The privileged 16-year-old daughter of a music mogul is found dead in her bathtub. It looks like a clear suicide, but the girl’s parents insist it was murder. It falls to NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher to investigate. Ellie deals with Manhattan’s wealthiest families, their preppie offspring, and some homeless street kids, and narrator Eliza Foss juggles all the accents, shifts in diction, and attitudes with finesse. Foss is especially creepy as the “reader” of a blog written by a former abuse victim. His psychotic replies ramp up the growing tension. Listeners will appreciate the precision of Alafair Burke’s storytelling in Hatcher’s fourth outing. Burke twists story lines, makes unlikely connections credible, and builds subtly differentiated characters. Foss’s performance adds another layer of truth to this exciting, insightful mystery.
Pub Date: June 19, 2012
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781469206868
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Novelist Benet Archdale and housemaid Carol Stratford are two young, single parents who have no reason to know each other. They become tangled in a nightmarish spiral of kidnap, fraud, family violence and death. Ruth Rendell creates psychological suspense in thrillers that are compulsively readable or, in this case, listenable. British actress Imelda Staunton's reading is perfectly paced, and the characters are well defined. You'll have a hard time turning it off.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 9 hrs
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America/ Chivers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Emerson and Peabody are at it again! Uncovering antiquities takes a back-seat as the romantic archaeologists track down the master criminal who is stealing Egypt's ancient treasures. With the help of their precocious son, Ramses, the intrepid pair unravel this mystery in crowded bazaars, desert camps and the heart of the Black Pyramid. Barbara Rosenblat's reading fully measures up to the tale. She is a master of timing and nuance. Rosenblat's power for character interpretation has grown with each book in this amusing series. This is the best one yet.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 12 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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