Black Summer

Washington Poe, Book 2

By: M. W. Craven

Narrated by: John Banks

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

After The Puppet Show, a new storm is coming....

Jared Keaton, chef to the stars. Charming. Charismatic. Psychopath....

He's currently serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of his daughter, Elizabeth. Her body was never found, and Keaton was convicted largely on the testimony of Detective Sergeant Washington Poe.  

So when a young woman staggers into a remote police station with irrefutable evidence that she is Elizabeth Keaton, Poe finds himself on the wrong end of an investigation, one that could cost him much more than his career.  

Helped by the only person he trusts, the brilliant but socially awkward Tilly Bradshaw, Poe races to answer the only question that matters: how can someone be both dead and alive at the same time?  

And then Elizabeth goes missing again - and all paths of investigation lead back to Poe.   

©2019 M. W. Craven (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

 "Dark, sharp and compelling." (Peter James) 

Just the kind of mystery I like

I’ve now listened to two of this author’s audiobooks and am eager to hear more.

The Best Audiobook that I have listened to this YEAR!

Not a five star rating, but a 5 million quid star rating. I listened to this book in one setting, while I was painting a portion of my upstairs house. The audiobook ended right when I finished cleaning up my paint brush and roller, and I’ve never had a better experience painting in my whole life, because of this audiobook. Mr. Craven has one incredible and creative mind to spin a tale as good as this one. I bought it with a credit, and I would urge anyone and everyone who enjoys a real crime mystery to listen to this OUTSTANDING book. I listen to an audiobook every two or three days, so around two or three audiobooks a week-times 52 weeks. And out of those 150 audiobooks that I’ve listened to this year, BLACK SUMMER is the best audiobook of the year.

Washington Poe is real

What I mean by the headline - is that Washington Poe is someone the listener can become emotionally involved with a the story unfolds. You can understand and laugh and cry with him as he goes through life solving mystery and weaving through everyday life of the station. Looking forward to the next book

A Rollercoaster Thriller

Once I started this intense, fast-paced thriller I couldn't stop. I finished it in one day.

M.W. Craven has written a story that will keep you guessing until the end. I can't wait for Book 3 of this series.

Hooked after just two books

After devouring the first two volumes of Detective Sargent Washington Poe’s Cumbrian adventures, I will have to ask JD Kirk and Angus King to make room for MW Craven and John Banks in my pantheon of perfect author/narrator pairings on Audible. This series has it all: compelling characters, especially in the flawed yet likeable maverick Poe, and his brilliant, socially awkward best friend Tilly Bradshaw, clever entertaining plots (that keep the reader on tenterhooks), perfect pacing that still allows for a rich tapestry of detail, and a profound sense of place in the wild beauty of Cumbria and its storied Lake Country. John Banks has a wonderful voice, and he effortlessly switches between speakers in dialogue, giving each character, including the female characters, a believable and unique voice. My only gripe was with the production…the beginnings of chapters seemed to be have been oddly choppy, the only reason I did not remove a star from my overall rating was because of the excellence of the writing and narration, and it didn’t seem fair to punish Craven and Banks for the bad editing. I hope to see this error corrected in future instalments.

So well written!

4.5 This book is so smart and so well written! Once again, it grabs you from the very beginning and does not let go. There are so many twists and turns and a great ending. Love it!

An excellent listen!

Such a well crafted story, perfectly performed. Full of twists and memorable characters. Looking forward to more in the series.

Excellent

I loved it! Genius. I just may have a new favorite series. I can’t wait to listen to the next one!

Excellent work

Great Series , hurry up and make book 3 available please, great character development, funny laugh out loud, with a a creep factor of 10++++ , as a Chef of 35 years , I could totally relate , kinda scary

So glad to have found this series!

After the first Washington Poe book, this second one did not disappoint. Surprises and thrills and great characters