What first appears to be a simple story of one person becoming fascinated with another soon becomes a disturbing story of obsession. Jennifer Ikeda is the voice of the novel's lonely first-person protagonist. Ikeda's subtly nuanced performance takes listeners into contemporary working-class Japan, where the protagonist, who calls herself "the woman in the yellow cardigan," begins watching "the woman in the purple skirt" each day as she sits on her park bench eating her cream bun. She finds herself captivated by each movement the other woman makes and eventually tries to connect directly with her--with surprising results. Ikeda handles the minimalist writing with ease, developing each character through changing pitch and authentic Japanese rhythms. Shocking twists in the final chapters add to this absorbing listen.
Pub Date: June 8, 2021
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780593410790
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Strong performances by four talented narrators make for nail-biting thrills, bits of dark humor, and a killer conclusion.
Writers’ workshops, book tours, author interactions, stalkers, sex, and murder are all part of this chilling tale wonderfully performed by four narrators. Ann Marie Gideon is spot-on as published author Sam, who is experiencing writers’ block and is worried that she’s a one-book wonder. Braden Wright’s delivery of William, a cocksure and successful novelist who is impressed with himself, is flawless, and when Sam and William connect, the results are sizzling. Stacy Gonzalez is a peripatetic stalker, Rabbit, who devises terrifying methods of spying on her quarry. Each actor provides wonderful insights into the dysfunctional central characters, while Megan Tusing gives the secondary characters credible personalities.
Strong performances by four talented narrators make for nail-biting thrills, bits of dark humor, and a killer conclusion.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063448124
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
Atmospheric and deliberate, Suzanne Elise Freeman's narration will grab listeners from the very beginning of this mystery. Marlowe Fisher lives on her family's sprawling farm in historic Gray House. An illustrator in her 30s, Marlowe has been shaped by the disappearance of her best friend, Nora, 20 years earlier. Now, a murder in the fields disturbs decades of secrets, and the recent death is tied to Nora's unsolved case. Freeman voices a wide range of characters as the story alternates between the present day and the year before Nora went missing. As Freeman's intentional delivery matches the buildup of the mystery, listeners will find themselves questioning everything.
Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2025
Duration: 10 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798992377026
Publisher: Zibby Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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