Suzanne Toren deserves a better vehicle for her talents than this predictable historical mystery set in early-twentieth-century New York City. Author Victoria Thompson has been praised for her Gaslight mysteries, which explore themes related to poverty and race relations. This installment focuses on the Irish and Chinese cultures of the period, whose members tended to intermarry because of their shared poverty. When a missing Irish-Chinese girl turns up murdered in an alley, midwife Sarah Brandt asks her detective friend, Frank Malloy, for help. While the story's Irish and Chinese characters, suspects all, are made fully believable through Toren's vocal skills, the development of the plot is hackneyed.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2008
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books 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: 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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