With a mixture of spunk and quirkiness, narrator Cara Swingline brings Fran and Ken Stein to life in this lighthearted mystery series. Working as private investigators who help clients find their birth parents, the siblings search for a missing ukulele that could lead to a client's father. The deep, throaty voice Swingline gives to Ken unintentionally makes him sound obtuse. But Swingline's natural delivery of Fran's witty inner dialogue and snarky comments helps ground the story. Aunt Margie has a calming voice, and Richard Mankiewicz, an NYPD cop who is courting Fran, sounds appropriately matter-of-fact. This is a lighthearted, quick, and enjoyable listen. The slightly nonlinear plot is not overly suspenseful, but listeners are rewarded with a satisfying ending.
Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
Duration: 9 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781666645996
Publisher: Dreamscape
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
C.J. Box writes about life in wild Wyoming, short stories of people living a rugged life by choice or by circumstance. David Chandler narrates in a rough-edged whiskey voice that suggests summer heat, bitter winters, and windswept prairies, guiding the listener through 10 adventures of men like Fish and Game Officer Joe Pickett. Chandler brings the listener into this strange world where, more often than not, men have to create their own justice. His performance of the economical stories, some rarely seen, is perfect. The tale of the frozen body of a Native American basketball player turned speed freak, her arm reaching through the ice of a lake in a final jump shot, is one of the most fascinating in the collection.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781470392796
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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