Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: When the Carny Comes to Town, Volume 3

Author: Elaine Orr

Narrator: Michael Spence

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-13-13

Publisher: Lifelong Dreams Publishing

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Jolie never liked the idea of sitting on the plank above the dunk tank for the food pantry's fundraiser at the carnival. Even so, she never dreamed what Scoobie saw that day would leave him battling for his life. Scoobie's ex-con mother shows up and there's a murder to add to the mix. Soon, Jolie is doing a lot more than appraising real estate - though even that is complicated by home burglars. Jolie reluctantly seeks help from her nemesis - reporter George Winters - and tries to stay a step ahead of a kidnapper and murderer so she can take charge of her world again. The police wish she'd butt out and Aunt Madge is furious that Jolie insists on talking to a couple shady characters on her own.

Soon, even the guests at Aunt Madge's Cozy Corner Bed and Breakfast are in the way. Can Jolie keep her friends safe, and will Scoobie recover enough to say what happened to him and plan another silly fundraiser?

Members Reviews:

Things get personal to Jolie

When the Carny Comes to Town, the third Jolie Gentil book by Elaine Orr, opens with a St. Patricks Day carnival in which Jolie sits in a dunk tank to raise money for the food pantry that she is in charge of. After drying off from the cold water, Jolie and her friends explore the carnival when Scooby, her one friend from the year she lived in Ocean Alley with her Aunt Madge during high school, notices a carny with whom he exchanges bad looks. Then, the next day the local police sergeant finds Jolie with her other local friend, Ramona, and rushes them to the hospital because Scooby has been attacked and fallen off the boardwalk, with bad brain injuries and potentially serious back damage. Then, a couple days after Scoobys attack, his mother shows up, shocking everyone because she has dropped out of Scoobys life after abusing and neglecting him as a child. The woman is drunk and not once visits Scooby, despite appearing at the hospital. But then, after disappearing for a week, her murdered body turns up. In anger at the way his mother had treated him, Scooby demands that Jolie stay away from looking into her death, but Jolie cant leave alone.

This book has a darker feel than the previous two in the series. It deals with a more dangerous type of violence, with drug dealers as suspects. The cruel attack on Scooby and the details surrounding his criminal mother have less fun than the other books but are still riveting. We learn more about Scoobys background too.

The audio version of this book is performed by Michael Spence, and the version really set off a couple of my pet peeves. The narrator of the book is a 28-year-old woman. So why would the publisher ever select a man with an older sounding voice to speak the part of a young woman? The disconnect is so strange that it makes the book much less enjoyable than it could be. Spence is a good narrator, but he just doesnt fit this book. My other pet peeve is books that try to give sound effects. This one gives a slightly distorted sound to indicate when Jolie is voicing her thoughts instead of speaking aloud. This comes across as annoying, and a decent narrator does not need sound effects to differentiate between thought and speech.

When the Carny Comes to Town is a good addition to the Jolie Gentil series, though I liked the previous book, Rekindling Motives, much better. I suspect that the choice of the narrator had an effect on my lesser opinion of the book.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Now You See It

Author: Stuart M. Kaminsky

Narrator: Jim Meskimen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-26-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Illusion gets more deadly than reality on Toby Peters's twenty-fourth outing from Edgar-winning author Stuart M. Kaminsky. A string of star-studded successes - most recently with Cary Grant in To Catch a Spy and an edgy Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierced - has won Tinseltown detective Toby Peters a bit of local celebrity, and that's something his new client, Harry Blackstone, understands.

At the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, Blackstone is billed as the World's Greatest Living Magician. Of course, should the giant buzz saw in the climax to Blackstone's act cut the beautiful young woman in fact in half, his sterling reputation would be ruined. And someone among the Los Angeles Friends of Magic is decidedly intent upon ruining it - whatever the price, including the life of Toby's prime suspect.

Unfortunately, with the corpse count mounting, the evidence is pointing increasingly to Toby's client as the man behind the murders. As always, adding to the wackiness of Toby's investigation are the ungentle dentist Sheldon Minck, wrestler-poet Jeremy Butler, the suave, small-statured Swiss multilingualist Gunter Wherthman, and daffy Mrs. Plaut. But to solve the case, Toby finds he needs someone else - the dashing star of the movie A Thousand and One Nights, Cornel Wilde.

