-
The Black Country
- Scotland Yard's Murder Squad
- Narrated by: Toby Leonard Moore
- Series: Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, Book 2
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $28.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Yard
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: Toby Leonard Moore
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victorian London is a cesspool of crime, and Scotland Yard has only 12 detectives - known as “The Murder Squad” - to investigate thousands of murders every month. Created after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, The Murder Squad suffers rampant public contempt. They have failed their citizens. When Walter Day, the squad’s newest hire, is assigned the case of the murdered detective, he finds a strange ally in the Yard’s first forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Kingsley.
-
-
Excellent Narration, Book Needed Some Work
- By Sires on 09-09-12
By: Alex Grecian
-
The Devil's Workshop
- Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, Book 3
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1890: Four vicious murderers have escaped from prison, part of a plan gone terribly wrong, and now it is up to Walter Day, Nevil Hammersmith, and the rest of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad to hunt down the convicts before the men can resume their bloody spree. But they might already be too late. The killers have retribution in mind, and one of them is heading straight toward a member of the Murder Squad, and his family.
-
-
Thin Plot with Lots of Gore
- By Judith A. Weller on 12-31-14
By: Alex Grecian
-
The Harvest Man
- Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, Book 4
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Devil's Workshop, London discovered that Jack the Ripper was back, sending the city - and Scotland Yard's Murder Squad - into chaos. But now it is even worse. Not only is the Ripper still at large, but so is another killer just as bad.
-
-
Hard to put down
- By J. Lindsey on 05-31-15
By: Alex Grecian
-
Lost and Gone Forever
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many changes have happened to the Murder Squad. Rash actions have cost Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith his job, and in response he has set up his own private detective agency. Inspector Walter Day has been missing for a year, and no one knows where he is - though there is a strong suspicion that Saucy Jack has him. Hammersmith has made finding Day his primary case, and he has company - a pair of bounty hunters, a man and a woman.
-
-
Gruesome as ever
- By Greg Newkirk, GISP AICP on 06-23-16
By: Alex Grecian
-
Lethal Pursuit
- Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 11
- By: Will Thomas
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Private enquiry agents Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn receive in the mail an unexplained key stamped with the letter Q. Barker, recognizing it for what it is, uses the key to unlock an anonymous door in the alleyway, which opens to an underground tunnel leading to Downing Street. The Prime Minister has a small task for Cyrus Barker. A Foreign Office agent stole a satchel in Eastern Europe, but was then himself murdered at Charing Cross. The satchel contains a document desperately wanted by the German government, but while the agent was killed, the satchel remains in English hands.
-
-
So Disappointed
- By Anonymous User on 04-15-20
By: Will Thomas
-
The Saint of Wolves and Butchers
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Travis Roan and his dog, Bear, are hunters: They travel the world pursuing evildoers in order to bring them to justice. They have now come to Kansas on the trail of Rudolph Bormann, a Nazi doctor and concentration camp administrator who snuck into the United States under the name Rudy Goodman in the 1950s. Travis quickly learns that Goodman has powerful friends who will go to any length to protect the Nazi; what he doesn't know that is that Goodman has furtively continued his diabolical work.
-
-
A 5
- By Donna on 04-21-18
By: Alex Grecian
-
The Yard
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: Toby Leonard Moore
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victorian London is a cesspool of crime, and Scotland Yard has only 12 detectives - known as “The Murder Squad” - to investigate thousands of murders every month. Created after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, The Murder Squad suffers rampant public contempt. They have failed their citizens. When Walter Day, the squad’s newest hire, is assigned the case of the murdered detective, he finds a strange ally in the Yard’s first forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Kingsley.
-
-
Excellent Narration, Book Needed Some Work
- By Sires on 09-09-12
By: Alex Grecian
-
The Devil's Workshop
- Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, Book 3
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1890: Four vicious murderers have escaped from prison, part of a plan gone terribly wrong, and now it is up to Walter Day, Nevil Hammersmith, and the rest of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad to hunt down the convicts before the men can resume their bloody spree. But they might already be too late. The killers have retribution in mind, and one of them is heading straight toward a member of the Murder Squad, and his family.
-
-
Thin Plot with Lots of Gore
- By Judith A. Weller on 12-31-14
By: Alex Grecian
-
The Harvest Man
- Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, Book 4
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Devil's Workshop, London discovered that Jack the Ripper was back, sending the city - and Scotland Yard's Murder Squad - into chaos. But now it is even worse. Not only is the Ripper still at large, but so is another killer just as bad.
-
-
Hard to put down
- By J. Lindsey on 05-31-15
By: Alex Grecian
-
Lost and Gone Forever
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many changes have happened to the Murder Squad. Rash actions have cost Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith his job, and in response he has set up his own private detective agency. Inspector Walter Day has been missing for a year, and no one knows where he is - though there is a strong suspicion that Saucy Jack has him. Hammersmith has made finding Day his primary case, and he has company - a pair of bounty hunters, a man and a woman.
