This story within a story within a story demands a clever narrator. Thankfully, Bernadette Dunne has the skill to pull it off. Twenty-nine-year-old Rima Lanisell is visiting her godmother, the famous and eccentric mystery writer Addison Early. Rima is trying to discern the truth about her late father's relationship with Addison and whether he was connected to an old murder. She's plagued by the continually blurring line between Addison's reality and her writing and with how she fits in her own skin. Bernadette Dunne's narration is crisp as she moves in and out of the past, among characters, and within email and blogs. Her strongest portrayals are those of the protagonists. Addison has an elderly, shaky, yet strong-sounding voice, and Rima's thoughts and plans have a questioning, sometimes tormented, tone.
Pub Date: April 1, 2008
Duration: 8 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Reader Michael Prichard delivers a convincing rendition of Archie Goodwin, the burly right hand of the portly Nero Wolfe, world-renowned gourmand and detective. Prichard preserves the 1970s setting and 1950s origins of the story, bringing listeners a well-paced narration of murder and politics--a combination of elements that usually guarantees an exciting listen. This audio entertainment is as well formed and fragrant as one of Wolfe's hothouse orchids (the stout sleuth cultivates them by the hundreds in his town house greenhouse) as Goodwin walks us through an explosive murder investigation and political wheeling and dealing in a tough yet intelligent read.
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2006
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Partners
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This collection of eight short stories contains gentle tales of fantasy and magic--not the magic of wizards and wands, but of wishing mats and enormous cats and gifts brought by the winds. In a lovely English accent, Lizza Aiken quietly narrates these stories in which magic and good fortune often come to those who deserve it. Although her pitch changes little, she registers a range of emotions--from the sadness of a girl whose necklace of raindrops has been stolen to the joy of a child who moves from a hard life and a ramshackle trailer to a happy home amid the clouds. A NECKLACE OF RAINDROPS would make a soothing choice for a family car trip after a long day.
Ages 6+Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
Duration: 1 hr, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781101915721
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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