Members Reviews:

So Sad to Say Goodbye

Its my last Toby Peters book, after reading all 24 of them in a row. This was very good, with all the humor and suspense one comes to expect of the series, and I'll dearly miss travelling through the streets and environs of 1940's Hollywood. Toby did leave California a few times - went to Chicago in YOU BET YOUR LIFE, off to New York City in SMART MOVES and then , on a cross- country road trip from Philadelphia,Pa westward with none other than W.C. Fields in my personal favorite of the series, A FATAL GLASS OF BEER! All of the books are enjoyable, and I envy the new reader to discover these gems! In the meantime, I think I'll pick up my copy of BULLET FOR A STAR, and start all over again !

Cotton Canday

I've finished the whole series and loved them all. Brain candy, but tasty.

That Old Toby Peters Magic

"Now You See It" is the 24th volume in Kaminsky's always reliable Toby Peters series about a Hollywood P.I. who constantly finds himself on cases in the service of some of the most notable stars of that decade. True, the books are heavily formulaic, but it's a good formula and one that movie buffs and nostalgia freaks will always enjoy. If this latest entry has a flaw, it's that the celebrity du jour is one of Kaminsky's lesser entries. I bow to no one in my respect for the prestidigitorial skills of Harry Blackstone (whose work I saw on the old "Ed Sullivan" show) but, compared with people like Bogart, Cooper, Bette Davis, Groucho Marx and Eleanor Roosevelt, he is definitely minor league. Making up for this deficiency are the chapter headings which feature a series of easy-to-do tricks culled from (apparently) a Blackstone radio series.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: A Murder in Passing

Subtitle: A Sam Blackman Mystery, Book 4

Author: Mark de Castrique

Narrator: William Dufris

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-10-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

In Asheville, North Carolina, the Blackman & Robertson Detective Agency faces a disturbing reality: no clients. Sam Blackman finds inactivity intolerable, so when partner Nakayla Robertson suggests a mushroom hunt on the site of a historic freed-slave commune called the Kingdom of the Happy Land, Sam reluctantly agrees. When he stumbles across a skeleton, his adventure mushrooms into a case of murder. But it isnt his case - he has no client - and the local authorities tell him to butt out.

Then Marsha Montgomery comes to the office asking Sam and Nakayla to investigate a burglary at her mothers home. In 1967 someone stole a rifle and a photograph of Marshas mother, grandmother, and great grandmother taken in 1932 by renowned photographer Doris Ulmann. Marshas visit is no coincidence: The photograph was taken at the Kingdom of the Happy Land. Sams being played, but why?

When Marshas 85-year-old mother, Lucille, is arrested for murder, Sam has his answer and his case. Is the skeleton that of Jimmy Lang - Lucilles lover and Marshas white father - who disappeared in 1967? Jimmys brother says no; Jimmy left to seek his fortune after Lucille rejected his marriage proposal. But others stood to gain from Jimmys disappearance.

A veil of betrayal and deceit hides a killer desperate to protect a dark secret, and no one - not even Sam - is safe from the deadly consequences.

Members Reviews:

great installment

. In this fourth outing of Iraqi war veteran Sam Blackman and his partner Nakayla Robertson, Mark de Castrique has done another exemplary job in wrapping a bit of North Carolina history inside an intriguing mystery.

The fourth B & R mystery (see The Sandburg Connection, Blackman's Coffin and The Fitzgerald Ruse) is as good as the others.

I enjoyed the living history which is shown by the people from the nursing home. I love the Captain and all the rest. The Mayor is a treasure

I have listened to all of his books and this one will not disappoint.. It was quick and enjoyable.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Stolen Blue

Subtitle: A Claire Reynier Mystery, Book 1

Author: Judith Van Gieson

Narrator: Meredith Mitchell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-01-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Claire Reynier is thrilled when her old friend Burke Lovell donates his collection of valuable books to the university where she works as a librarian. But the morning after she arrives at his ranch in the remote region known as "the Blue" to collect the bequest, Burke is found dead. His daughter Mariah - recently discovered - admits to helping the ailing man commit suicide. Mariah has also been named his principal heir, much to the shock of his other children. Upon Claires return to work, a box of valuable titles from Burkes collection is stolen, and Claire realizes that the theft may hold clues to a much more sinister mystery....

