Listen to Best Sellers Audiobooks in Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

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Title: The Amateur Executioner

Subtitle: Enoch Hale Meets Sherlock Holmes

Author: Dan Andriacco, Kieran McMullen

Narrator: Martyn Clements

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-05-14

Publisher: Apley Media

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

London, 1920: Boston-bred Enoch Hale, working as a reporter for the Central News Syndicate, arrives on the scene shortly after a music-hall escape artist is found hanging from the ceiling in his dressing room. What at first appears to be a suicide turns out to be murder...the first of several using the same modus operandi. What's the connecting factor among all the victims? Or isn't there one? That's what the dogged journalist Hale aims to find out. Covering the Hangman Murders brings him into contact with a diverse cast of witnesses and interview subjects that include Winston Churchill, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Alfred Hitchcock, and Ezra Pound. Hale, whose best friend in London is the chain-smoking poet and banker T.S. (Tom) Eliot even makes a pilgrimage to the Sussex Downs to get an opinion on the case from the great detective Sherlock Holmes. The trip is in vain, but he eventually does meet Holmes in a most surprising encounter. Through it all there is another mystery, which perhaps goes to the mystery of the human heart. What is the lovely music-hall singer Sadie Briggs concealing from Hale - just her past or also her present?

Members Reviews:

A good idea, badly done.

What did you like most about The Amateur Executioner?

I really liked the idea of having factual characters from history rubbing shoulders with the fictional. I thought the Authors handled that really well

What other book might you compare The Amateur Executioner to, and why?

As it has a lot of characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories, including the man himself, I guess it joins the ranks of Sherlock fiction out there.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Martyn Clements?

I'm afraid not. He has to be one of the worst narrators I've ever heard. A robot could have read with more expression and the man can't do accents to save his life. It says something for the book that I was able to keep listening in spite of him.

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

It's not that type of story.

Any additional comments?

This was a really great idea and I liked the tongue-in-cheek way it was written, but the revilations at the end just didn't make sense to me and the narrator was dreadful, so all in all, a disappointing read.

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Title: The Winter Garden

Author: Jane Thynne

Narrator: Julie Teal

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-01-14

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Berlin in 1937 radiates glamour and ambition. Anna Hansen, a bride-to-be, is at one of Hitler's notorious Nazi Bride Schools.

When she is brutally murdered Clara Vine, an undercover British Intelligence agent and Annas friend, is disturbed by news of her death. Clara must work to find the truth and send it back to London. It is a dangerous path she treads, and it will take everything she has to survive.

Critic Reviews:

"[T]he crosscurrents and dangers of the build-up to war are established with expertise and not a little menace. Terrific." (Sunday Times on Black Roses)

"[Its] exploration of the Third Reichs bizarre attitude to women gives it an original take on Nazi Germany." (Mail on Sunday on Black Roses)

Members Reviews:

Was impressed

Not my usual genre but I thought it had good write ups so gave it a go. was really pleased I did because I thoroughly enjoyed this book in all aspects. Believable, good pace, interesting characters, interesting historical snippets, good story line and I was left wanting more.

It has also got me interested in the history of Germany and i'll be looking now for similar reads.

Great attention to detail throughout

I read book one of the trilogy initially Black Roses and found its historical attention to detail was excellent. The author really recreates the time and the historical aspects to a high standard. I thought the narrator was good and this aided the story. I found the character of Clara so dull she is possibly sleep inducing. She seems to go around everywhere contribute nothing to the discussions going on as she is 'listening' so that she can relay information back to her 'spy master' I don't understand why she is being invited to these parties as with her not talking and interacting it is difficult to understand her value or contribution.

If you are looking for a book with characters who develop during the book then I would suggest you reconsider this one. However if you want serious attention to detail surrounding all characters then this book may not be for you

Enjoyable but a bit drawn out

It was fascinating learning about the lead up to the war. The reference to real people and the wrapping of the fiction around the facts added a great dimension to the story. Unfortunately it blurred the suspense. Could do with a bit more about the characters, the murder and a little less description.

