Murder in the Dark

An Ishmael Jones Mystery

By: Simon R. Green

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

The sudden appearance of a sinister black hole in the English countryside leads to a baffling murder investigation for Ishmael Jones.

"The past is England's dreaming, and not all of it sleeps soundly...."

Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny have been despatched to assist a group of scientists who are investigating a mysterious black hole which has appeared on a Somerset hillside. Could it really be a doorway to another dimension, an opening into another world? 

When one of the scientists disappears into the hole - with fatal consequences - Ishmael must prove whether it was an accident - or murder. But with no clues, no witnesses, and no apparent motive, he has little to go on. Is there an alien predator at large, or is an all-too-human killer responsible? Only one thing is certain: if Ishmael does not uncover the truth in time, more deaths will follow. 

©2018 Simon R. Green (P)2020 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Still love you, Ish. But this one...

Update:
Oh, y’all. I feel like a dunce. I found this series because of the narrator, Gildart Jackson (who is magical, as always). And all the time I was whining that, yes, there were interesting concepts and compelling characters but overall it was pretty lightweight and loosey-goosey about the plot holes blah blah blah... all that time, I had no idea who this author was and what else he had written and GO, my friends, GO and look, for such TREATS await you!

I SAID GO!
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Original review:

I love these characters, and I’d happily listen to Gildart Jackson read the phone book. So I’ll keep going with the series.

And this did have an interesting concept, with a good twist ending. The problem was the storyline. The characters cycle on the same handful of topics over and over....
“Why don’t we just leave?”
“Because if we leave, we won’t get credit for the work.”
(Two chapters later...)
“But really, why aren’t we leaving?”
“Because if we leave we won’t get credit for the work.”
(Two chapters later...)
“Say, what if we all leave...”

It started to feel like a bad production of “No Exit”. But whatever — Ishmael Jones and Penny are their delightful selves, and the story furthers the meta-plot. Just let it wash over you and don’t think too hard.

Wonderful

Great plot! Love these sci fi mysteries. The plots are intriguing . In every book more of Ismael’s origins are revealed.

Gildart Jackson's performance draws you in.

I've listened to all released titles in the Ishmael Jones series and I've listened to them more than once. I wasn't sure why I was so drawn to these books. The plots for each are basically the same; Ismael Jones often misses obvious clues or fails to act when even a human would; and, the continuity is sometimes a little wonky. However, the dialogue is reminiscent of that between Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man movie series - watch a black and white movie) and the characters are engaging. Most importantly, Gildart Jackson's performance draws you in and you're trapped. If you've ever listened to anything narrated by Jim Dale, you will have some understanding. His characters are strong, but more so his voice is like a cozy evening in front of the fire with a tumbler of very fine bourbon. Give it a listen. I think you'll be hooked.

Wonderful series

So happy to have discovered Ishmael Jones. Great characters and superb narration. Honestly the author can’t write these fast enough. I could easily devour one of these every month.

Okay, but not a favourite

It goes without saying that Gildart Jackson did his normal excellent narration and brought things to life admirably. Each character had their own voice and he performed them really well, however for some reason I couldn’t really get into this book.
There were things that felt too contrived and I found myself wanting to finish this one and move on to the next. It just felt like there were things that needed a more detailed description and extra background explanation; it was a little too far-fetched, and the reasoning behind character behaviour was tenuous.
So far, I have been enjoying this series very much. It’s excellent escapism and Gildart Jackson is good to listen to, this is just the weaker one of the series so far.