-
-
Gruesome as ever
- By Greg Newkirk, GISP AICP on 06-23-16
By: Alex Grecian
-
Lethal Pursuit
- Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 11
- By: Will Thomas
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Private enquiry agents Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn receive in the mail an unexplained key stamped with the letter Q. Barker, recognizing it for what it is, uses the key to unlock an anonymous door in the alleyway, which opens to an underground tunnel leading to Downing Street. The Prime Minister has a small task for Cyrus Barker. A Foreign Office agent stole a satchel in Eastern Europe, but was then himself murdered at Charing Cross. The satchel contains a document desperately wanted by the German government, but while the agent was killed, the satchel remains in English hands.
-
-
So Disappointed
- By Anonymous User on 04-15-20
By: Will Thomas
-
The Saint of Wolves and Butchers
- By: Alex Grecian
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Travis Roan and his dog, Bear, are hunters: They travel the world pursuing evildoers in order to bring them to justice. They have now come to Kansas on the trail of Rudolph Bormann, a Nazi doctor and concentration camp administrator who snuck into the United States under the name Rudy Goodman in the 1950s. Travis quickly learns that Goodman has powerful friends who will go to any length to protect the Nazi; what he doesn't know that is that Goodman has furtively continued his diabolical work.
-
-
A 5
- By Donna on 04-21-18
By: Alex Grecian
-
Murder in the Crypt
- A Redmond and Haze Mystery, Book 1
- By: Irina Shapiro
- Narrated by: Wendy Wolfson
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the body of a young man is found stuffed into the tomb of a medieval knight, Parish Constable Daniel Haze is tasked with investigating his first solo murder case. Suspicion instantly falls on the only stranger to arrive in the village of Birch Hill just before the crime took place, but the American captain proves to be an unexpected asset. A former soldier and a skilled surgeon, Jason Redmond is not only willing to assist Haze with the investigation but will risk his own safety to apprehend the killer.
-
-
Gross
- By Lorraine Harwood on 07-06-20
By: Irina Shapiro
-
To Kingdom Come
- Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 2
- By: Will Thomas
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a bomb destroys the Special Irish Branch of Scotland Yard, all fingers point to the increasingly brazen factions of Irish dissidents seeking liberation from English rule. Volunteering their services to the British government, Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn set out to infiltrate a secret cell of the Irish Republican Brotherhood known as the Invisibles. Posing as a reclusive German bomb maker and his anarchist apprentice, they are recruited for the group's ultimate plan: to bring London to its knees and end the monarchy forever.
-
-
Excellent
- By Ms Peach on 01-04-17
By: Will Thomas
-
Murder at Queen’s Landing
- Wrexford & Sloane Mystery, Book 4
- By: Andrea Penrose
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lady Cordelia, a brilliant mathematician, and her brother, Lord Woodbridge, disappear from London, rumors swirl concerning fraudulent bank loans and a secret consortium engaged in an illicit - and highly profitable - trading scheme that threatens the entire British economy. The incriminating evidence mounts, but for Charlotte and Wrexford, it's a question of loyalty and friendship. And so they begin a new investigation to clear the siblings' names, uncover their whereabouts, and unravel the truth behind the whispers.
-
-
Narration is a mess
- By notlad on 10-07-20
By: Andrea Penrose
-
Some Danger Involved
- Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 1
- By: Will Thomas
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto. When the eccentric and enigmatic Barker takes the case, he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved", he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past.
-
-
Clever writing!
- By Kathi on 01-13-17
By: Will Thomas
-
The Limehouse Text
- Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 3
- By: Will Thomas
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Limehouse Text, Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn discover a pawn ticket among the effects of Barker's late assistant, leading them to London's Chinese district, Limehouse. There they retrieve an innocent-looking book that proves to be a rare and secret text stolen from a Nanking monastery, containing lethal martial arts techniques forbidden in the West.
-
-
I'm hooked on this series
- By The Fat Man on 02-24-17
By: Will Thomas
-
A Fearsome Doubt
- By: Charles Todd
- Narrated by: Samuel Gillies
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1912 Ian Rutledge watched as a man was condemned to hang for the murders of elderly women. Rutledge helped gather the evidence that sent Ben Shaw to the gallows. And when justice was done, Rutledge closed the door on the case. But Shaw was not easily forgotten. Now, seven years later, that grim trial returns in the form of Ben Shaw's widow Nell, bringing Rutledge evidence she is convinced will prove her husband's innocence. It's a belief fraught with peril, threatening both Rutledge's professional stature and his faith in his judgment. But there is a darker reason for Rutledge's reluctance.
-
-
Does Ian Rutledge Ever Get a Grip?
- By consuelo on 11-25-14
By: Charles Todd
-
Murder on Black Swan Lane
- By: Andrea Penrose
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London's most popular satirical cartoonist, A. J. Quill, skewers them both.
-
-
Intriguing mystery with sub par characters
- By Rebekah H on 03-10-18
By: Andrea Penrose
-
Who Speaks for the Damned
- Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries, Book 15
- By: C. S. Harris
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's June 1814, and the royal families of Austria, Russia, and the German states have gathered in London at the Prince Regent's invitation to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon and the restoration of monarchical control throughout Europe. But the festive atmosphere is marred one warm summer evening by the brutal murder of a disgraced British nobleman long thought dead.
-
-
I want to see more of Hero!
- By Sunny Days on 05-07-20
By: C. S. Harris
-
Legacy of the Dead
- An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
- By: Charles Todd
- Narrated by: Samuel Gillies
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The weathered remains of Eleanor Gray are found on a Scottish mountainside, and her mother, the domineering Lady Maude Gray, requires delicate treatment. This is a case that will lead Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard to Scotland, where his harrowing journey to find the truth will drag him back through the fires of his past into secrets that still have the power to kill.
-
-
What's up, Audible??? Why would you do this to us?
- By DCinMI on 12-19-13
By: Charles Todd
-
Murder at the Abbey
- A Redmond and Haze Mystery, Book 2
- By: Irina Shapiro
- Narrated by: Wendy Wolfson
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the body of a young woman is found near the ruins of a haunted abbey, everyone assumes she died of fright. A postmortem examination tells a different story. Not only was Elizabeth Barrett poisoned, but the lethal dose of cyanide must have been administered by someone close to her - someone she trusted, who may have known her secret. As Captain Redmond and Constable Haze delve into the victim's seemingly ordinary life, they learn she wasn't the proper, biddable wife everyone believed her to be.
-
-
Great
- By Barbara k on 06-25-20
By: Irina Shapiro
-
Watchers of Time
- By: Charles Todd
- Narrated by: Samuel Gillies
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Todd brings his classic mystery series to a new level of intensity and intrigue. The year is 1919, and Ian Rutledge is a fragile yet courageous former soldier searching for his place in a post-war world. Now a Scotland Yard detective, Rutledge is called upon to probe a murder in the small Norfolk town of Osterley - but he soon discovers that the crime may be connected to one of the greatest disasters of all time…
-
-
Flipping a coin on the stars.
- By Constance Jenkins on 02-26-18
By: Charles Todd
-
Murder at the Mill
- A Redmond and Haze Mystery, Book 3
- By: Irina Shapiro
- Narrated by: Wendy Wolfson
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a man’s naked corpse is found strapped to a waterwheel, newly appointed Inspector Haze is called upon to investigate the crime. With the help of American surgeon Captain Redmond, he delves into the life of Frank Darrow, a man who inspired such hatred, his mere death wasn’t enough to satisfy his killer. Finding few clues and no obvious motive for the murder, Redmond and Haze must peel away the layers of Frank Darrow’s relationships to get to the shocking truth, while also coming to terms with unexpected developments in their own lives.
-
-
Murder at the Mill
- By Deedra on 01-23-21
By: Irina Shapiro
Publisher's Summary
Scotland Yard's Murder Squad returns, in the stunning new historical thriller from the author of the acclaimed national best seller The Yard.
The British Midlands. It's called the "Black Country" for a reason. Bad things happen there.
When members of a prominent family disappear from a coal-mining village - and a human eyeball is discovered in a bird's nest - the local constable sends for help from Scotland Yard's new Murder Squad. Fresh off the grisly 1889 murders of The Yard, Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith respond, but they have no idea what they're about to get into. The villagers have intense, intertwined histories. Everybody bears a secret. Superstitions abound. And the village itself is slowly sinking into the mines beneath it.
Not even the arrival of forensics pioneer Dr. Bernard Kingsley seems to help. In fact, the more the three of them investigate, the more they realize they may never be allowed to leave....
More from the same
What listeners say about The Black Country
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ann
- 03-04-14
Geat, especially if you love historical mysteries!
Fantastic narration at 1.25 speed. The story is Intriguing with Sherlock Holmes style mystery. A great listenn
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Moe
- 05-31-13
AWESOME!!!!
The story is fantastic, the characters are well written and Toby Leonard Moore is amazing! If you liked "The Yard" you'll like this one. Mr. Grecian is a brilliant writer. He paints an extremely vivid picture that grabs the reader and doesn't let go!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ted
- 05-02-14
Nice Writing About Not Much… Pity!