Snippets Of Wow Factor, Then Gone!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoyed some of the book a great deal. Some was tortuous. The bride school was the setting that introduced the plot. The convenient death of the two young women, introduced the mystery. How did our heroine ever become a spy? Why did nothing happen to Mary? I felt that it was all too easy, in a regime that was already laying down foundations for the fear and horror that was to come. They really didn't see how dishevelled she was?!

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending was insipid and happy ever after?

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

I felt that Julie Teal was perfect for the narration, though her American accent was weak.

Did The Winter Garden inspire you to do anything?

Yes, I wanted to set the record straight! Rewrite it! I know it was fiction, but it set itself up as more.

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Title: The Muscovy Chain

Subtitle: Thomas the Falconer, Book 7

Author: John Pilkington

Narrator: Jeremy Clyde

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-31-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A Thomas the Falconer Mystery.

1596. Sir Robert Vicary is to host an important guest, Grigori Stanic, the ambassador of distant Muscovy, and Thomas the Falconer is called on to entertain the Russian party. The ambassador is to make a magnificent gift to Boris Godunov, brother-in-law to the feeble Tsar Feodor: A priceless gold chain. But no sooner has it arrived than it is stolen. So begins Thomas hunt for The Muscovy Chain...

Members Reviews:

one of my favorite books in this series

one of my favorite books in this series! I hope John Pilkington will write several more books about Thomas the Falconer.

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Title: Floats the Dark Shadow

Author: Yves Fey

Narrator: Hollie Jackson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-11-14

Publisher: Gayle Feyrer

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Young American painter Theodora Faraday struggles to become an artist in Belle Époque Paris. She's tasted the champagne of success, illustrating poems for the Revenants, a group of poets led by her adored cousin, Averill. When children she knows vanish mysteriously, Theo confronts Inspecteur Michel Devaux who suspects the Revenants are involved. Theo refuses to believe the killer could be a friend-could be the man she loves. Classic detection and occult revelation lead Michel and Theo through the dark underbelly of Paris, from catacombs to asylums, to the obscene ritual of a Black Mass. Following the maze of clues they discover the murderer believes he is the reincarnation of the most evil serial killer in the history of France-Gilles de Rais. Once Joan of Arc's lieutenant, after her death he plunged into an orgy of evil. The Church burned him at the stake for heresy, sorcery, and the depraved murder of hundreds of peasant children. Whether deranged mind or demonic passion incite him, the killer must be found before he strikes again.

Members Reviews:

Not My Genre: But Captivating

If you could sum up Floats the Dark Shadow in three words, what would they be?

This is a dark and creepy murder-mystery novel set in 19th century Paris. It's not the type of fiction I normally gravitate towards, but listening to it almost constantly on a cross-country road trip, we found we were drawn to the well-drawn characters and intricate plot.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is very complicated. You must pay attention and are rewarded by surprising twists.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

We listened to this story for a lot of miles, almost one-sitting. It's probably the best way to experience it so that you can keep track of the characters and their twists.

Dark and Wonderfully Atmospheric!

Floats the Dark Shadow is a beautifully written story that is dark, disturbing and sensual as a tale of love and art against the backdrop of madness and murder. The portions told from the perspective of the killer, believing he is the reincarnation of Gilles de Rais, are beyond chilling and made me feel like I was actually within the mind of a madman. Following Theo and Inspector Devaux as they both try to uncover who is kidnapping, torturing and killing innocent children was thrilling and I can honestly say I did not see the eventual revelation coming!

My only complaint with Floats the Dark Shadow deals with the format and not the story at all, which I loved. I listened to the audiobook version of the story and given the many French names, the accents put on by the narrator and the fact that most of the characters sounded alike made it hard to keep up with the intricate plotlines and differentiate between the characters. Being that this story is a mystery to unravel the killer I found this frustrating and confusing at times.

With this being said, the descriptions of Paris and the surrounding countryside are breathtaking and really transport the reader/listener to Belle Epoque Paris. Theo is by far my favorite character as I found her to be well developed and admirable in her originality, determination and kindness.