Members Reviews:

Fun Librarian book

fFirst I was drawn into this book by the voice of the reader, It sounds SWestern. Then all the biblio addiction details hooked me. The mystery - decent enough with a surprise twict I was not expecting.

A very pleasant surprise

This was a very pleasant surprise. There is an interesting plot with strong character development. The mystery sharp with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing the end. I hope that all of the books in this series are made available soon.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Death of the Demon

Subtitle: A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel, Book 3

Author: Anne Holt

Narrator: Kate Reading

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 27 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

From Edgar Award finalist Anne Holt comes the captivating third book in the series featuring the brilliant and tough police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen, who must investigate the grisly murder of an orphanage director.

In an orphanage outside Oslo, a 12-year-old boy is causing havoc. The institutions aging director, Agnes Vestavik, sees something chilling in Olavs eyes: sheer hatred. When Vestavik is found murdered, stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife - with Olav nowhere to be found - the case goes to maverick investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen, recently promoted to superintendent in the Oslo police. Hanne suspects that Olav witnessed the murder and fled, and she orders an investigation of the orphanage staff. But Hanne is hopeless at delegating and sharing responsibilities. Only Hannes supreme deductive skills keep her on the job, but this is one case where her instincts are leading her astray.

Meanwhile,Olav makes his way to his once-unfit mothers apartment in central Oslo. When police finally catch up to him, Olav will lead them on a chase that will upend all of their assumptions. A dark and captivating new chapter in this brilliant, rollicking series, Death of the Demon examines that murky intersection between crime and justice.

Members Reviews:

What You Think is Apparent is Only Skin Deep.

This novel is the reason I read mysteries, especially Nordic ones. It has everything I love in a good whodunit - twists and turns, good characterization, no red herrings, and an ending that knocked my socks off.

It is the first novel I've read by Anne Holt but it is not the last. She may be the best Scandinavian mystery writer I've read, and I've read a lot. I also am impressed with the quality of Anne Bruce's seamless translation. The book had me in its grips throughout and I had a hard time getting to sleep because I didn't want to put it down.

The story both simple and complex. The director of a foster home in Oslo, Norway is found with a knife in her heart. Hanne Wilhelmsen, Chief Inspector, and her team are directed to solve the crime. Hanne is new at her job and is settling in but finding it difficult to delegate to others. The main suspects are the usual - the husband who stands to inherit everything, the lover who has been stealing from the dead woman, the employees of the foster home, and even the children who reside there. One child in particular, a twelve year old boy who has run away, is on the police radar.

The police very carefully interview all the possible suspects and the motives become more and more difficult to sort out? There are several people who could have benefited from the death but who had the opportunity to commit the crime? Is the solution an easy one or do the investigators need to dig deeper?

I found the novel easy to follow despite the number of characters in it. I especially enjoyed how the story of Olav Hakonsen, a twelve year-old boy in the foster home, along with his mother's first person narrative, are interspersed in the mystery. This is a fine example of how a great mystery should be constructed. Kudos to Ms. Holt!

Holt writes very well and is a good story-teller, hence 3 stars

Let me explain the Three-Star rating. Holt writes very well and is a good story-teller, hence 3 stars.

Hören Sie sich dieses volle Hörbuch kostenlos bei https://hotaudiobook.com

Titel: Rote Grütze mit Schuss

Autor:: Krischan Koch

Erzähler: Bjarne Mädel

Format: Unabridged

Spieldauer: 6 hrs and 14 mins

Sprache: Deutsch

Veröffentlichungsdatum: 04-19-13

Herausgeber: Der Audio Verlag

Bewertung: 4.5 von 5 von 3 Stimmen

Kategorien: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Zusammenfassung des Herausgebers:

Fredenbüll, in Nordfriesland: Polizeiobermeister Thies Detlefsen ist verzweifelt. Wenn in seinem Kaff nicht endlich mal ein Verbrechen geschieht, muss seine kleine Polizeistation schließen und ihm droht die Versetzung nach Husum. Also hofft er bei jedem toten Schaf auf einen militanten Ökoaktivisten und in jedem fremden Auto vermutet er Terroristen. Dann liegt eines Morgens Biobauer Brodersen tot im eigenen Mähdrescher. Thies ist schockiert. Ist sein Fredenbüll etwa doch ein Hort brutalster Kriminalität? Zum Glück kommt Unterstützung durch die attraktive Kommissarin Nicole Stappenbek aus Kiel.

