Do you remember
the scene in the classic film version of Murder on the Orient Express, where Hercule Poirot gets ready for bed? Wearing snakeskin-print silk pajamas (but of course!), he dons a hairnet and a mustache snood, then meticulously applies hand cream and gloves. One can’t help but conclude that the great detective’s nightly routine is as essential for the little gray cells as it is for his magnificent mustache. As the kids say, it’s a mood.I thought a lot about self-care as I recuperated from back-to-back illnesses that left me in bed for nearly two weeks (the reason this newsletter is so late in getting to you). It was awful, except when it wasn’t. I gave myself over to sleep, my mother in law’s kitchari, and the curiously healing effect of being read to. With all due respect to food and oblivion, mystery novels are my favorite home remedy. Agatha Christie—courtesy of David Suchet, Dan Stevens, and Joan Hickson—nursed me back to health, little gray cells and all.
Now that I’ve reentered the land of the living, here’s what else I’m excited about this month. Be well!
—Kat, Audible editor
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The Night Tiger
- A Novel
- By: Yangsze Choo
- Narrated by: Yangsze Choo
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,299
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,512
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,504
Quick-witted, ambitious Ji Lin is stuck as an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dance hall girl to help pay off her mother’s Mahjong debts. But when one of her dance partners accidentally leaves behind a gruesome souvenir, Ji Lin may finally get the adventure she has been longing for. Eleven-year-old houseboy Ren is also on a mission, racing to fulfill his former master’s dying wish: that Ren find the man’s finger, lost years ago in an accident, and bury it with his body. Ren has 49 days to do so, or his master’s soul will wander the earth forever.
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4 out of 5 stars
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very satisfying
- By Ian Macdonald on 03-19-19
Their words, their voices
I am a sucker for writers reading their own work. (Side note, can we talk about Lawrence Block reading Eight Million Ways to Die, aka the best depiction of a struggling sober detective ever written? SO GOOD.) That’s one part of the appeal of The Night Tiger, the April selection for Reese’s Book Club x HelloSunshine. Author/narrator Yangsze Choo tells a gorgeous story, both in her intricate plot and stirring performance. If you love historical fiction (in this case, Malaysia in the 1930s) with a heart of mystery, give this one a try. And there are plenty of other genres on the list, so find your favorites.
Double Your Pleasure
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Afternoon of a Faun
- A Novel
- By: James Lasdun
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
When an old flame accuses him of sexual assault in her memoir, expat English journalist Marco Rosedale is brought rapidly and inexorably to the brink of ruin. His reputation and livelihood at stake, Marco confides in a close friend, who finds himself caught between the obligations of friendship and an increasingly urgent desire to uncover the truth. This unnamed friend is drawn, magnetized, into the orbit of the woman at the center of the accusation - and finds his position as the safely detached narrator turning into something more dangerous....
A smart psych thriller for the #MeToo era
If I could choose anyone to read to me when I’m sick, it would be the impeccably voiced Simon Vance (and that’s the polite way of expressing how hard I stan this man). Here he takes on James Lasdun’s fascinating new novel about an aging intellectual forced to reckon with a public accusation of rape from his past. The combination of Vance’s polished inflection and the provocative plot work to devastating effect, as do the thriller-like pacing and literary sleight of hand. Long after its taut four-hour run time, I’m still thinking about it.
Simon Says Go
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The Last Stone
- A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 483
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 420
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Story4 out of 5 stars 417
On March 29, 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyons, ages 10 and 12, vanished from a shopping mall in suburban Washington, DC. As shock spread, then grief, a massive police effort found nothing. The investigation was shelved, and the mystery endured. Then, in 2013, a cold case squad detective found something he and a generation of detectives had missed. It pointed them toward a man named Lloyd Welch, then serving time for child molestation in Delaware.
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2 out of 5 stars
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As Repetitive as a Metronome
- By Andrew on 06-27-19
Cracking open a cold case
A year ago this month we got a massive break in the Golden State Killer case, which fueled the best sellers I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and Evil Has a Name. Now another 40-year-old crime is getting the spotlight: the abduction of sisters Sheila and Kate Lyons, who vanished from a Maryland mall in 1975. The acclaimed writer Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) covered the crime early in his career; decades later, he revisits the story as the hunt closes in on a slippery yet surprisingly talkative suspect. A master class in police interrogation, The Last Stone shows—to riveting effect—how despite all the news about DNA and new forensics, sometimes only the art of human conversation and the dogged pursuit of truth lead to the ultimate resolution.
Justice Is Served
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The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
- By: Fay Weldon
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Story4 out of 5 stars 64
In New York Magazine, Rhoda Koenig calls The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, "...a novel of blazingly hot revenge, one that amply illustrates the saying about heaven having no rage like love turned to hate, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."
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5 out of 5 stars
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Sweet, brutal, and over the top revenge!!
