Listen to Best Sellers Audiobooks in Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

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Title: The Salisbury Manuscript

Author: Philip Gooden

Narrator: Tim Bruce

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-23-09

Publisher: Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In the fog-shrouded autumn of 1873 a man dies violently while searching a burial chamber on the outskirts of the city of Salisbury. At the same time Tom Ansell, a young lawyer, arrives from London to receive a manuscript from one of the Cathedral Canons.

Felix Slater wants the compromising memoirs of his late father to be locked away until after his own death. But Slater's death comes much sooner than expected, and it is Tom who discovers the clergyman's body and comes under suspicion for his murder. The manuscript has disappeared. To clear himself, Tom must go in search of the real culprit.

Critic Reviews:

"The witty narrative, laced with puns and word play so popular with this period,makes this an enjoayble racy tale." (Sunday Telegraph)

Members Reviews:

clever, better than average Victorian mystery

-the kind in which setting and atmosphere are as important as plot. Very well narrated - Bruce voices the tale almost tongue-in-cheek. If Trollope had turned his hand to mystery, it might have turned out like this novel-- Set in a Cathedral town, it's sprinkled with late Victorian gentlemen turning their hands to natural science, ambitious clerics, dissolute gentry hanging on to the trappings of an earlier time, and a villain Thomas Hardy could have sketched.

Strictly Victorian

I am sorry that i could not get into this story and found it stiff and very Victorian in flavour. The atmosphere was well evoked of fog and oddly behaved characters but it all seemed so wooden.

In conclusion it was sadly uninteresting and difficult to become involved in the characters and the story.

poor

a very disappointing laborious read with drags on and which lacks direction. a real disappointment

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Title: Azincourt

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Narrator: Trevor White

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-04-08

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Agincourt, fought on October 25th 1415, on St Crispin's Day, is one of the best known battles, in part through the brilliant depiction of it in Shakespeare's Henry V, in part because it was a brilliant and unexpected English victory and in part because it was the first battle won by the use of the longbow. This was a weapon developed in this form only by the English - parishes were forced to train boys from as young as eight daily - and enabled them to dominate the European battlefields for the rest of the century.

Lively historical characters abound on all sides but in Bernard Cornwell's hands the fictional characters, horsemen, archers, nobles, peasants are authentic and vivid, and the hour by hour view of the battle is dramatic and gripping.

Members Reviews:

Should have waited for the unabridged version.

Bernard Cornwall is an incredible writer. The King Alfred series (Lords of the North, Pale Horseman, The last Kingdom and finally Sword song) and then the Grail series (Harlequin, Vagabond and Heretic with Thomas of Hookton) are simply the very best.

I agree with the last reviewer that Azincourt was a bit of a rework on the Grail story following a similar archer's tale as it did with Thomas of Hookton. However, it is I'm sure a great story in its entirety, but not cut up and abridged. I'll buy it again when the unabridged version comes out and I'm sure enjoy it far more. My advice, wait until then.

Standard Cornwall Fare

Standard Cornwall fare - battles, history, blood, girls. And battles. If you like him, its another offering, Well narrated.

naration

This really is another fantastic book by Bernard Cornwall, unfortunatly let down by bad naration. should have got Tim Piggot smith to do it, as in "The Warlord Chronicles"

Mmmmmm Love it!!!!!!

Azincourt, written as if the author was there. You are taken into the thick of it another great bookl

Disappointing

Essentially a reworking of the plot lines from his earlier books to fit an Azincourt theme. Nothing new here.

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Title: Last Nocturne

Author: Marjorie Eccles

Narrator: Terry Wale

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-16-08

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

These are the questions that are faced by Chief Inspector Lamb and his sergeant, Cogan. Neither victim left a note behind, and it appears that nothing untoward had occurred in the weeks preceding their deaths. But something must have led them to take such drastic action, and Lamb intends to find out what it was.

Highly evocative of the bustling streets of London and Vienna in the early 20th century, Last Nocturne is an intriguing mystery of passion, secrets and lies.

Members Reviews:

Better than good but not great.

LAST NOCTURNE (Police Proc- CI Lamb, England/Vienna, Edwardian) - G+

Eccles, Marjorie - standalone

Allison & Busby, Ltd., UK Hardcover, 2008 - ISBN: 9780749080792

First Sentence: The child wakes in panic and sits bolt upright up in bed, clutching the cotton stuff of her nightgown to her chest.

Art gallery owner Eliot Martagon seemed to be content with his life. Theo Benton is an up-and-coming artist, some of whose paintings are displayed in Martagon's gallery. Each man apparently commits suicide but neither leaves a note.

The circumstances, and the results of one autopsy, raise enough questions in the mind of Chief Inspector Lamb to investigate the reasons for these acts. The common person, in the investigation, seems to be Mrs. Isobel Amberley and event which took place in Vienna.

There was a lot in this book that didn't feel historically accurate to me. Not so much the basic history, but the social considerations seemed off. Still in all, it was a good story.

I did like the characters, particularly Isobel, and was intrigued by the way in which the story unfolded. It took me awhile to get into the story and figure out the link between the various characters. The form is certainly not that of a traditional police procedural. Once the pieces started coming together, I was captivated and didn't stop reading until the end.

