Audiobook Review: The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

The Stranger Diaries
Author: Elly Griffiths
Narrator(s): Andrew Wincott, Esther Wane, Sarah Feathers, and 2 more
Series: Harbinder Kaur (Book 1)
Publication: Recorded Books (March 5, 2019)
Length: 10 hours and 32 minutes

Description: Death lies between the lines when the events of a dark story start coming true in this haunting modern Gothic mystery, perfect for fans of Magpie Murders and The Lake House.

Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she even teaches a course on him. But when one of Clare’s colleagues is found dead, with a line from Holland’s iconic story “The Stranger” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with her favorite literature.

The police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her diary, the only outlet for her suspicions and fears. Then one day she notices something odd. Writing that isn't hers, left on the page of an old diary:

Hallo Clare. You don’t know me.

Clare becomes more certain than ever: “The Stranger” has come to terrifying life. But can the ending be rewritten in time?

My Thoughts: This was an excellent modern Gothic thriller. Framed around a creepy story by Victorian writer R. M. Hubbard, English teacher Clare Cassidy, her daughter Georgia, and Detective Inspector Harbinder Kaur find themselves trying to track down a killer before the killer completes his horrible agenda.

Clare is disturbed to learn that a fellow English teacher has been murdered in her home and a quotation from R. M. Hubbard is left by the body. When the police come to talk to her, she is reluctant to share what happened at a workshop/conference they both attended the past summer. She doesn't want to spread gossip. 

Clare has enough to deal with in her life with a fifteen-year-old daughter who is dating a twenty-one-year-old "older man." She has also been working on a book about Hubbard along with her duties as a teacher which have grown exponentially since her colleague's murder. 

Meanwhile, Georgia is keeping a whole secret life from her mother. She is a talented young writer who is taking classes at a local college while feigning disinterest in her current schooling and complete lack of interest in her future education. 

Harbinder Kaur is a Hindi, gay police inspector who has mentioned her sexuality to her parents yet. Nor is she interested in revisiting her past as a student at the school where Clare currently teaches or her own past encounter with the tutor who is coaching Georgia.

Kaur is certain that the killer is someone close to Clare. She becomes even more certain when Clare discovers that someone has been adding comments to her private diary. 

I enjoyed that the story was woven between the three main characters. I was also more than a little creeped out by the male narrator of R. M. Hubbard's famous short story which begins and ends this book.

I bought the Kindle January 2, 2025, and added the Audible Plus copy. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:

"If you'll permit me," said the Stranger, "I'd like to tell you a story. After all, it's a long journey and, bu the look of those skies, we're not going to be leaving this carriage for some time. So, why not pass the hours with some story-telling? The perfect thing for a late October evening."

Friday 56:

There are no photos of Hythe and I don't know how to scroll back as far as July on her timeline. Where did Harbinger find the comments she was mentioning?

This week I am spotlighting The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. I added the Kindle and Audible Plus editions in January. I see that it has won an Edgar Award, but I chose it because I've enjoyed other books by the author. Here's the description from Amazon:

Death lies between the lines when the events of a dark story start coming true in this haunting modern Gothic mystery, perfect for fans of Magpie Murders and The Lake House.

Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she even teaches a course on him. But when one of Clare’s colleagues is found dead, with a line from Holland’s iconic story “The Stranger” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with her favorite literature.

The police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her diary, the only outlet for her suspicions and fears. Then one day she notices something odd. Writing that isn't hers, left on the page of an old diary:

Hallo Clare. You don’t know me.

Clare becomes more certain than ever: “The Stranger” has come to terrifying life. But can the ending be rewritten in time?

Audiobook Review: Light on Bone by Kathryn Lasky

Light on Bone
Author: Kathryn Lasky
Narrator: Nancy Peterson
Series: Georgia O'Keeffe Mysteries (Book 1)
Publication: Tantor Audio (September 6, 2022)
Length: 10 hours and 40 minutes

Description: Kathryn Lasky has written an exciting new adult amateur sleuth mystery set in New Mexico in the 1930s.

The sleuth is Georgia O'Keefe, who actually did suffer a nervous breakdown in 1933 when her husband Alfred Stieglitz had a somewhat public affair, was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, and then traveled to the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico to paint. O'Keefe was approaching the peak of her fame and success, having just sold a painting for a record price. The narrative begins when she discovers the slain body of a priest in the desert. The plot includes several other murders, Georgia's burgeoning romance with the local sheriff, an international espionage plot involving Charles Lindbergh (who is staying at the ranch with his wife Anne), and lots of intricate twists and turns leading to a thoroughly unforeseen denouement.