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Title: A Burnable Book

Author: Bruce Holsinger

Narrator: Tim Bruce

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-30-14

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A stunning debut historical thriller set in the turbulent 14th century, for fans of C. J. Sansom, The Name of the Rose, and An Instance of the Fingerpost.

London, 1385: A city of shadows and fear, in a kingdom ruled by the headstrong young King Richard II, haunted by the spectre of revolt. A place of poetry and prophecy, where power is bought by blood. For John Gower, part-time poet and full-time trader in information, secrets are his currency. When close confidante and fellow poet Geoffrey Chaucer calls in an old debt, Gower cannot refuse.The request is simple: Track down a missing book.

It should be easy for a man of Gower's talents, who knows the back alleys of Southwark as intimately as the courts and palaces of Westminster. But what Gower does not know is that this book has already caused one murder, and that its contents could destroy his life. Because its words are behind the highest treason - a conspiracy to kill the king and reduce his reign to ashes.

Critic Reviews:

A murder, a verse and a whore; the prologue of Bruce Holsinger`s A Burnable Book draws the reader in and does not let go. A deep understanding of the period combines with sophisticated writing to create a richly imagined world. Excellent historical fiction. (Harry Sidebottom, bestselling author of the Warrior of Rome series) a fascinating overview of pre-Renaissance London at its best and worst. A highly literate thriller from medievalist Holsinger. (Kirkus Reviews)Medieval England never tasted so rich nor smelled so foul as in this descriptive and intricately layered mystery. Holsinger is at his best describing the everyday lives and privations of the lower classes. He succeeds in elevating the missing manuscript genre to new heights that will entertain readers of both fiction and nonfiction. (Library Journal)Holsinger isa fantastic historical novelist.This book has everything - Chaucer, cryptography, murder, Katherine Swynford, the Southwark stews, English royalty, prophecy. It's that rare thing: a well-written, historically accurate thriller. (Historical Fiction Notebook)Everything you want in a work of historical fiction: fascinating, rich in period detail, and propelled by a compulsively engaging story. Even better, it's clever and witty a superb entertainment. (David Liss, Edgar Award-winning author of A Conspiracy of Paper and The Twelfth Enchantment)

Members Reviews:

Fabulous and well researched

What did you like most about A Burnable Book?

A rollicking good read about a man we can empathise with. Characters are believable and you grow to like them. It's also interesting to cloak Chaucer with contemporaries and background, and it focuses on a period I'm really interested in. Having lived in Kent in a village with it's church dedicated to St Dunstan...and had a daughter who went to uni at Goldsmiths College - deep in the Southwark stews.. it's the right book for me, well written and narrated - I highly recommend it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

You can't get passed John Gower- very much like Mantel's Cromwell, but without the same extent of royal patronage. You can never get passed his history, or how he deals with his issues with sight and investigation.

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Title: The Ghost and Mrs Jeffries

Subtitle: Mrs Jeffries, Book 3

Author: Emily Brightwell

Narrator: Deryn Edwards

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-13-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

'Witherspoon sighed. He'd so hoped that 1887 would be a good year, one that wouldn't have people murdering one another every time one turned around.'

This charming series of Victorian murder mysteries features mild-mannered Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard and, more importantly, Mrs Jeffries, his housekeeper. A policeman's widow herself, her quick wits allow her to nudge the Inspector in the right direction to solve the crime.

Early in the new year, Mrs. Hodges attends her first séance and the medium foresees her death. That same night, the prediction comes true, and Scotland Yard's Inspector Witherspoon, is on the case. As ever, his housekeeper, Mrs Jeffries, is observing and coming to her conclusions.

Members Reviews:

Well done Mrs Jeffries

Another good cosy crime. As always Mrs Jeffries and the rest of the staff and friends help the Inspector solve the crime. The narrator sounds the way I expect Mrs Jeffries to sound and she keeps the story rolling along at a good pace. I have really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one.

