English biographer Rona Parish recently gained fame for solving a murder. Consequently, a young woman, anxious about a possible murder in her own murky past, persuades the writer to investigate. In most of the ways that count, Jacqueline Tong's narration is undistinguished, serviceable but ordinary and slightly mannered. Except in one respect. She has infused this whodunit with an aura of feminine British primness, of practical shoes and to-do lists and meeting deadlines. This personality, bespeaking the heroine-sleuth's middle-class sensibility, elevates the story above the routine. It's the detective more than the detecting that hold one's interest. Tong makes Parish a role model for independent middle-class women -- conventional yet sensitive, gutsy, feminine, and capable.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2006
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America
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
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