The strength of this story is how Lasky's elegant writing captures the emotional depth of this artist's turmoil and so stunningly reveals O'Keeffe's perception of the landscape that moves her to paint. It is not simply a whodunnit mystery, but much more: It is a narrative of healing and resurrection of spirit.

My Thoughts: This historical mystery stars artist Georgia O'Keeffe. She is spending time at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico after a nervous breakdown. She loves the light and color for her art. One morning, on her way to paint, she discovers the body of a man dresses as a Franciscan priest. 

This discovery leads to an investigation which introduces her to a possible new love interest in the person of the recently widowed sheriff. It also has her interacting with luminaries of the day including Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. 

The story includes murders, Nazi sympathizers including Lindbergh, a spy ring in the New Mexico desert, and child abuse. All of these themes are filtered through O'Keeffe's artist eyes. I enjoyed the writing both about the crimes and O'Keeffe's internal monologues as she comes to terms with where her life is now.  

The narrator did an excellent job with the tone of the book. 

I got this one through Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Fatality by Firelight by Lynn Cahoon

Fatality by Firelight
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Narrator: C. S. E. Cooney
Series: Cat Latimer Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Tantor Audio (February 28, 2017)
Length: 7 hours and 57 minutes

Description: To kick off a winter writing retreat, Cat and her handyman boyfriend, Seth, escort the aspiring authors to a nearby ski resort, hoping that some fresh cold air will wake up their creative muses. But instead of hitting the slopes, they hit the bar - and before long, a tipsy romance novelist named Christina is keeping herself warm with a local ski bum who might have neglected to tell her about his upcoming wedding.

Next thing Cat knows, her uncle, the town sheriff, informs her that the young man's been found dead in a hot tub - and Christina shows up crying and covered in blood. Now, between a murder mystery, the theft of a rare Hemingway edition, and the arrival of a black-clad stranger in snowy Aspen Hills, Cat's afraid everything's going downhill....

My Thoughts: The second book in the Cat Latimer mysteries centers around the second group of authors who come to the writer's retreat. This time one of the authors takes up with a local who winds up dead with her as a suspect.

Cat knows this writer of sweet romances couldn't also be a killer. So, she's on the case. Of course, she's also still trying to solve the mystery of what her late husband Michael was doing that caused him to blow up their marriage. 

And just to add interest, the library has suffered the theft of a rare, signed Hemingway novel which her authors discover when they go out for pizza. Cat also learns that the college where she and her husband taught is the preferred college for children from mafia families which comes as news to her. 

Besides a mysterious hired assassin, Cat also draws the attention of Dante who is the uncle of a current student and connected to the mafia in some way. He encourages her to stop investigating what her ex was involved in which Cat ignores. 

This story solves the current murder but only provides clues on the whole Michael problem. I'll have to keep reading this eight-book series. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Debutante's Code by Erica Vetsch

The Debutante's Code
Author: Erica Vetsch
Narrator: Kim Bretton
Series: Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery Series (Book 1)
Publication: Tantor Audio (January 25, 2022)
Length: 9 hours and 56 minutes

Description: Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes in this new Regency mystery series

Newly returned from finishing school, Lady Juliette Thorndike is ready to debut in London society. Due to her years away, she hasn't spent much time with her parents, and sees them only as the flighty, dilettante couple the other nobles love. But when they disappear, she discovers she never really knew them at all. They've been living double lives as government spies - and they're only the latest in a long history of espionage that is the family's legacy.

Now Lady Juliette is determined to continue their work. Mentored by her uncle, she plunges into the dangerous world of spy craft. From the glittering ballrooms of London to the fox hunts, regattas, and soirees of country high society, she must chase down hidden clues, solve the mysterious code her parents left behind, and stay out of danger. All the while, she has to keep her endeavors a secret from her best friend and her suitors - not to mention nosy, irritatingly handsome Bow Street runner Daniel Swann, who suspects her of a daring theft.

Can Lady Juliette outwit her enemies and complete her parents' last mission? Or will it lead her to a terrible end?

My Thoughts: This historical mystery introduces Lady Juliette Thorndike who has just left finishing school and is coming home to England after quite a few years. She's eager to reconnect with her parents and to have her debut in society. 

