If you like your cozies full of upper-class badinage and first-rate excitement, try Rhys Bowen’s third in the Royal Spyness series, featuring Lady Georgiana, a penniless aristocrat who is 34th in line to the throne of King George V. Georgie must return home to Castle Rannoch in Scotland to avoid a London scandal. While en route, she’s enlisted by the Home Office to keep an eye on the royal family, who’ve been plagued by a series of accidents. Katherine Kellgren is completely winning as guileless, gullible, plucky Georgie. With the castle overrun by visitors—including the notorious American Mrs. Wallis Simpson; her paramour, the Prince of Wales; and an assortment of gentry and staff—Kellgren shifts accents and attitudes with ease. Phryne Fisher fans will love Kellgren’s Lady Georgiana.
Pub Date: 2010
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Audible, Inc.
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:
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:
Duration: 12 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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