It was a better-than-good read, but, not having written this immediately after reading the book, I did find it hard to remember. I don't see myself reading more of her work

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Title: The Crimson Cavalier

Author: Mary Andrea Clarke

Narrator: Anne Cater

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-27-08

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 18 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

But the late 18th century is a dangerous time. Sir Robert Foster, a prominent but unpopular citizen, is murdered close to Georgiana's home, apparently killed by the Crimson Cavalier, a colourful and infamous highwayman. Georgiana has her own reasons to be certain the Cavalier is not to blame, and to Edward's chagrin, she sets out to track down the real culprit.

Members Reviews:

The narrator is great

The narrator of this book is great but the story is pretty predictable. The mystery isn't very interesting and none of the twists and turns of the story or the characters are much of a surprise. Still, because of the narrator, it's quite enjoyable if you aren't expecting too much.

Great Regency Novel

This is a great regency novel and is a fun listen. The reader is excellent and really bring the characters to life. Although, unlike most Regency novels, this does not end with the heroine riding away in a curricle with the hero -- there are hints that this might happen. This is a regency novel with a twist as the wealthy heroine masquerades as a highwayman at night just for the excitement. Highly recommended to all lovers of Regency period novels.

Bland

As I listened to this book, at times wishing for the ability to skim some sections, it occurred to me that this story would benefit from a Young Adult label. While many young adults might find it as unexciting as I did, it is an undemanding sort of book which would please some parents looking for a book that has little violence or sexual content.

The first thing that tells the reader that he or she is not in any type of accurate historical mystery is the highwayman's nom de guerre of The Crimson Cavalier. The sad fact is that most highwaymen, if they did have nicknames, did not have romantic ones. They had nicknames like Galloping Dick or Blueskin. Second, except for a tedious amount of thieves' cant spoken in certain scenes, the cadence of speech does not readily suggest the Regency period. Finally, the motivation of the characters is weak at best.

As for the narration-- Ann Cater has a pleasant voice and makes the character voices sound different enough to distinguish them although there's not much of a period feel to her accents.

One problem with audio versions of written books is that it is unforgiving of writerly tics that an author may employ. In this case there seems to be long conversations with the servants where the servant's side of the conversation is usually made up of "Yes, miss" said repeatedly.

If you are looking for a pleasantly narrated, undemanding sort of story with little explicit grue and no explicit sex then this is the book for you.

Creme de La Crime Period Piece

This is a fun and engaging novel from Mary Andrea Clarke. Set in Pre-Regency London, The Crimson Cavalier combines gallantry, humour, and skulduggery in an eminently readable debut. Once I got into it I couldn't put it down. Let's hope that the Crimson Cavalier will ride again!

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Title: The Anatomy of Deception

Author: Lawrence Goldstone

Narrator: David Ackroyd

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-29-08

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 12 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In the morgue of a Philadelphia hospital, a group of physicians open a coffin and uncover the corpse of a beautiful young woman. What they see takes their breath away. Within days, one of them strongly suspects that he knows the woman's identity - and the horrifying events that led to her death. But in this richly atmospheric novel, an ingenious blend of history, suspense, and early forensic science, the most compelling chapter is yet to come, as young Ephraim Carroll is plunged into a maze of murder, secrets and unimaginable crimes.

Dr. Ephraim Carroll came to Philadelphia to study with a leading professor, the brilliant William Osler, believing that he would gain the power to save countless lives. As America hurtles toward a new century, medicine is changing rapidly, in part due to the legalization of autopsy - a crime only a few years before. But Carroll and his mentor are at odds over what they glimpsed that morning in the hospital's Dead House. And when a second mysterious death is determined to have been a ruthless murder, Carroll can feel the darkness gathering around him, and he ignites an investigation of his own.

Soon he is moving between the realm of elite medicine, Philadelphia high society, and a teeming badlands of criminality and sexual depravity along the city's fetid waterfront. With a wealthy, seductive woman clouding his vision, the controversial artist Thomas Eakins sowing scandal, and the secrets of the nation's powerful surgeons unraveling around him, Carroll is forced to confront an agonizing moral choice: between exposing a killer, undoing a wrong, and, quite possibly, protecting the future of medicine itself.

Critic Reviews:

"Compelling....[A] top-notch historical page-turner." (Publishers Weekly)

"You'll be gripped by this haunting and atmospheric thriller." (Tess Gerritsen)

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Title: Angels Dining at the Ritz

Author: John Gardner

Narrator: Patience Tomlinson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-27-07

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

1942: Suzie Mountford, along with her boss and lover Detective Chief Superintendent Tommy Livermore, is on her way to investigate a triple murder: an entire family ruthlessly killed, their faces blasted off with a shotgun. The brutal murders of the Ascoli family are of more than usual interest to the Reserve Squad. Max Ascoli was the barrister who defended Golly Goldfinch, the facially deformed and mentally unstable freak who was captured using Suzie Mountford as a lure. As Suzie pursues a bemusing succession of leads in the current case, she once again confronts exceptional evil.

