Private detective Cat DeLuca, owner of the Pants on Fire Detective Agency, is a Chicago-based version of Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. Vanessa Hart handles this sometimes-gritty but always-funny mystery competently, but her narration lacks some of the pizzazz demanded by Larsen’s snappy dialogue. There’s not much variation in Hart’s tone during the reading, making it sound monotone at times. However, her comedic timing is spot-on, and she draws out the suspense through Cat's encounters with murder, mistaken identity, explosions, and her family. Further, Hart's manageable pace drives the story through the action scenes and the complicated romance between Cat and Chance, the man everyone else believes is dead.
Pub Date: 2010
Duration: 6 hrs, 45 mins
Publisher: Blackstone 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
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