There are audiobook treasures to be discovered beyond the major publishers and the bestseller lists. Independent audiobook producers put time and care into these recordings, upping the production values with skilled narrators, full casts, or sound effects. They’re worth seeking out.
Speaking of treasures, Looted: Rescuing Italy’s Stolen Treasures by Frances Vieta, read by Lisa Flanagan (SueMedia Productions, 2025) is, according to our review, a “work of nonfiction that sounds more like a good detective story.” The author is a journalist, and this Earphones Award–winning audiobook chronicles her efforts, alongside an Italian investigator, to return stolen antiquities to Italy. Flanagan is an experienced and accomplished narrator with many audiobooks under her belt, and our reviewer notes that through her performance, she “helps create an atmosphere worthy of a mystery novel…conveying surprise, outrage, or suspense.” It would be a perfect crossover listen for history buffs, true-crime fans, and mystery mavens.
Octavo by Marty Neumeier (Books Forward, 2025) is another listen that would appeal to a wide swath of history, art, historical fiction, and mystery fans. Also an Earphones Award winner, it’s performed by an ensemble of narrators that includes Scott Brick, well known and loved for his thrillers. Split between two different time frames, the story follows the writings of Francesco Melzi, a devoted pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, and two women hired in the present day to authenticate his notebooks. Our reviewer raves, “Listeners will be riveted as they follow the two storylines and gain a deeper appreciation for da Vinci’s genius.”
Strongwood: An Audio Crime Dossier by Larry Millett, adapted and directed by narrator Steve Hendrickson (Audio-Visceral Productions, 2025), is another Earphones Award-winner that makes use of multiple narrators—but in this case it’s a full-cast production that also includes sound effects. Our review praises the high quality of the audio production as well as the performances of the cast: “The narrators are perfectly attuned to their characters, making them come to life through tone, pace, and accent.” Using journals, newspaper articles, letters, and court proceedings, the narrators tell the story of a woman in early-20th-century Minneapolis accused of murdering her beau. The novel, the seventh in Millett’s Minnesota Mysteries series, also features none other than Sherlock Homes investigating the crime. Fans of Holmes, audio drama, and documentaries will enjoy piecing together the puzzle of this riveting audio mystery.
Narrator Amanda Stribling put together the audio anthology Ghost Stories From the Gilded Age (Spoken Realms, 2025), which includes 15 public domain “haunted tales” from classic women authors, including Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Kate Chopin, E. Nesbit, and more. Listeners likely will have encountered some of the works before, as with Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” while others, such as Wharton’s “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” and Woolf’s “A Haunted House,” may be less familiar. The production makes good use of the audio format by having 10 narrators perform the stories, and our reviewer notes that they “lend a contemporary feel, intimate tones, and a nice sense of reverence.” This one’s for fans of classics, horror, and challenging the patriarchy.
Jennifer Dowell is the audiobooks editor.
