Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Smoke Signal  By  cover art

Smoke Signal

By: Marie Benedict, Kate Quinn
Narrated by: Nicola Barber, Saskia Maarleveld
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.95

Buy for $14.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Interview: Marie Benedict and Kate Quinn Champion History's Hidden Heroines

'I wanted to tell about the women... many of them who were brilliant and unseen...after they were gone.'
-0.00
  • Smoke Signal
  • 'I wanted to tell about the women... many of them who were brilliant and unseen...after they were gone.'

About the Creator

Kate Quinn is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She wrote four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, and The Rose Code. All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs.

About the Creator

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a commercial litigator. A graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law, she is also the author of the New York Times best seller The Only Woman in the Room, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and Lady Clementine, all of which have been translated into multiple languages. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

About the Performer

Narrator of over 400 audiobooks, Saskia Maarleveld is listed as one of AudioFile Magazine’s best voices of 2015, 2016, and 2018. Maarleveld is an Audie and SOVAS award-winning narrator, including a nomination for Best Female Narrator for her performance in The Alice Network. Raised in New Zealand and France, now living in New York, Maarleveld switches seamlessly between accents, often heard narrating in British, Australian, and countless others, in addition to her American accent.

About the Performer

Nicola Barber’s voice can be heard on television and radio commercials, popular video games such as World of Warcraft, and even in talking toys. Twice chosen as an AudioFile Magazine Best Voice, her work has garnered multiple Earphones Awards, four Audie Awards, a Library Journal starred review, and a SOVAS Award. Nicola voices the animation in each episode of Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas on HBO, and she dubbed the lead role on Netflix’s dystopian drama The Barrier. Raised in England and Scotland, Nicola immigrated to the US South and lived in the Midwest before finding her home in New York City. If you can’t find her in the recording studio, she’s probably dancing on roller skates in Central Park.

Featured Article: The Best Short Story Audiobooks to Immerse Yourself In Now


Short stories have had a huge impact on the canon of great literature. In fact, some of history's most revered novelists—Ernest Hemingway, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Louisa May Alcott among them—wrote short stories, which make excellent introductions to their work. Plus, these bite-size listens are the perfect way to get a big dose of literary inspiration even when you’re short on time. To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of listens.

What listeners say about Smoke Signal

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    994
  • 4 Stars
    655
  • 3 Stars
    536
  • 2 Stars
    175
  • 1 Stars
    70
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,275
  • 4 Stars
    520
  • 3 Stars
    270
  • 2 Stars
    70
  • 1 Stars
    36
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    871
  • 4 Stars
    532
  • 3 Stars
    491
  • 2 Stars
    168
  • 1 Stars
    96

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Read The Rose Code first!

I listened to this once and thought it was just ok. Then I read The Rose Code and this all made far more sense. It cleverly doesn’t give away anything in RC but if you know the story and know essentially who the spy is it all fits together beautifully!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

it was cute

The story was cute but it was hard to keep up with bouncing back and forth through time. But overall I enjoyed it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Such fun following The Rose Code!

I recently completed The Rose Code and read Marie Benedict’s The Mystery of Mrs. Christie earlier this year. This novella was such a fun dance of fresh and slightly older memories to have characters and their vibrant personalities come back to life, and together! I thought this tiptoe towards a full fledge partnership was fabulous fun and I do hope Quinn and Benedict carry on!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Quite Okay

I'm a bit torn on what I feel about this story.

On one hand, I like that it wants to show how women during the time of war, helped each other to help the cause. These type of stories were often placed at the backside of history, and were devalued because of how men treated and perceived women back then.

On the other hand, despite its short length, it could've shown more. I like the conversations, but the depth of their work were shrouded that it ended up into more questions.

Maybe, this short can be treated as a promotion or glimpse of what these authors have previously written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Intriguing!

I love this story, a quick and enjoyable read. It has a clever little ending.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Too short; made me want more

Interesting little story. I found the beginning a bit awkward but it got better quickly. Agatha Christie has become such a mysterious person over the years and Osla seems the same. Now I must read THE ROSE CODE. Excellent narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Left Me Wanting More

This was such a great little listen that it left me wishing it was an entire book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Better than expected

I'm not an Agatha Christie fan because I like my crime bloody and dirty. But this short "radio play" was well done and believable. It's a spy story, not a whodunit. The British can pull this off. I recommend it as a change of pace from the numerous unrewarding, unsolved true crime podcasts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Smoke Signals

This was a clever audio, short but fun. Having read the Red Rose, it was easy to follow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Rose Code reprise...

I guess Kate Quinn had lots more to say about Osla - after reading The Rose Code, this was just a continuation with a famous writer tossed in. Glad it was short (and free).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful