West Cork

By: Sam Bungey, Jennifer Forde

Narrated by: Sam Bungey, Jennifer Forde

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Two days before Christmas 1996, the broken, battered body of Sophie Toscan du Plantier was found outside her vacation home in West Cork, a serene region on Ireland’s idyllic southern coast. Decades later, no one has been charged with the murder, but the aggrieved inhabitants of West Cork are convinced they know who did it - and he still lives among them.

In this haunting and heartbreaking true crime series, reporter Sam Bungey and documentarian Jennifer Forde revisit the grisly homicide that left Ireland reeling. Featuring unprecedented research and extensive, exclusive interviews with the case’s key players, their work offers new insight on the still unsolved murder and the labyrinth investigation that followed. The result is an evocative audio portrait as gripping and intriguing as the case it unravels.

©2018 Audible Originals LLC (P)2018 Audible Originals LLC

This is a Podcast not a book.

Would you listen to West Cork again? Why?

Yes! It is wonderful - However, audible readers may not be familiar with podcasts and will be concerned with the very different format. I am a voracious podcast consumer and I would list this as among the very best.

What was one of the most memorable moments of West Cork?

I think hearing the real voices of the citizens and investigators of West Cork. Especially as an American who had no idea of this case.

Which character – as performed by the narrator – was your favorite?

They are not characters but real people. They were all excellent.

If you could give West Cork a new subtitle, what would it be?

Real Crime Podacast

Any additional comments?

Please give this format a try it is excellent and the editing is superb.

Not What I Was Expecting, but I Got Hooked

Not at all what I expected, but very interesting look at an ongoing investigation into a tragic crime. This is not a crime drama or a true crime book. This is an audio documentary following a real crime committed in a small, idyllic Irish town, akin to an episode Cold Case Files or Cold Justice...just without the video aspect. I got hooked right away and finished it in 2 days. Definitely worth listening to!

EXCELLENT.

Wow. I am so impressed. I downloaded this on a lark, just trying to support Audible Originals and was BLOWN AWAY. I can’t stop talking about it. I tell everyone at work. By episode 4 I had full goose bumps. Beautifully researched. Beautifully plotted. Beautifully executed. Highly recommended.

Fascinating!

I have listened to only 7 of the 13 episodes, but I will complete this audio book. This true crime story is fascinating. My significant complaint with this 13 episode book is that the credits are repeated after each and every episode. The setting is County Cork which is the most southwest part of Ireland. Cork city, the county government seat, is a reasonable size city of 120,000 population and it has an airport. The town of Blarney with its famous stone is a few miles north of Cork city, so the area is a popular tourist destination. West Cork, the area where the murder was committed, consists of several peninsulas that jut into the Atlantic Ocean. West Cork is a relatively primitive area more than 50 miles from Cork city. When I was there it in 1996 it was most assuredly not a tourist destination. The word remote comes to mind.

The West Cork murder series reminds me to ask the question, "What do I want/expect from Audible?" My personal answer is a very wide selection of audio books at a reasonable cost. Audible's credit system suits me perfectly; however I would like to see another membership level which offers more credits than Platinum Annual at a slightly lower price per credit. I'd like to purchase 50 or even 100 credits at one time. What I appreciate most about Audible is that I can purchase new releases from major publishing houses for a single credit which costs less than the cost of the same book in any other format. For example, the recently released Look for Me by Lisa Gardner cost me one Audible credit ($9.56) while the Kindle version sells for $13.99 and the dead tree versions start at $17.70 at Amazon. I also appreciate the cost advantages for many Audible books offered by Kindle Unlimited membership.

There are 2050 titles in my Audible library and I have borrowed 180 additional Audible titles with Kindle Unlimited. I love audio books and I love Audible because of the range of titles and the pricing. I speak only for myself when I write that the Audible extras such as Channels and Audible Originals offer little of interest to me.

Different

I think I like the new format but it takes some getting used to. I don’t like the credits at the end of each chapter as it interrupts ones train of thought. It is a unique way of listening to a story with many different voices. Will take some time to get used to.

Unique approach to audio books, worth a try!

This isn't your typical audiobook, but instead an audio documentary, if you will, with recorded interviews, replays of news broadcasts, and the like.

It's well narrated, and we'll structured, but there were two things that irked me:

1. Breaking this into 13 30-minute "episodes" made for a very repetitive and redundant reciting of the cast and crew. This should either be eliminated altogether, or condensed onto fewer episodes. Hearing the production info so frequently was very annoying.

2. The story spends 95% of the time discussing the main suspect. I was really hoping for a little more investigative reporting around the alternative theories, instead of just a mere mention.

Overall, it's well worth a listen, especially at the $0 it cost me!

If Serial Met Broadchurch...

Yes, this is a podcast, not a book. So what? It's brilliant! A moving, compelling story of a murder and justice as yet unsatisfied. What could be more gripping than hearing the tale told from so many angles by the people who experienced it first hand and a couple of narrators who cared enough about the story to spend three years to bring it life.

ENTERTAINING AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING

An interesting account of a murder investigation by Irish police of an arrogant Englishman accused of murder in Cork County, Ireland. Although slow in the beginning, the audiobook soon picks up speed and keeps the listener engaged. Definitely worth an Audible credit.

Terrible disappointment.

Hours and hours of one annoying, arrogant, obnoxious man talking. I tried for a couple hours to bear through this, but it’s just Ian being directly interviewed and other people being interviewed about him. Barely anything about the woman who was murdered, any other suspects, etc. The investigators or interviewers or whatever attempted to bring up new evidence or breaks in the case, but it was all null/ridiculous and then they’d just go right back to Ian or people talking about Ian. Maddening.

Kept Me Coming Back Every Day

Would you listen to West Cork again? Why?

Absolutely, I listened to West Cork each day on my commute to and from work which is only about 20 minutes. It was so captivating and I couldn't wait to get back to hear the next part.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

I so wanted to believe that Ian was the murderer but then his personality swayed me into thinking he was innocent, then suddenly I would say..Oh No he definitely did it. I kept changing my mind and I still have not made up my mind.

Which character – as performed by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde – was your favorite?

Both were awesome.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Most interesting is the fact that a woman can live with a man that abuses her year after year and is a suspect is a murder and she continue to stay. The day he ripped my lip off would have been enough for me. Thats not love, sorry. She is afraid of him and what he could do to her, especially when he was younger.

Chilling and poignant story with every intention to getting to the very heart of a brutal murder so court up in madness and lies

Chilling and poignant story telling, getting deep into the heart of this brutal killing of a beautiful woman in the place of her quiet home. The whole maddening affair, caught up in lies and misleading information. I hope on day true justice can one day be satisfied. To honor the life of Madam Sophie Toscan De Plantier.

Worth your time

An excellent example of storytelling, incorporating voices of those involved with the narrative and goal of finding the truth and remembering our fragile humanity.

Gripping. Mesmerising.

I couldn’t stop listening once I started. The journalists work is unbelievable and their narration is excellent