©2004 John Gardner; (P)2007 Isis Publishing Ltd

Members Reviews:

So-so

It wasn't bad, but I felt it could have been better. My expectation was that this would be a 1940's version of Elizabeth George's Thomas Lynley mysteries (there is that similarity of the aristocratic detective), but I didn't think Det. Livermore was all that likable. Mystery was okay, if somewhat predictable. The sub-plot was distracting. Grade = C

well designed puzzle

Great story line that kept me guessing until the end. Could not put it down. Well done!

Angels Dining a th Rizt

This was my first audio book and I enjoyed the story and would recommend

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Title: The Merchant's Partner

Author: Michael Jecks

Narrator: Michael Tudor Barnes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-22-07

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Sir Baldwin Furnshill, once a Knight Templar, has doubts about the boy's guilt. He enlists his friend Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford Castle, in the hunt for a murderer. But what they seek lies somewhere on the darker side of Wefford, beneath layers of jealousy, suspicion, and hatred - and the buried truth could prove fatal to anyone who disturbs it.

Members Reviews:

Great read

Wonderful characters and cracking story twists and turns. Totally immersed in medieval England Simon and Baldwin now feel like old friends

Too much snow

Oh dear... It really takes something for me to write a negative comment about a book. This is the first book by this author that I have listened to and it was very dull. I anticipated something along the lines of Ellis Peters with great characters, charm, humour, some peril and historical accuracy. Instead I found myself wondering when the story was going to start... There was a murder, a lot of trudging backwards and forwards to people's houses in the snow and people getting cold. I couldn't develop empathy or interest with any of the characters and while I might try another if I could pick it up for 10p in a jumble sale I will not be spending any more on an audio version of a book in this series...

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Title: The Spirit and the Skull

Author: J. M. Hayes

Narrator: Barry Press

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-05-14

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Murder is unthinkable to the People - a Paleolithic tribe migrating across Alaska and becoming some of the first undocumented immigrants to enter the Americas. For them, murder isn't merely tragic, it's forbidden. Murder poisons the entire tribe and puts it at odds with nature, the Spirits, and the mighty Earth Mother. A murderer must be found and removed in order to put the world back in balance.

Raven is the aging Spirit Man to a band in which a member has been strangled with a garrote. Worse, evidence of witchcraft is linked to the killing - another terrible violation of the People's covenant with the Earth Mother and the Spirits. Raven isn't a Spirit Man because of sacredly held beliefs. He holds the position because his band needed someone to do so, and because he needed to secure his place among them. Now the agnostic Spirit Man begins having dreams in which a stranger holds Raven's skull in his hands, and a woman claiming to be the Earth Mother - accepted by many followers - declares that only Raven can solve the crimes and restore the People to harmony. How will a man who doubts the authenticity of this goddess satisfy her demands? What if she and the dreams are real and successfully solving the crimes will result in Raven's imminent death? An impossible situation becomes even harder as Raven finds it increasingly likely the young woman he's falling in love with must be the guilty party.

Members Reviews:

Well Worth the Read

The Spirit and the Skull is one of those books I am not likely to forget, and is, therefore, well worth the read.

I should confess to a couple of things: first, I consider fellow writer Mike Hayes a good friend and second, judging by the number of times Iâve watched it, Never Cry Wolf may be my favorite movie of all timeâyes, that includes Casablanca. Both the movie and the novel show us, thorough the eyes of a first person âArcticâ narrator, what it might have been like to live in a land devoid of what we consider modern necessities.

Spirit takes us deeper by going back to when there was no choice. Wolf is the modern version. Both point the way to the same inescapable conclusion, that we must alter our relationship with Mother Earth or face extinction. What is really neat is that both accomplish the task without preaching or making unproven assumptions. They get the point across while entertaining us (especially evident in Spirit narratorâs wry sense of humor). The Spiritâs voice is not that of some drum-beating environmentalist predicting a doom that none of us will live long enough to witness, but a down-to-earth fellow member of our early ancestors, whoâthrough trickery and magicâmanages to transport himself to the doomed future.

Does this mean The Spirit and the Skull is without imperfections? Nothing is, but the most glaring, for me, is that the novel is much shorter than I would like it to be. There is so much more I would like to know. Some of it is answered indirectly in the âAfterword,â but there are omissions, such as character development of Ice Eyes and Perfect Woman that I would dearly love to know about. But this may be a positive thing as well, leaving the reader (this one, at least) wanting more.

I assign the summaries to other reviewers, saying simply, again, that this book is well worth your time to read.

EJM

Author of Jet Age Man

Hayes' books before and enjoyed them.

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Title: Death Marks Time in Trampas

Author: T. T. Flynn

Narrator: Jeff Harding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-11-18

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

This Western quintet brings together five of Flynn's stories, combining mystery, suspense and action, whilst introducing us to fascinating characters, such as the Yaqui Kid.

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Title: Bloody Head

Author: Dane Coolidge

Narrator: Jeff Harding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-24-16

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Beau McCutcheon and his Texan pals are feeling a saloon fight when they join Captain Jack Hightower as he drives his herd.

There will be ill-fated love, rivalry and deadly challenges ahead.