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Title: Triptych

Subtitle: A Mystery

Author: Margit Liesche

Narrator: Terri McMahon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-15-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Budapest, 1956. In the darkest year of Hungary's modern history, a national uprising against Soviet occupiers and their reign of terrorist underway. Eleven-year-old Évike and her firebrand mother steal deep into battle zones in support of civilian freedom fighters, armed only with primitive weapons and desperate courage against the heavy artillery of trained Russian troops. When taken in for interrogation by the secret police, little Évike spins a story to deflect attention from her mother's revolutionary activities - a story that will irrevocably alter many lives and reach its tentacles, thirty years later, into the life of Ildiko Palmay.

Chicago, 1986. Ildiko is a thirty-seven-year-old librarian and ESL teacher, the American-born daughter of Hungarian refugees. She is caught in a web of guilt and regret over her mother's mystifying death. Unsettled by her life and her romantic failures, she finds herself suddenly and unexpectedly drawn back to her roots - first to the Hungarian neighborhood of her youth in Chicago, and eventually to the Russian-occupied city of Budapest. Along the way, she meets a magnetic man who may not be what he seems and uncovers a trail of secrets and betrayals that eventually intersects with the tangled knot of the mother-daughter participants in the revolution.

Triptych is the suspenseful unfolding of two parallel stories of mother and daughter relationships forged in the brutalities of the 1956 Hungarian revolution - a tale about the corrosive power of secrets and, ultimately, the healing power of forgiveness.

Members Reviews:

Strong on History, Light on Mystery

I was given a signed copy of this book by a Hungarian ESL student. As an ESL teacher in the suburbs of Chicago who likes mysteries, I hoped this would be right up my alley. My student also told me that I would learn a lot about her country.

This was true, as I knew nothing about the communist occupation of Hungary, and the history lesson was one of the pros I take away from this story. The depictions of the Hungarian uprising of '56 are very detailed, and I actually enjoyed the flashbacks to 1956 more than the present day story of Ildikó.

Liesche has mastered the art of showing rather than telling, and I can tell that she's done her research and traveled to the places she describes in Hungary, as well as the way she describes photographs, people, and the triptych needlepoint that serves as the basis of one of the story's mysteries.

But this book was also a difficult read for me. It's chock full of difficult-to-pronounce character names and phrases, and a pronunciation guide at the front or back of the book would have been helpful.

Nearly every character in the book has an accent in the form of broken English:

âMy father, he say the look of terror on motherâs face when she tell this, he never can forget. After, his will to live is gone. A man who never before has taken a drink, now he cannot stop. Then, January 1956, he die also. Maybe alcohol it played a part but, yes, his heart it was broke.â

As an ESL teacher myself, you would think I'd be used to accents, omitted articles, and a lack of contractions, but reading poor grammar and syntax for a whole book is too much, especially when the characters can't use simple past tense in one sentence but then switch to past perfect tense the next.

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Title: The Renegades

Author: Ray Hogan

Narrator: Jeff Harding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-13

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Pursued by a posse out for blood, was he doomed to hang for another man's crime?

The hangman's noose was waiting for Bart Foraker unless he could reach the safety of the Mexican border. Wanted for a crime he didn't commit, Bart swore he'd come back to clear his name. Right now, escape was the only thing on his mind.

Then he found Meg Swope, sole survivor of a bloody Indian massacre. Honour-bound to see her to her uncle's Colorado homestead, Bart galloped back into danger - with a lynch-crazy posse hot on his tail, and a price on his head that set every bounty hunter's gun against him

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Title: Zombies at Tiffany's

Author: Sam Stone

Narrator: Stephanie Cannon, Kaleo Griffith

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-13

Publisher: Spokenworld Audio/Ladbroke Audio Ltd

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Kat Lightfoot thought that getting a job at the famed Tiffany's store in New York would be the end to her problems...she has money, new friends, and there's even an inventor working there who develops new weapons from clockwork, and who cuts diamonds with a strange powered light. This is 1862, after all, and such things are the wonder of the age.

But then events take a turn for the worse: men and women wander the streets talking of 'the darkness'; bodies vanish from morgues across town; and random, bloody attacks on innocent people take place in broad daylight. Soon Kat and her friends are fighting for their lives against a horde of infected people, with only their wits and ingenuity to help them.

A steampunked story of diamonds, chutzpah, death and horror from the blood-drenched pen of Sam Stone.