- By Wayne on 04-10-17
Scamalot: The greatest frauds in fiction
Speaking of sorting out the truth from a pack of lies, we are still living in the golden age of the scammer story. But I can’t help noticing that nonfiction listens seem to be getting all the love—and why should they? From our old pal Tom Ripley (coming soon to a TV near you!) to the immortal Count of Monte Cristo, there are definitely enough charismatic grifters and great pretenders in fiction to keep your jaw dropping from all the brazen lies and killer confidence. Here are a few of our favorites.
The Con Is On
New Releases
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Miracle Creek
- A Novel
- By: Angie Kim
- Narrated by: Jennifer Lim
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,036
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 901
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Story4 out of 5 stars 901
In rural Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine - a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic "dives" with the hopes of curing issues like autism or infertility. But when the Miracle Submarine mysteriously explodes, killing two people, a dramatic murder trial upends the Yoos’ small community. Who or what caused the explosion? Was it the mother of one of the patients, who claimed to be sick that day but was smoking down by the creek? Or was it Young and Pak themselves?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best Book of the Year (so far)
- By Jeeves on 04-19-19
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Smoke and Ashes
- By: Abir Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 303
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 276
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 275
India, 1921. Haunted by his memories of World War I, Captain Sam Wyndham is battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors in the Calcutta police force. When Sam is summoned to investigate a grisly murder, he is stunned at the sight of the body: he’s seen this before. Last night, in a drug-addled haze, he stumbled across a corpse with the same ritualistic injuries. Unfortunately for Sam, the corpse was in an opium den - and revealing his presence there could cost him his career.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A great story ruined by poor narration
- By Jean Sindhikara on 12-10-19
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Diary of a Murderer
- And Other Stories
- By: Young-ha Kim, Krys Lee - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
Diary of a Murderer captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge - between life and death, good and evil. In the titular novella, a former serial killer suffering from memory loss sets his sights on one final target: his daughter's boyfriend, who he suspects is also a serial killer. In other stories we witness an affair between two childhood friends that questions the limits of loyalty and love; a family's disintegration after a baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later; and more.
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They All Fall Down
- By: Rachel Howzell Hall
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 202
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Story3 out of 5 stars 203
Delighted by a surprise invitation, Miriam Macy sails off to a luxurious private island off the coast of Mexico, with six strangers - an ex-cop, a chef, a financial advisor, a nurse, a lawyer, and a young widow. Surrounded by miles of open water in the gloriously green Sea of Cortez, Miriam is shocked to discover that she and the rest of her companions have been brought to the remote island under false pretenses - and all seven strangers harbor a secret. Danger lurks in the lush forest and in the halls and bedrooms of the lonely mansion.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Unfortunately, extremely boring
- By wisconsinclark on 04-13-19
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Miracle Creek
- A Novel
- By: Angie Kim
- Narrated by: Jennifer Lim
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,036
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 901
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 901
In rural Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine - a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic "dives" with the hopes of curing issues like autism or infertility. But when the Miracle Submarine mysteriously explodes, killing two people, a dramatic murder trial upends the Yoos’ small community. Who or what caused the explosion? Was it the mother of one of the patients, who claimed to be sick that day but was smoking down by the creek? Or was it Young and Pak themselves?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best Book of the Year (so far)
- By Jeeves on 04-19-19
-
Smoke and Ashes
- By: Abir Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 303
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 276
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 275
India, 1921. Haunted by his memories of World War I, Captain Sam Wyndham is battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors in the Calcutta police force. When Sam is summoned to investigate a grisly murder, he is stunned at the sight of the body: he’s seen this before. Last night, in a drug-addled haze, he stumbled across a corpse with the same ritualistic injuries. Unfortunately for Sam, the corpse was in an opium den - and revealing his presence there could cost him his career.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A great story ruined by poor narration
- By Jean Sindhikara on 12-10-19
-
Diary of a Murderer
- And Other Stories
- By: Young-ha Kim, Krys Lee - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
Diary of a Murderer captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge - between life and death, good and evil. In the titular novella, a former serial killer suffering from memory loss sets his sights on one final target: his daughter's boyfriend, who he suspects is also a serial killer. In other stories we witness an affair between two childhood friends that questions the limits of loyalty and love; a family's disintegration after a baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later; and more.
-
They All Fall Down
- By: Rachel Howzell Hall
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 219
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 202
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 203
Delighted by a surprise invitation, Miriam Macy sails off to a luxurious private island off the coast of Mexico, with six strangers - an ex-cop, a chef, a financial advisor, a nurse, a lawyer, and a young widow. Surrounded by miles of open water in the gloriously green Sea of Cortez, Miriam is shocked to discover that she and the rest of her companions have been brought to the remote island under false pretenses - and all seven strangers harbor a secret. Danger lurks in the lush forest and in the halls and bedrooms of the lonely mansion.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Unfortunately, extremely boring
- By wisconsinclark on 04-13-19
About the Editor
Kat is an Audible editor and podcast addict who likes to mix up her diet of thrillers and true crime with comedy, weird literary fiction, and the occasional nonfiction blockbuster to sound smarter at parties. Follow her on Twitter @katbhandari.