. This is the prequel to Nevada.

Another great book by Zane Grey

I you like Zany Grey, this books for you.

Four Stars

Not as good as the sequel, Nevada, but ok

Four Stars

The book sent was brand new, and the story was true to Zane Grey's style.

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Title: Strong Spirits

Subtitle: A Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery, Book 1

Author: Alice Duncan

Narrator: Denice Stradling

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-29-14

Publisher: Alice Duncan

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 24 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In 1920s Pasadena, California, Daisy Gumm Majesty caters to the rich and famous as a medium who puts the "con" in conjurer. When she's blackmailed by Detective Sam Rotondo into spying on the wealthy Kincaid family, Daisy isn't quite sure what he's trying to sniff out. When Daisy gives Sam his own private reading, she tells him the spirits have a lot more in store for him. Original.

Members Reviews:

Fabulous Daisy!

Loved everything about this story. From Daisy's family life with a husband crippled by the war (her love for him is so sweet) to her work as a spiritualist. The story flows smoothly via the narrator Denice Stradling who brought the characters to life. Will be purchasing all of series!

excellent start to a very enjoyable series

daisy gumm, family, friends and clients always provide a fun low-key read and listen. this is a comeback series (comeback and listen) when you need to chill out and feel good.

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Title: The Kennedy Endeavor

Subtitle: The Presidential Series, Book 2

Author: Bob Mayer

Narrator: Jeffrey Kafer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-23-14

Publisher: Robert J Mayer

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Book 2 in the ntionally best-selling Presidential Series by West Point graduate, former Green Beret and New York Times best-selling Author Bob Mayer.

What is the Sword of Damocles that President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev developed in secret during the dark days of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

For 13 days in October 1963 the world came the closest to nuclear armageddon. On 22 November 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated. On the 25th of November, as Kennedys body lay in state at the Rotunda in Washington, Anastas Mikyoan, Khrushchevs top adviser, presented the Premiers condolences to Jacqueline Kennedy. She took Mikoyans hand in both hers and told him: "I am sure that Chairman Khrushchev and my husband could have been successful in the search for peace, and they were really striving for that. Now the Chairman must continue the agreed upon endeavor and bring it to completion."

On 12 October 1964, a Washington socialite named Mary Meyer was shot in the back of the head and through the heart at point-blank range. She had been married to a high-ranking CIA agent. More importantly, she had been carrying on an affair with President John F. Kennedy and was one of his most trusted friends, at his side through the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Mary Meyer kept a secret diary.

On 13 October 1964, the day after Mary Meyers murder, the Soviet Politburo forced Nikita Khrushchev to resign from power and put him under house arrest.

What was in Mary Meyers diary that caused her murder and Khrushchevs resignation? Why is it even more important today to find and decrypt it?

Today, in the foothills of Mount Ararat an operative makes a chilling discovery: six Jupiter Missiles dating back to the Cuban Missile Crisis. But only three of the nuclear warheads are present. Where are the other three?

Paul Ducharme and Evie Tolliver unveil a fail-safe type scenario brokered by President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev and race against time before the archaic Sword of Damocles initiates World War III.

Members Reviews:

Intriguing take for a follow up

Definitely not as good as the Jefferson allegiance but a decent sequel. It seemed to end abruptly though

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Title: A Christmas Hope

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Anne Perry

Narrator: Simon Prebble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-12-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 44 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A Christmas Hope is just as delectable, the gripping story of an unforgettable battle between goodness and evil in Victorian London - and a lonely woman's search for meaning in her life.

Claudine Burroughs, a volunteer in Hester Monk's clinic for sick and injured prostitutes, no longer expects closeness with her coldly ambitious husband and dreads the holidays. Then, at a glittering Yuletide gala, she meets the attractive poet Dai Tregarron, and suddenly her spirits lift. But an hour later, this fascinating man is enmeshed in a nightmare - accused of killing a young streetwalker who had been smuggled into the party.

Even though she suspects that an upper-class clique is quickly closing ranks to protect the real killer, Claudine and the clinic's disreputable bookkeeper, Squeaky Robinson, vow to do their utmost for Dai. It seems, however, that hypocritical London society would rather send an innocent poet to the gallows than expose the shocking truth about one of their own.

Nevertheless, it's the season of miracles, and Claudine and Squeaky finally see a glimmer of hope - not only for Dai but for an innocent young woman teetering on the brink of a lifetime of unhappiness. Anne Perry's heartwarming new holiday novel is a celebration of courage, faith, and love for all seasons.

Members Reviews:

Sad but Sweet

A little dry and slow-moving, but probably a more realistic view of the time period than you usually get with holiday historical fiction.

A real snoozer

I really wanted to like this book, but it was so dry and boring. The characters were all so stuffy and there were way too many of them to keep up with in this tiny little murder mystery. I couldn't get past the second hour of this novella.

Good Read

Enjoyed the historical mystery. Loved the way she intertwined the main character's life and the mystery!

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Title: The Nero Decree

Author: Gregory Lee

Narrator: Dick Hill

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-13

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

As the Nazis come to power in Germany, a violent argument over a secret key causes young Johann to lose the only parent he has left. Worse, it is his half-brother, Dieter, who commits this horrific act of betrayal. Though their fragile family bonds are irrevocably destroyed, the brothers paths are destined to cross again. Years later, in 1945, Hitlers army is on the verge of defeat as Soviet forces enter Germany. Hiding in plain sight, Johann works to save German lives, secretly despising the Führer to whom Dieter has sworn his allegiance. Yet now it is Dieter who holds a terrible secret that threatens not just Johann and his family, but an entire city unsuspecting of the enemy within. As Germany falls before the Allies merciless advance, Johann and Dieter are locked in their own furious battle while the fate of the entire city of Berlin rests in their hands.

Members Reviews:

Berlin and the Third Reich Crumble at the End of the War in Europe

Interesting story of two brothers - the older Dieter a cruel Gestapo officer who turns his intellectual stepfather, the younger Johann who changes his name, marries, and becomes a doctor serving on the eastern front. One night Dieter, horribly burned and unconscious, is brought into the field hospital as Johann operates on him, he realizes he must get back to Berlin and get his wife to the west.

The story tells what Berlin is like at the end of the war in Europe. Food and fuel shortages. Bombed-out buildings. Orphans. Neighbors turning in neighbors for food.

It's a good story. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell how well written the book was. The narrator was over the top melodramatic when reading narrative. The speaking voices for the men all sounded the same, unpleasant. The women also sounded the small, weak and whiny.

I think I would have enjoyed the print book more than I did the audio.