However, when she arrives home, she is greeted by her uncle who tells her that her parents have been unexpectedly called to their country estates. She is put under the care of a dowager duchess for her debut, but she is also told that her parents are spies for England who are off on assignment leaving her training to her uncle. 

Juliette has been trained by her father since an early age to break codes which is essential since someone has compiled a list of English spies and is trying to sell it to the highest bidder. The codes have been concealed in various pieces of art.

The art was all purchased by one man for a London gallery. However, the man who coordinated the purchases and who happened to be her first dance partner at her debut has been found murdered in the gallery which brings in Daniel Swann, a Bow Street runner. Daniel is under pressure of losing his job if he can't find the murderer.

Daniel is also near to the time of losing the support of his mysterious patron when he turns twenty-five. He's illegitimate and was taken from his housemaid mother and sent to prestigious schools under condition that he didn't communicate with his mother in any way. Daniel has resented his mother ever since she gave him up and is surprised to find her the new housekeeper in Lady Juliette's home when he goes there to investigate. 

While I thought the overt references to Christianity, faith, and prayer were a little to prevalent, I did enjoy this historical mystery which begins a series. 

I got this one from Audible Plus October 14, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Jinx High by Mercedes Lackey

Jinx High
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Traci Odom 
Series: Diana Tregarde Investigation (Book 3)
Publication: Tantor Audio (October 8, 2019)
Length: 11 hours and 21 minutes

Description: Fay Harper looks like any other teenage girl - any other Queen Bee, that is. She's blond, and beautiful, and very, very popular - the kind of popular that attracts boys like honey. Fay and her gang take a lot of risks, but so far, they've managed to get away with everything. It's as if they are magically protected.

Summoned to Tulsa by an old friend whose son has fallen in with Fay's crowd, Diana Tregarde, practicing witch and successful romance novelist, quickly finds herself in hot water. The new girl at school, Monica Carlin, has come under sorcerous attack, but Diana cannot identify, or stop, the power-wielder. To make matters worse, there is an ancient being sleeping under Tulsa, a being who might be woken by the magic battles taking place in the city. What will happen then, even Diana cannot predict.

My Thoughts: Diane Tregarde is called by old friend Larry Kestrel now living in Oklahoma when he believes that his son Derek has brushed against something evil. Diana's excuse for coming is to offer a seminar to advanced English students at Jenks High about being a working author. Derek is in that class as is another young woman named Monica Carlin who aspires to be an author. 

Derek has recently begun dating Fay Harper who is the Queen Bee of the high school and who seems to have cast a spell on Derek. Actually, she has. Fay is a sorcerer who has jumped from body to body of her descendants for more than two hundred years. Fay has picked Derek to be her next husband despite the fact that she is currently a high school senior and Deke a high school junior. 

Deke has psychic gifts as do his parents. His parents have had shields on him since he was a small child and haven't told him about his magic abilities nor their own. Both have been content to put their magic past and previous work with Diana behind them. 

Diana has trouble finding out who the sorcerer is and can't believe that a young woman would have the ability that the sorcerer is displaying. She doesn't know about the body switching. But she needs to and stop the sorcerer soon before he/she manages to wake up a god sleeping below Tulsa,

This was an entertaining urban fantasy/mystery. I like Diana who is a Guardian of the Earth and who has to provide help when asked. I liked the multiple viewpoints in this story as we hear from not only Diana but also from Deke, Monica and Fay as well. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Murder at Keyhaven Castle by Clara McKenna

Murder at Keyhaven Castle
Author: Clara McKenna
Narrator: Sarah Zimmerman
Series: A Stella and Lyndy Mystery (Book 3)
Publication: Highbridge (June 29, 2021)
Length: 8 hours and 43 minutes

Description: Between ornate bridal gown fittings and meetings with Lyndy's distant relatives, Stella finally feels less like an out-of-place American and more like a respected aristocrat. Everything changes as the arrival of an anonymous gift and return of her overbearing father cast a dark shadow over the festivities, conjuring difficult memories and new fears....

Tensions intensify when a daytrip to Southampton ends with a suspicious stranger getting trampled by a horse-drawn cab. Before anyone can explain why the victim possessed a newspaper clipping about the upcoming ceremony at Morrington Hall, tragedy strikes again, this time resulting in a murder that turns Stella's world completely upside down while implicating one of Lyndy's well-regarded family members....

Facing loss, postponed nuptials, and uncertain threats, Stella and Lyndy rush to connect two very different crimes and identify the guilty culprit hiding among elite wedding guests. But as the couple blows the lid off of scandalous secrets, they realize that catching this killer - and living to tell the tale - may prove as impossible as closing the class divide.

My Thoughts: With just days to go before their wedding, Stella is busy with last minute dress fittings and other details. She goes with her father to Southampton to pick up some wedding guests he invited and witnesses a runaway carriage and the death of a man who happens to have a copy of her wedding announcement in his pocket.

Along with her father's guests, Stella has invited some guests of her own including her Aunt Ivy. Her father had thrown Aunt Ivy out of his and Stella's life some time ago. There is also an uninvited guest too. Stella's uncle and his two young children have arrived. He's her father's brother and to say that they don't get along is vastly understating the case. 

When a visit to Keyhaven Castle brings with it a murder, Stella and Lyndy are forced to postpone their wedding again which suits neither of them. Together and separately, they investigate both deaths and find connections between them. They are determined to find the murderer who happens to be among their wedding guests and get married as soon as possible. 

This was another excellent episode in the Stella and Lyndy series. I really enjoyed the historical details. I like both main characters and want them to have their happily ever after. 

I bought this one from Chirp July 25, 2023. It is also available through Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Children of the Night by Mercedes Lackey

Children of the Night
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Traci Odom
Series: Diana Tregarde Investigation (Book 2)
Publication: Tantor Audio (September 10, 2019)
Length: 10 hours and 28 minutes

Description: Rock band Wanderlust is about to hit it big, guitarist Dave Kendall is sure of that. They're playing better venues, in front of bigger crowds - and the people showing up at the after parties are increasingly good-looking and cool. Some even radiate power, like "Master" Jeffries, the tall, saturnine man who seems to have some sort of weird control over Dave's fellow bandmates.

But Dave's too tired to pay much attention to Jeffries. He's tired a lot lately, and making music isn't as much fun as it used to be. Probably he's just working - and partying - too hard.

Luckily, Dave has a friend who takes what's happening to him very seriously. Diana Tregarde is a practicing witch and a Guardian of the Earth. It's her job to keep an eye on innocents like Dave and make sure they stay out of trouble and don't become someone's lunch.

Jeffries has been on Diana's hit list since she first spotted him pursuing a young Romany. Di wasn't fast enough to stop him, but the Rom have their own protector - a dashing, charming, very attractive vampire named Andre Le Brel.

Together, the witch and the vampire face Jeffries and his evil minions in a battle for the soul of rock 'n' roll.

My Thoughts: The second Diana Tregarde adventure has her at home in New York City. She's supposed to be writing a category romance for her agent but having trouble because she finds the heroine a wimp. She's also shop sitting for a friend who is about to have a baby. 

When a young Romany boy comes to the shop looking for the owner, Diana offers to help him escape the trouble that is following him. However, the trouble manages to catch up to him and kill him before Diana can do anything. This brings her to the attention of Andre Le Brel who is a vampire who has guarded the boy's family for generations. 

Meanwhile, Diana's old boyfriend is part of a band that is just beginning to become popular when he attends a party, takes a new drug, and becomes someone he had no desire to be. He and his fellow bandmates come under the influence of Master Jeffries who is a psychic vampire feeding on the emotions of others. Worst of all, Master Jeffries has teamed up with a Japanese demon known as the soul eater.

Dave knows he's in over his head and calls on Diana for help. Their breakup was bad, and Diana doesn't want anything to do with Dave. But she's a Guardian and has to help when asked. Diana is still suffering from anxiety attacks from the last time she was asked for help and even teaming up with Andre and a couple of gifted friends feels like she's in over her head. 

What I like most about this urban fantasy series is that Diana isn't all powerful. Sure, she has a Black Belt in karate and is a powerful mage, but she's also small and filled with self-doubts. But knowing the odds are against her isn't going to stop her from doing her duty as a Guardian. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey

Burning Water
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Traci Odom
Series: Diana Tregarde Investigation (Book 1)
Publication: Tantor Audio (August 20, 2019)
Length: 10 hours and 35 minutes

Description: Dallas Police Detective Mark Valdez isn't just any cop, he's a psychic who knows that the cattle mutilations and torture murders he's been investigating are somehow tied together. He also knows that his meager psychic abilities aren't enough to identify the killers, much less stop them.