©2013 Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag (P)2013 DAV

Kritik Bewertungen:

Koch versteht es ausgezeichnet, skurrile Charaktere mit hintergründigem Witz zu zeichnen.

-- Brigitte

Es riecht nach Meer und Abenteuer.

-- Braunschweiger Zeitung

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Death of a Hussy

Subtitle: Hamish Macbeth, Book 5

Author: M. C. Beaton

Narrator: David Monteath

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-04-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

A tart with a heart of stone

Maggie Baird is neither kind nor generous, but she is very, very rich. So when her car catches fire, with her inside it, there are five likely candidates for the role of murderer. All five had been houseguests at her luxurious Highlands home - Maggies timid niece and four former lovers, one of whom Maggie had intended to pick for a husband. All five are utterly broke and all had ample opportunity to tamper with Maggies car. So finding out, who did it will require all of PC Hamish Macbeths extraordinary common sense and insight into human nature; especially when the killer appears to be the wrong person entirely.

M. C. Beaton is the author of the best-selling Agatha Raisin series. She has also written several Regency romance series. She lives between Paris and the Cotswolds.

Members Reviews:

Hamish the hero

If you could sum up Death of a Hussy in three words, what would they be?

amusing, intriguing, delightful

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hamish as he's so much fun and so honest

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The confrontation between Hamish and the suspects

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

the book made me laugh

Any additional comments?

Another superb book and always so wonderfully read by the narrator

Not the voice I hear in my head when reading.

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

I felt the narrator's performance quite poor, although he did improve as time went on -or I got used to him. I did not enjoy the vocal characterisations, which seemed contrived, and his voice droned a lot of the time, suggesting little empathy with the story.

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

I did not see the murderer coming. The secondary climax did not really fit into the book and would have been better as the start of another.

What didnt you like about David Monteaths performance?

Almost everything. I would not buy another book with this narrator.

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

I was disappointed with the book. MacBeth played a tiny part in it and there was too much build-up before the murder occurred, something like two-thirds of the book. It did not follow the pattern if the previous four and was less satisfying as a result.

Any additional comments?

M C Beaton's book are not high literature but a few hours worth of distraction. With any short story, the plot is important and this one seemed unbalanced. My enjoyment was not helped by a narrator whose performance frequently jarred with the flow and I found myself having to repeat some parts to take it all in. Not one I can recommend, even to a hardened Beaton fa.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: A Flower in the Desert

Author: Walter Satterthwait

Narrator: Traber Burns

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-22-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

When television star Roy Alonzo is accused by his ex-wife of sexually abusing their young daughter, Roy hires Santa Fe private investigator Joshua Croft to find mother and daughter, clear his name, and save his career. The trail leads from Beverly Hills to a commune in northern New Mexico, with mysteries proliferating as the journey goes on.

Members Reviews:

Lots of fun

Having once lived in Santa Fe, I enjoyed the familiar sights, sounds and geography of a place I dearly loved and still love today. The storyline was well-designed, logical, believable and tied up the loose ends. I will read more Joshua Croft in the future.

Excellent expose of American involvement in death squads in El Salvador.

This one was very good. Excellent expose of American involvement with oppressive right wing government in El Salvador, also of child abuse. Very good. I'll try another. Glad I didn't skip this one. I reviewed another of his I didn't like.

A Flower in the Desert: a Josh Croft Mystery, or the Search for a runaway Wife and Daughter

I just finished it. It was a page turner. Though not wanting to analyze it as though I were in lit class, I would say that Satterthwait"s depiction of Josh Croft is three dimensional. He gives him a sense of humor that makes him likeable. There is much suspense, and the whole time I was involved in the book, I felt the need to find Melissa and her small daughter Winona. So, yes I'd give it 5 stars and would definitely recommend it to a friend.

