The Queen of Bedlam

A Matthew Corbett Novel, Book 2

By: Robert R. McCammon

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 23 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

His epic masterwork Speaks the Nightbird, a tour de force of witch hunt terror in a colonial town, was hailed by Sandra Brown as "deeply satisfying...told with matchless insight into the human soul."

Now, Robert McCammon brings the hero of that spellbinding novel, Matthew Corbett, to 18th-century New York, where a killer wields a bloody and terrifying power over a bustling city carving out its identity - and over Matthew's own uncertain destiny.

The unsolved murder of a respected doctor has sent ripples of fear throughout a city teeming with life and noise and commerce. Who snuffed out the good man's life with the slash of a blade on a midnight street? The local printmaster has labeled the fiend "the Masker," adding fuel to a volatile mystery...and when the Masker claims a new victim, hardworking young law clerk Matthew Corbett is lured into a maze of forensic clues and heart-pounding investigation that will both test his natural penchant for detection and inflame his hunger for justice.

In the strangest twist of all, the key to unmasking the Masker may await in an asylum where the Queen of Bedlam reigns - and only a man of Matthew's reason and empathy can unlock her secrets. From the seaport to Wall Street, from society mansions to gutters glimmering with blood spilled by a deviant, Matthew's quest will tauntingly reveal the answers he seeks - and the chilling truths he cannot escape.

©2007 Robert McCammon (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Ratiocination is back and better than ever!

If coming right off Speaks the Nightbird, it can be a bit sad. The almost perfect sense of classical storytelling, and beautiful, nearly poetic prose of Speaks the Nightbird is a bit lacking in this tale.
But as a mystery, set in colonial America, continuing the proud tradition of whodunit... The Queen of Bedlam is excellent. And it's punctuated with Mcammon's insightful grasp of humanity and heart!
On to the next for me:)

Loved the second book as much as the first.

Would you listen to The Queen of Bedlam again? Why?

I'm so glad I found this series. It is now one of my favorites. It is different, very detailed , suspenseful and held my interest the whole book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Matthew Corbett is the main character. He is an honest and true person who struggles for good.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend it!

Great sequel to the original.

I'm 'hooked' on the Matthew Corbett books, that's for sure! I loved the first book and really enjoyed the second. Matthew is like a young Sherlock Holmes, except more likeable. The story was interesting and a fun read.

A Thrill Ride!!!!

Incredible....a complex, complicated, intelligent mystery set in early 18th century New York with a detective who is insightful, humble and willing to learn. The story is exciting, especially toward the end where we meet some of the nastiest criminal minds ever to exist on paper or in real life. There is very little comic relief here which tends to remind a listener that the Puritans had landed only 80 years earlier and the revolutionary war was 70+ years away.
Reading/listening to this book is as close to NYC as I ever want to be, yet I look forward to my next visit.....but only in this format.

Brilliant

Love the book, the series, enjoy Edoardo Ballerini
and Robert Mccammon. Now on to book 3!

Another great story!

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. The author has great imagination, and the narrator delivers with equal dexterity in separating the characters in their unique voice.

An Excellent Surprise!

I was pleasantly surprised by this follow up to Sings the Nightbird. Twistier, darker, and even funnier than the first in this series - I couldn't put it down.

Chewy, dense and mesmerizing

Matthew Corbett leads listeners through the early 1700s in New York. With each new puzzle, more description of the time period emerges. The story gripped me and has me looking forward to the next. Edoardo Ballerini's expertise in interpreting the story brings another layer to my enjoyment. His use of different tones and rhythms separates the various characters and enlivens the whole of the story. I highly recommend this and the first in the series, Speaks the Nightbird.

Very fun series

Where does The Queen of Bedlam rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very good, well read and entertaining

Would you be willing to try another book from Robert McCammon? Why or why not?

I have- reading Swan Song led me to this series. Will continue to read books by McCammon and in the Matthew Corbett series

What does Edoardo Ballerini bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Very good narrator. Good with voices without being distracting, uses a lot of subtly and inflection change.

wonderful writer with a few mis-steps

Gotcha again Robert R. McCammon.. I think you are brilliant writer and I enjoy your stories and the time period You chose to wrote them in very much! However, every once in a while I hear you use a cliché phrase or idiom, that doesn't sound quite correct given the time period in which you write. For instance, in this story you have Corbett say "knee-high to a grasshopper", during what I believe was supposed to be somewhere around 1695? This particular idiom seems to come from the 1800s not the 1600s not even the 1700s… refer if you will, to this quick Google search:

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/knee-high-to-a-grasshopper

I would suggest that if you want the flow of your writing to remain as uninterrupted as possible, that you might consider, that when tempted to use commonly used shortcuts of language in your dialogue, that you check yourself , and said detail for historical accuracy as to time and place.
Again, I will say your stories are wonderful and now I have a new game to play as I listen to them :-)