Luckily, Mark has an ace up his sleeve: an attractive young romance novelist who happens to be a practicing witch. And not just any witch, either - Diana Tregarde is a Guardian, charged with protecting the Earth and all its creatures.

Using modern science and ancient magics, Diana and Mark discover that they are tailing no ordinary serial killer but the awakened avatar of an Aztec god. Tezcatlipoca and his four beautiful handmaidens are preparing for a great sacrifice that will transform North America into a new Aztec realm.

Diana isn't sure her powers are strong enough to take on those of a risen Aztec god, but she has no choice. As a Guardian, she is sworn to protect mankind, even at the cost of her own life. Luckily, she does not stand alone. Mark Valdez is more than just a cop. And Tezcatlipoca is not the only Aztec god walking in the world.

My Thoughts: The first book in the Diana Tregarde Investigations series introduces romance writer/practicing witch Diana Tregarde. 

When Dallas Police Detective Mark Valdez runs across crimes with a paranormal twist, he knows who to call. Mark met Diana in college when she saved him from a miscast spell he and his buddies tried one evening after drinking just a little too much. After that, he worked with her when she handled some other paranormal crimes. 

Mark is a medium, but Diana put a shield on him when she last saw him to protect him. Which is lucky for him, since this new growing evil is looking for people just like him for his growing army. Diana is called in as a consultant for the Dallas Police. The two of them begin trying to track down the evil doer by doing lots of research to find out the evil one's magical tradition. 

Turns out Mark's childhood friend Robert has gotten in way over his head with the occult. In exchange for fame and fortune, he has become the old god's avatar and future sacrifice. Unfortunate, his wife who Mark has fallen in love with, is also slated to be a less-than-willing sacrifice too. 

The story is filled with a lot and action and danger as Mark and Diana need to find a way to battle an ancient god looking to find a foothold in the modern world. 

I enjoyed all of the different mythologies that were part of this story from Cherokee to Aztec. I liked Diana who was determined to save the world and her friends. I liked that she was forced to count pennies since her paranormal gig was not a paying one and her gig as a romance author didn't make her rich. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsborough

Murder in E Minor
Author: Robert Goldsborough
Narrator: L. J. Ganser
Series: A Nero Wolfe Mystery
Publication: Blackstone Audio (April 25, 2020)
Length: 5 hours and 54 minutes

Description: Iconic sleuth Nero Wolfe returns to track down the murderer of a New York Symphony Orchestra conductor in this Nero Award-winning mystery.

Ever since disgraced associate Orrie Cather’s suicide, armchair detective Nero Wolfe has relished retirement in his Manhattan brownstone on West 35th Street. Two years after Cather’s death, only a visit from Maria Radovich - and the urging of Wolfe’s prize assistant, Archie Goodwin - could draw the eccentric and reclusive genius back into business. Maria’s uncle, New York Symphony Orchestra conductor Milan Stevens, formerly known as Milos Stefanovic, spent his youth alongside Wolfe as a fellow freedom fighter in the mountains of Montenegro. And now that the maestro has been receiving death threats, Wolfe can’t turn his back on the compatriot who once saved his life.

Though her uncle has dismissed the menacing letters, Maria fears they’re more than the work of a harmless crank. But before Wolfe can attack the case, Stevens is murdered. The accused is the orchestra’s lead violinist, whose intimate relationship with Maria hit more than a few sour notes in her uncle’s professional circle. But Wolfe knows that when it comes to murder, nothing is so simple - especially when there are so many suspects, from newspaper critics and ex-lovers to an assortment of shady musicians.

Now, in this award-winning novel that carries on the great tradition of Rex Stout, the irascible and immovable Nero Wolfe is back in the game, listening for clues and ready to go to war to find a killer.

My Thoughts: Nero Wolfe is back on the case after a two-year hiatus. He'd be willing to turn away a young woman in distress, but Archie Goodwin is more sympathetic. And when Wolfe learns that the woman is the niece of an old friend of his from his days as a freedom fighter in Montenegro, Wolfe agrees to take the case. 

The niece is concerned about some recent threatening letters that her uncle has received. Her uncle is the musical director of the New York Philharmonic. And when her uncle is found stabbed to death in his apartment, Wolfe is on the case. There are numerous suspects from rivals in the New York Philharmonic to old enemies. 