A flower in the desert

Fantastic book. Great story, so many twists and turns. Hard to keep up with. Strong characters, great highs and lows. Wonderful to read.

Good book

He is a great writer

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Dark Coulee

Subtitle: Claire Watkins, Book 2

Author: Mary Logue

Narrator: Joyce Bean

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-21-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 62 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Claire Watkins, deputy sheriff of Pepin County, Wisconsin, makes a strong second showing that ought to gain her new fans. In spite of recurrent panic attacks associated with the death of her husband, Claire is starting to find the peace and security she's been seeking for herself and her 10-year-old daughter, Meg, since leaving her promising career with the St. Paul-Minneapolis police department for the small bluff town of St. Antoine.

One summer evening, while her sister Bridget takes care of Meg, Claire and Rich Haggard, a local pheasant farmer she's been dating for three months, attend a street dance in nearby Little Rock. Just as the fun gets under way, screams for help stop the music and put romance on hold. Someone has stabbed well-liked farmer Jed Spitzler in the chest. Members of the close-knit St. Antoine community join Jed's children in searching for Jed's killer.

Long-hidden town secrets are revealed as Claire seeks the truth and continues to struggle with her own demons.

Members Reviews:

Excellent second book in this series!

I read the first book in this series, and felt that while it was good, it had room for improvement. I am delighted to say that in this second book, Mary Logue has absolutely hit her stride! This one is very good!

The story involves Claire Watkins, a deputy sheriff who has moved to a small Wisconsin county with her daughter to get away from a situation (and memories) in which her husband was killed. She is trying to settle in, but dealing with panic attacks and grief from her former losses.

In this book, a man is killed who seems to have been disliked by many. However, the story of who he is, what exactly his past actions have been, are never viewed the same way by various citizens and family who knew him. Part of this story is solving the crime--but another part--and what makes this book so good--is the unraveling of who the victim was, and who truly had reason to hate him and want him dead (and why). They author has done a great job of keeping the reader/listener wondering about the circumstances all the way through, and has told a very poignant story of the man's children, who are left to try to hold themselves together after his death.

But, READER BEWARE: this author has done what annoyingly happens in too many series--she has used the previous (first) book as part of the back story in the present one, thus revealing a lot of what happened in the first. So if you have any ideas about reading the first one (and I think it is worth doing so, for a better understanding of the characters in this one), please read it first. However, for the reader who would not choose to do so--I'm sure this is a good stand-alone mystery.

I am very impressed with the way the author has met the potential that seemed to be present in the first book. The first has a good story, is a good read, but felt to me as though it left a couple of characters not very well drawn or their exact places understood (to me, anyway). It is still a good read--and this one is an excellent read (listen). I was not overly fond of the narrator in the first one and she is also better in this one. If the rest of the books are as good as this one, I eagerly look forward to hearing them! Highly recommend!

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Devil's Bait

Author: Jeffrey J Mariotte

Narrator: Tamara A McDaniel

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-22-13

Publisher: ILT Publishing

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Jessie Dawn Cutler is a relationship banker, a single woman in Manhattan, climbing the rungs of the high-finance ladder on her way to the top.

Morgan Byrd is an aging mercenary soldier, suffering a crisis of conscience as profound as his bank account is low.

When Jessie's biggest client is revealed as a criminal and a killer - protected from within and outside the bank - she becomes a target. But Jessie is courageous, resourceful, and when she teams up with Morgan, it's just possible that both of their lives can be saved...

Members Reviews:

Bad book

Not a good taste book does not teach good moral values or give one the joy in life. Do not waste your time.

Boring story and narrator

What was most disappointing about Jeffrey J Mariottes story?

This was a predictable and often repeated story line. The main character tells one reporter who is killed and she doesn't think to go back and tell the New York times the story again with the caution the first reporter was killed. Also this author seems to have forgotten there is a internet. The character could have recorded or written the story and uploaded it to fifty newspapers, TV stations, CNN, Fox News, you tube, etc. Using the plot device that the character can't get the story out is ludicrous in the modern world.

Would you be willing to try another one of Tamara A McDaniels performances?

no

What character would you cut from The Devil's Bait?

all of them