Malena

I am probably not the most reliable reviewer for this book as I would pay good money to listen to Benedict Cumberbatch reading from the Hoboken telephone directory. He just has a wonderful voice and uses it to great advantage voicing all sorts of characters in this classic mystery.
Yes, it is abridged, but a little Ben is better than none at all.
The story is well-plotted and full of interesting and eccentric arty types. This is the book where Alleyn first meets Troy, so it has that to recommend it, as well.
Thoroughly enjoyable.

This is book Two in the Aidy Westlake series of racing mysteries. I'd recommend listening to book One first because it's simply great, but you can start with this one, just as well.
As I said in my review of Did Not Finish, you do not need to be a racing fan to enjoy Hot Seat. It's a well-written seat-of-your-pants sort of mystery that keeps the reader guessing the whole way through.

There is a lot of intense action in this book, but it's never over the top with sex, swearing or violence. Only what's needed to carry the story forward.

I never like to give away plots, but suffice it to say that Aidy, his grandfather, Steve and his best friend, Dylan get themselves into and out of plenty of pickles. Pay attention, because things are not always what they seem in these books. That's half the fun of them.

I like this narrator, he brings a lot of depth to the characters and makes them easy to differentiate.

Can't wait for the next book in this series.

I've read several of Simon Wood's books in the past and enjoyed them. But, I'm not especially into cars or car racing, so it took me by surprise just how much I loved this book. The insider look at the racing world was fascinating. The characters were believable. The plot may seem pretty straight forward at first, but watch out for those twists and turns!

I don't want to give away too many details, but there is a scene near the end, where our heroes are in peril, that it so well-written, I was almost crying for them. And it was probably made more intense by hearing it verses just reading it. I kept thinking, "There is no way they can escape from this," but, well, you'll have to listen to find out if and how they do.

I think it says a lot about a series if you finish one book and immediately want to pick up the next one. I'm on my way to download book two, Hot Seat, as soon as I'm done with this review.

I also liked the narrator, who did a good job of distinguishing the characters and inhabiting Aidy's persona.

I would say if you like car racing, listen to this book. But even if you don't, it's a great story and well-worth checking out.

Once again, Lady Georgie is stuck at Castle Rannock with her miserly sister-in-law, Fig, making her life miserable and Christmas is just around the corner. So, why not take a job on a country estate in Devon, make a little money and get far, far away from Scotland? All is fine until local people start dying. But are these deaths accidents or murder?
Once again, Darcy is on hand to lend his simmering sensuality to mix and he does distract Georgie quite a bit as she goes about trying to figure out what's going on.
This is one of my favorites in the series. I just love Lady G's spunk and how wonderfully English these books always are. And there are always several laugh out loud incidents in any of the Royal Spyness books.
I loved this reader's ability to capture personalities so well with her intonations.

If you like Marcia Muller you will like this book. I have read only a few of her books and I don't remember liking those as much as I liked this one. Sharon McCone, the story's main P.I., is an enjoyable character. She is tough and smart, but very human, as well. There is quite a lot of her personal life in the book, but that didn't bother me or digress too much from the mystery.
I loved the mystery of what happened to the missing woman all those years ago. It kept me listening on and on, well past my bedtime.
If you don't know Marcia Muller's work, I think this would be a good introduction into the series. Just don't worry too much about all the family and friends you are introduced to in the beginning and you'll do fine.

If you like hard-boiled, gritty, fast-paced, violent thrillers, DO NOT buy this book. It is a traditional English cozy set in the Cotswolds and full of both typical and quirky English characters. Just the sort of book I love to read or listen to.
I liked the main character and amateur sleuth, Thea Osbourne, right from the start. Her adventure begins when she takes on a house-sitting job complete with dogs and sheep to look after. Following an unexpected scream in the night, an even more unexpected body turns up in the little pond on the property.
There were several scenes that were laugh out loud funny for me, including all the rules the owner writes down for poor Thea to follow.
The reading was well done.
I recommend this book and this reading to anyone who loves a more laid-back and less in your face mystery.

This book was a huge bestseller, so I wanted to listen to it and I'm glad I did. There are a lot of things to recommend it including the time period, which is 1950 England, and a rather intriguing mystery.
What I didn't like was the protagonist. She is obviously supposed to be a delightfully precocious 11-year-old, but to me she was just a self-centered know-it-all. And as she is the narrator, the reader (or listener) is stuck with this girl for the whole story.
One of my friends said that she approached the book as a fantasy, since no 11-year-old could know or do the things that Flavia does. Once I heard that, I could enjoy the book more. Let go of reality and go along with it, the way you would with a Harry Potter book.
Obviously there are other people (quite a lot of them) who really enjoyed this book and I'm glad they did. Not every book is for every one.
I thought this reader did a very good job of capturing Flavia's personality. I just wish it had been a nicer more believable personality to capture.

I like this series because it's set in Paris and because it keeps getting better with each new installment. Aimee is almost obsessed about finding out what happened to her mother in this book and that helps to flesh out her character. Of course, she takes her usually wrong turns before finally solving the mystery, but that's as much her signature as the couture thrift store fashions she wears.
Fans of this series should enjoy this book and this reading.

Once again Rhys Bowen has created a delightful clutch of characters- good and bad- who this time inhabit hotels and villas in Nice. Lady Georgiana is sent off in service to the queen and manages to tangle herself up in murder and mayhem.
The performance is spot on, with each character having a distinctive voice, so you'll have no trouble telling them apart.
If you are a fan of this series, Naughty in Nice is a must read (or listen to.)

I really enjoy Ann Parker's Silver Rush mysteries. This is number 3. I am probably able to appreciate it more than those who haven't read the first two, but I still think this book stands up on it's own. Saloon owner, Inez Stannert, is a wonderful character, especially to those of us (of a certain age) who remember Miss Kitty from the old Gunsmoke TV series. Parker always seems to come up with new and interesting characters. In this book Zelda stands out as a woman of determination who goes so far as to prostitute herself for the good of her family.
The narrator of this Audible book did a good job of bringing the story and characters to life.