Members Reviews:

Steampunk Zombies!!! Isn't that enough?!?

Another fantastic book from Sam Stone, complete with strong, capable female characters, a great feeling of place and time, and of course zombies. Sam is not afraid to get right in there and be gory when she needs to and at the same time she imbues her characters with such heart and soul. Can't wait for the next one!

Enjoyable

This book I found enjoyable, although it seemed a little more 'vanilla' than I expected. The characters are vibrant and make me wish for the next story!

Zombies, Compliments of the Darkness

The Darkness starts its assault on the killing fields of the Civil War and migrates North with the zombified bodies of soldiers. One location is New York City, mostly populated in 1862 by ladies and those men too old to fight. The heroine in the city is Kat Lightfoot, a lady at heart and a backbone of a warrior. She takes a job at the famous Tiffany's to help with the household of her mother and sister Sally while her brother Henry is off at the war. The job is great and the people who work there range from interesting to frustrating. She even finds a cat in the weirdest place, inside a safe. Life would be fine, except for strange stories appearing in the newspapers about violent assaults by the citizens, animals attacking humans, and bodies disappearing from the morgue. Demented people rant about the darkness and want to be fed, their food is human. Very soon the city is overtaken by the Darkness and the attention of the undead is Tiffany's.

At this point in the story by Sam Stone we find the survivors from various walks of life. Kat. Gerald Levy, the manager. His staff of ladies. The nouveau riche Rocky and his lady Marlene and bodyguard. A confederate looking for his wife. The mysterious George Pepper with the cat-headed cane who knows more than he says. The enemy is outside banging on the doors and some less than desirable people are huddled inside.

You will find ZAT a very unusual zombie novel. In one way, it follows the usual formula we already know - hoards of the undead and those seeking to stay alive, eventually to escape. Sam Stone adds little touches of the unique with a zombie group consciousness, wonderous weapons before their time, and the true meaning of why we have cats in this world, other than being just furry little pets who are strongly independent. From the first time zombies appeared and grew in their genre they have evolved in the minds of the writers.

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Title: The Mastersinger from Minsk

Subtitle: An Inspector Herman Preiss Mystery

Author: Morley Torgov

Narrator: Jason Culp

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-10-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

It is late March 1868. In Munich, composer Richard Wagner is completing his new opera Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg. It has been a difficult few years for him, and much depends upon the success of this new work. Following the tense auditions, an anonymous note warns Wagner that the premiere will be the date of his ruination.

Enter Inspector Hermann Preiss, who discovers a complication. Her name is Cornelia Vanderhoute, and she claims to have been made pregnant after a typical, brief Wagner fling. A series of murders of people involved in the new production suggests Cornelia is carrying out a deadly program of revenge.

Even Wagner and his wife are threatened. Will Preiss succeed in discovering the writer of the note? Will he manage to prevent the murder of Wagner, and what will happen on the night of the premiere?

Editorial Reviews:

In book two of Morley Torgov's Inspector Hermann Preiss Mystery series, German composer Richard Wagner is completing Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg when he receives a letter that predicts his downfall during his opera's debut. A string of murders occur against members of the production as Preiss attempts to solve the mystery behind the letter and save Wagner's life. Jason Culp has an impressive acuity with Torgov's characters, portraying Wagner as obstinate and paranoid while giving Preiss a composed and unflappable steadfastness, and his ability to heighten the tension as the fateful day approaches makes this historical mystery a suspenseful delight.

Members Reviews:

Boring and Tedious

This could have been a good book, but it isn't. It has an excellent plot. The plot is great but the way the writer presents it, is tedious beyond belief.

The books goes off on tangents. At a dinner table, the most minute and trivial conversation is presented in detail, even when it has nothing to do with the story. The author includes quite a lot of detail about music and composers of the era which may not be to everyone's taste. For every little incident, it seems we get a long back story. And most tedious of all we are treated to the detective, Preiss, thoughts at great lengths and to his private life and loves at even great length. I got really sick of Preiss and his girl friend - they took up too much time in the book.

The narrator was not bad, but he had such poor material to work with, that at time he just seemed to drone on.