I enjoyed this return to the world of Nero Wolfe. The fantastic meals, the orchids, and Wolfe's quirks were all present. This story is narrated by Archie who knows his boss and is close behind on the solution to the mystery. I enjoyed the NYC setting too. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Enquiry by Dick Francis

Enquiry
Author: Dick Francis
Narrator: Ralph Cosham
Publication: Blackstone Audio, Inc. (December 15, 1999)
Length: 5 hours and 46 minutes

Description: Jockey Kelly Hughes and trainer Dexter Cranfield have been barred from racing - a devastating event for them both. The charge at the secret enquiry? Throwing a race for personal profit. It is a vicious frame-up and, worse, they have nowhere to turn to clear their names. Still Hughes refuses to take the phony verdict lying down - even though his personal enquiry might have him lying down permanently...

My Thoughts: Enquiry was an excellent example of Dick Francis's best writing. Kelley Hughes is a steeplechase jockey. After the favorite he was riding fails to win a race, he and the trainer are called in by the stewards for an inquiry. Neither of them are expecting the result of that enquiry: they lose their licenses and aren't allowed around racing. 

Kelley is surprised at the hearing both because of the verdict and because of the "evidence" presented. A fellow jockey testifies that Kelley told the other riders to ease off and photos were shown that indicate he took bribe money from the trainer. And a tape from another race shows him contradicting what he had said to explain not using a whip on the horse. Only the horse in the race wasn't the one he was riding in the disputed race.

Determined to clear his name, Kelley begins his own investigation and easily learns that the fellow jockey had taken a bribe to lie about Kelley and that the detective who shot the pictures showing bribery was well known for producing "evidence" for the right price.

Someone is clearly fearful that Kelley will learn the truth because his car was tampered with almost causing his death. But the accident makes Kelley even more determined. With the assistance of some of his racing acquaintances, Kelley finds evidence that proves that the enquiry was rigged but finding out who was so determined to have him and the trainer disbarred from racing leads Kelley into even more danger.

The writing is spare, and the action is fast-paced and furious. Kelley is an ordinary man doing what he loves and then doing what it takes so that he can keep the career he loves. He's not a superman and is beaten up during the story but pain won't stop him from reaching his goal. 

I got this one via Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters

Seeing a Large Cat
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Amelia Peabody (Book 9)
Publication: Recorded Books (May 27, 2004)
Length: 14 hours and 31 minutes

Description: Amelia finds good luck - in her dreams!

'Stay away from tomb Twenty-Al' says an ominous message delivered by an unseen hand. The year is 1903, the place is Cairo, and it's time for Amelia's ninth adventure. She is asked for help by an old friend whose husband has fallen for a spiritualist; then a plea arrives from an expat colonel whose daughter is threatened by an unknown enemy, and Ramses, now a headstrong teenager, undertakes an adventure that is guaranteed to turn his mother's hair white!

Amelia then dreams of a large cat, an Egyptian sign of good luck - which as the situation stands, is in precious short supply...

My Thoughts: It's 1903 and the Emersons are back in Egypt. Ramses and David have spent six months with a sheik and have both matured but it will take Amelia some time to reconcile herself to her son not being a child anymore.

The receive a cryptic message telling them to stay away from a tomb that doesn't exist. They also receive a plea for help from an old friend. Her husband has fallen for a spiritualist and is hunting for a lost Egyptian princess. 

Then a Southern Colonel requests their help with someone who seems to be intent on kidnapping his nubile teenage daughter who is as spoiled and headstrong as a rich young woman can be. She sets her sights on Ramses who is not at all interested since he has long since fallen in love with Nefret who only sees him as a child and a brother. 

Between searching for a tomb that doesn't exist, helping out an old friend, and protecting while fending off a predatory young woman, the Emersons have their hands full. 

This episode includes excerpts from manuscript H which tells parts of the story from Ramses' point of view and provides more insight into his character and another viewpoint on the events of the story. Amelia's viewpoint dominates and is as eccentric as ever. 

This was another excellent adventure for the Emersons.

I got this one via audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry

The Cater Street Hangman
Author: Anne Perry
Narrator: Davina Porter
Series: Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Series (Book 1)
Publication: Recorded Books (March 19, 2009)
Length: 10 hours and 3 minutes

Description: In the debut of the New York Times–bestselling Victorian crime series, Inspector Thomas Pitt seeks an elusive strangler among upper-class British society.

