In Elly Griffiths's Dr. Ruth Galloway/DCI Harry Nelson mystery series, narrator Jane McDowell handles the convoluted plot and subplots with confidence. Human bones have been found behind an old wall. Ruth, a Cambridge archaeologist, is asked to date the remains. Shockingly, they are the bones of missing Cambridge student Emily Pickering, who was last seen on a field trip with other students and Professor Leo Ballard 20 years earlier. McDowell handles the sexual tension between Nelson and Ruth with sensitivity, and her delivery of minor characters always sounds authentic. From Cambridge's decision to cut the Archaeology department to the suspects and motives for Emily's murder and the upheaval in Ruth's and Nelson's lives, McDowell gives listeners much to unravel in this tangled mystery.
Pub Date: April 25, 2023
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063287587
Publisher: Harper 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
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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