I read "The Yard' the first in this series. Liked it, enjoyed the characters, plotting, atmosphere, sense of place… you know… So I got "The Black Country", same ensemble but little of the same character. Grecain suffers from description dysfunction. That was a tad tedious in "The Yard" but with everything else going on, well okay. Here… well, I'm thinking that Grecian's a one hit wonder. Plot was reasonably similar, characters stopped growing. Some did walk-ons, like the lead detective's wife and the doctor's daughter, for no reason other than to slow things down more. Did the publisher demand that Grecian fill a specified number of pages? And the plot was … one word… "TEDIOUS".
OK, he does write description nicely, but - as they say in the theatre - when the critics start reviewing the scenery… the play's in trouble. Take a pass on this, but get "The Yard" and enjoy Grecian's one hit, huh?
Oh, and Toby Leanard Moore couldn't save this thing even though he read it reeeeely reeeeely hard.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amy
- 05-26-13
A great sequel to THE YARD!
The Black Country is an able sequel to The Yard. It picks up several months after the events in The Yard and follows London's own Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith as they travel to an isolated mining village in the English Midlands for a brief (and, they hope, routine) investigation of a missing family feared to be the victims of murder.
Alex Grecian's strengths are creating a tangible sense of place and atmosphere - what he accomplished for post-Ripper London in The Yard he manages equally well here for the village of Blackhampton - and attending to characterization in the midst of action. The recurring characters genuinely grow, and the new characters, both primary and secondary, are three-dimensional and compelling. The crime at the heart of the mystery itself is wrenching in the best possible sense, and as in The Yard, there's a dark undercurrent of bleakness and helplessness that strikes just the right chord. Unlike in its predecessor novel, not every loose end is tied in a bow by the story's end, and I found this more authentic ending worked quite well.
What I appreciate most about this novel is how Grecian portrays the clash between the methodical rationality of emerging forensic science and modern investigative technique and legal procedure, represented by Day, Hammersmith, and Dr. Bernard Kingsley, and the evolved blend of superstition, custom, and folkways represented by the villagers of Blankhampton. The reader feels especially for those such as the schoolteacher who are caught in the middle, both educated and reasonable and yet firmly entrenched in "how things have always been done here." Once again, Grecian captures a unique moment in time regarding law enforcement, scientific thought, and emerging modern practice/process quite well.
Unexpected references to the U.S. Civil War and outstanding characterizations of children (in the best Gothic mode, nothing is more shiver-inducing and creepy than a well-portrayed child) make this novel a particular delight.
The narration is masterful.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Scotty D. Adams
- 10-28-13
If you loved the first book, then you'll love this
What did you love best about The Black Country?
I love the interaction between Day and Highsmith.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Inpector Day. He is one cool cat.
Which scene was your favorite?
The flash backs to the American Clivil War and Andersonville
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Clint Loomis
- 06-24-13
Inconsistent
What would have made The Black Country better?
The story line was good but the way the pieces were put together was horrible. Inconsistent, unbelievable character development. The author goes to great length to describe horrific catastrophes and then the character bounces right back like nothing happened. If I could get my credit back I would!
Has The Black Country turned you off from other books in this genre?
No the first book "The Yard" was a great listen to.
Have you listened to any of Toby Leonard Moore’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Great performance - the only reason I got through the book.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Black Country?
It's not the question of too many scenes; it's the way a character would get hurt -kicked in the head with a steel boot and then able to hold a hanging man up for ever until the help arrives. Constable is killed and no follow through. The list of missteps like this goes on and on. Ariana Franklin and her Mistress of Death series is so much of the same line and so much more entertaining.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- dyreno
- 04-22-17
A very messy book compared to the first
A messy set of plots that never get going and certainly never add up to anything close to the first installment. Our two champions of justice are removed from London and placed in a small coal town with more problems than will ever be solved. The other characters and even the town for its part resists even help in moving the plot. End the end the whole world falls a part and the answers basically handed over to the main characters. The 'victims' are far from if not out right unqualified for any sort of redemption. The second plot is just ridiculous and helps nothing but to fill space.i do hope the 3rd is a better mate for the first installment.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J Krafft
- 12-09-16
Great Story & Character Development
Interesting story, plausible, good story & character development. Some gore, no sex scenes. A good read that moves along - no dragging.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 09-23-16
The Black Country Lacks
I enjoyed The Yard but I found this one lackluster. I wasn't pulled into the mystery and I missed the dynamics of everyone at The Yard. I appreciate wanting to create something different but what worked well in The Yard was missing. The characters were flat and the plot was meh.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C. M. Updike Chilcoat
- 06-13-16
Enthralling
IGreat opportunity to become further acquainted with Detective Day & Sargent Hammersmith. Will thought out story and interesting characters. Appreciate view into detecting business in 1800's.
1 person found this helpful