Panic and fear strike the Ellison household when one of their own falls prey to the Cater Street murderer. While Mrs. Ellison and her three daughters are out, their maid becomes the third victim of a killer who strangles young women with cheese wire, leaving their swollen-faced bodies on the dark streets of this genteel neighborhood. Inspector Pitt, assigned to the case, must break through the walls of upper-class society to get at the truth. His in-depth investigation gradually peels away the proper veneer of the elite world, exposing secrets and desires until suspicion becomes more frightening than truth. Outspoken Charlotte Ellison, struggling to remain within the confining boundaries of Victorian manners, has no trouble expressing herself to the irritating policeman. As their relationship shifts from antagonistic sparring to a romantic connection, the socially mismatched pair must solve the mystery before the hangman strikes again.

Rich with authentic period details and blending suspenseful mystery with a budding romance between Inspector Pitt and Charlotte Ellison, The Cater Street Hangman launched the long-running series by Edgar Award–winning author Anne Perry, with recent titles including The Angel Court Affair and Treachery at Lancaster Gate. Also the creator of the William Monk Novels, Perry has become one of the great names in detective fiction. As the Philadelphia Inquirer says, “Pitt’s compassion and Charlotte’s cleverness make them compatible sleuths, as well as extremely congenial characters. . . Perry has the gift of making [the Victorian era] seem immediate and very much alive.”

My Thoughts: Inspector Thomas Pitt is assigned the case of the Cater Street Hangman. After two housemaids and a gentlewoman of the area are found garroted on Cater Street, Inspector Pitt has to interview the upper middle-class residents of the street.

Miss Charlotte Ellison and her family are residents. In her Victorian household, it is her father who makes the rules. One of his rules that his daughters not read the newspapers as the news is too unpleasant for ladies. Charlotte has taken to sneaking the newspapers from the butler's pantry so that she can find out what is happening. While outwardly obedient, she sometimes rebels against the constraints of her life. 

Charlotte has an older sister Sarah who is married to a man Charlotte has fancied herself in love with since he first began courting her sister. She also has a younger sister named Emily who is determined to marry a man with a title. However, he has a reputation as a rogue and a gambler which makes Charlotte fear for her sister's future and reputation. 

With an unknown killer stalking the neighborhood, suspicions begin to grow and they grow in Charlotte's house too. She wonders and fears that either her father or her brother-in-law could be the murderer. And she is not alone in her fears or suspicions. Her mother and her sisters share them. Both her mother and her sister Sarah begin to question how much they really know about the lives of the men they married. 

Meanwhile, Pitt is visiting and questioning both Charlotte's father and brother-in-law and interviewing the servants too. During his frequent visits, he and Charlotte come to know and admire each other. But there seems to be little future for the two of them since he is not of her social class. 

The story was filled with Victorian details and attitudes complete with a double standard regarding what men and women are allowed to do. Secrets exposed threaten the futures of her mother's and her sister's marriages. But then Sarah becomes another victim of the Hangman.

This was an entertaining mystery filled with vivid characters. 

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters

The Hippopotamus Pool
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Amelia Peabody (Book 8)
Publication: Recorded Books (May 15, 2007)
Length: 14 hours and 29 minutes

Description: Is the Hippopotamus Pool a legend? Or Amelia's nemesis!

A masked stranger offers to reveal an Egyptian queens' lost tomb - and Amelia Peabody and her irascible archaeologist husband Emerson are intrigued, to say the least. When the guide mysteriously disappears before he can tell them his secret, the Peabody-Emersons sail to Thebes to follow his trail, helped - and hampered - by their teenage son Rameses, and beautiful ward Nefret. Before the sands of time shift very far, all of them will be risking their lives foiling murderers, kidnappers, grave robbers, and ancient curses. off once again on a rollicking adventure involving archaeology, murderers, kidnappers, grave robbers and ancient curses.

And the hippopotamus Pool? It's a legend of war and wits that Amelia is translating, one that alerts her to a hippo of a different type - a nefarious, overweight art dealer who is on course to become her new arch-enemy!

My Thoughts: This eighth in the Amelia Peabody series takes place in 1900. Amelia, Emerson, and their children Ramses and Nefret are in Egypt hunting for a queen's tomb. But they are not the only ones on the trail. Not one, but two sets of villains have plans for the Emersons. 

