Engaging listening is the name of the game this month, with audiobooks that feature murder investigations, spycraft, treasure hunts, and more. The narrators in all of these selections enhance the mysteries by bringing characters to life and delivering every twist and turn. Listeners can’t go wrong with any of these choices.
PREY: Sam Shephard, Book 6
by Vanda Symon | Read by Genevieve Swallow
AudioFile Earphones Award
[ISIS Audio Books | 9 hrs.]
Narrator Genevieve Swallow, with her charming New Zealand accent, returns to immerse listeners in the private and professional life of Detective Sam Shepherd. In this sixth installment, Sam returns from maternity leave to take on a 25-year-old murder case. Sam stirs up trouble as she uncovers well-intentioned lies, making things particularly uncomfortable for her boss. Swallow masterfully portrays Sam as an overwhelmed nursing mother who is balancing motherhood with her fierce determination for justice.
THE NAMING OF THE BIRDS
by Paraic O’Donnell | Read by Charles Armstrong
[HighBridge Audio | 10.25 hrs.]
In the second Inspector Cutter/Sergeant Bliss mystery, the mood is bleak, and Charles Armstrong’s performance is irresistible. After a murdered civil servant is found clutching a child’s bone, Cutter, Bliss, and journalist Octavia Hillingdon begin an investigation that shakes their faith in humanity. Armstrong’s handling of the final stream-of-consciousness revelations is outstanding. Series fans won’t be disappointed.
THE TREASURE HUNTERS CLUB
by Tom Ryan | Read by Graham Halstead
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 10.75 hrs.]
Unexplained deaths, betrayal, corruption, secret societies, and buried treasure are only a few of the plot threads in Tom Ryan’s twisty new mystery, and narrator Graham Halstead meshes them seamlessly. Peter Barnett’s routine life changes after his estranged grandmother contacts him, inviting him to share her mansion in Maple Bay, Nova Scotia. His multifaceted delivery highlights the town’s eccentric characters. Exciting, surprising, and witty listening.
BUSYBODIES
by Elle Cosimano, Jesse Q. Sutanto, Emma Rosenblum, Nita Prose, Kellye Garrett, Alicia Thompson | Read by Megan Tusing, Eunice Wong, Brittany Pressley, Sherri Slater, Jordan Cobb, Helen Laser
[Brilliance Audio | 6.5 hrs.]
Listeners are treated to six very original short stories masterfully performed by an ensemble of talented narrators. Each story follows a woman who, while investigating a supposed crime, finds herself in a precarious and/or humorous situation. From Elle Cosimano’s real estate lesson on staging a house while solving a murder, to Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Chinese New Year dinner disaster, to Nita Prose’s quirky, nosy neighbor story, the narrators are perfectly matched to their characters and settings.
THE COLLABORATORS
by Michael Idov | Read by Santino Fontana
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 8.5 hrs.]
Narrator Santino Fontana perfectly affects various accents as cynical millennial CIA officer Ari Falk works undercover to help Russian opposition journalists develop stories that damage the Kremlin. As Falk tumbles into an international spy plot involving the disappearance of his best asset, a Russian American billionaire, he is joined by the bold and problematic Maya Chou. Fontana’s calm and collected delivery accentuates the twisty plot and action sequences.
