Christopher Brown delivers a straightforward narration of this audiobook, which is subtitled "A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits and the Birth of a University." The story features Jane Stanford, a most eccentric woman who was cofounder of Stanford University (1885) with her husband and who steered the institution after his death in 1893. Jane Stanford was murdered in Hawaii in 1905, just months after she escaped strychnine poisoning at home. Brown's performance is rapid-fire and barely inflected while reciting scary, often conflicting facts; memos; newspaper articles; court and medical reports; and secondhand conversations revolving around Jane and her household before and after her death. Eschewing accent and emotion, Brown's performance challenges listeners' to remain attentive to this intriguing, very cold, murder investigation.
Pub Date: May 17, 2022
Duration: 11 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798765025901
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An intriguing audiobook that melds traditional journalism with an insightful journey of personal discovery.
Eddy called his family every night to say he was leaving work. Then one night in 1987, he never made it home. Through the following decades, his daughter struggled to deal with a loss that fundamentally altered her life’s direction. Vivienne Leheny’s narration is raw, showcasing the author’s ongoing frustration at the unanswered questions that loom large in the story. Her portrayal of the author as a forlorn teenager turned anxious and angry young woman is spot on. Leheny sounds quietly thoughtful when delivering the facts of the case and appropriately outraged at the lack of care taken by the Baltimore police to preserve evidence or pursue meaningful justice.
An intriguing audiobook that melds traditional journalism with an insightful journey of personal discovery.Pub Date: April 7, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 59 mins
DD ISBN: 9781488237249
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2026
An interesting Ozark history that doesn’t quite cohere.
Author Hale presents the case of his young cousin Haley's disappearance on Cave Mountain in 2001 and the ensuing search and rescue operation, the largest in Arkansas history. Hale connects this with the murder of 3-year-old Bethany by a small and isolated religious sect decades earlier on the same mountain. Narrating these two stories in a low, slightly gruff tone, Hale weaves together family anecdotes, Ozark lore, local and broader history, and Christian theology. While the two cases are intriguing, the work lacks focus and contains extraneous details.
An interesting Ozark history that doesn’t quite cohere.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 9 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063398153
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2026
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