This imaginative and absorbing audiobook finds a new approach to the Jack the Ripper mystery. It is told in two voices: Constance is a girl of the Whitechapel streets where the Ripper does his evil work; Emily is a lady who works with the unfortunate. Emily has befriended Connie and taught her to read and try to better herself. Connie's voice is beautifully done, but Oxford-educated Emily's narrator overshoots the mark and instead of hitting Downton Abbey, lands in a sort of music hall version of upper crust in which "wall" sounds like "wool," etc. The acting is otherwise fine, and Harris has created a persuasive piece of imitation Victorian melodrama, complete with spiritualists and period social prejudices and a gripping mystery at its heart.
Pub Date: May 30, 2017
Duration: 10 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781470849658
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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