When a mysterious stranger invades their hotel room and offers to give them directions to a tomb not yet discovered and then disappears, the Emerson are off to Thebes. There they discover a villain creating forgeries and his apprentice who is Abdullah's grandson David. They rescue David from the forger and Ramses becomes his blood brother. Emerson is less eager to trust the young boy.

Walter and Evelyn Emerson also join them in Egypt once the tomb has been discovered. Evelyn has been in a state of depression since the death of one of young children and Emerson is hoping that the work in Egypt will help her out of it. Evelyn and Walter are estranged when the story begins but through the story, she exposes depths of character that Amelia wasn't aware of when she takes part in Amelia's adventures.

With both Ramses and Nefret kidnapped in this adventure - though by two different sets of villains -- the action is fast-paced and furious in this story. The descriptions of the search for the lost tomb and the treasures they find within it was also engrossing. 

This was another excellent entry into the series as Amelia's voice and viewpoint are always entertaining.

I got this one via Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog by Elizabeth Peters

The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblatt
Series: Amelia Peabody (Book 7)
Publication: Recorded Book (June 4, 2004)
Length: 15 hours and 15 minutes

Description: This adventure transports Amelia Peabody and her husband Emerson to Amarna, the rustic desert site where the two archaeologists first met, beginning the 13-year association that would take them from mayhem to murder in the Egyptian outback.

For the first time in many years, Ramses chooses not to accompany his parents on their yearly excavation. At the tender age of 11, Ramses has fallen in love. The object of his affection is 13-year-old Nefret, the auburn-haired beauty the Emersons rescued from the clutches of the ancient city of Napata, now safe in England where the needlessly solicitous Ramses can keep a watchful eye on her. Ramses' new obsession does not deter him from putting in his two cents worth, however, in a series of lengthy epistles to Egypt, containing enough elaborate syntax and romantic ardor to stretch his mother's patience to the very breaking point.

Her son's budding affaire de coeur reminds Amelia of her once-tumultuous romance with Emerson. She is hopeful that their time alone together will rekindle old flames. But every confidence meets with disaster when Emerson is ambushed, kidnapped, and severely wounded on the road to Luxor. Rescued, and squirming under Amelia's gentle ministrations, Emerson wastes little time in recovering his irascible nature, but to Amelia's dismay, he seems to have no recollection of who she is!

Now, both past and future are in jeopardy as Amelia attempts to locate Emerson's attackers; prevent his disclosure of an important artifact relating to Nefret's security; and renew feelings in him that appear as remote as a Pharaoah's tomb.

My Thoughts: In this seventh Amelia Peabody adventure, Amelia and Emerson travel to Egypt without Ramses who has chosen to stay at home because Nefret is remaining there. But Amelia and Emerson don't need Ramses to get in trouble.

It seems that there is a villain who doesn't believe that they do not know the way to the untold treasures they discovered in the Nubian desert and is willing to find the information any way he can. When attempts to kidnap Amelia are foiled, he switches his focus to Emerson.

Emerson is captured and Amelia must go to his rescue. With Abdullah's help, she finds him and mounts a rescue only to discover that Emerson has lost his memory. He can remember his early days in Egypt but all memory of Amelia and the life they have build together is gone. 

As Amelia tries to bring back his memory and his love for her, she is assisted by Cyrus Vandergelt who, while helping her, is trying to further an agenda of his own. 

The story is filled with action and adventure almost all narrated by the unique voice of Amelia who has her own interpretations of the actions of the other characters in the story. Long letters from Ramses detailing the activities back home in England bring his voice to the story too. 

It took me a while to get used to Barbara Rosenblatt as the new narrator of this series. A first I thought that her voice was too "fruity" and too old. However, I did like the voices she chose for Emerson and Ramses and got used to her version of Amelia. 

I got this one via Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Girl Gone Missing by Marcie R. Rendon

Girl Gone Missing 
Author: Marcie R. Rendon
Narrator: Siiri Scott
Series: Cash Blackbear (Book 2)
Publication: Blackstone Publishing (August 18, 2020)
Length: 6 hours and 48 minutes

Description: Her name is Renee Blackbear, but what most people call the 19-year-old Ojibwe woman is Cash.

She lived all her life in Fargo, sister city to Minnesota’s Moorhead, just downriver from the Cities. She has one friend, the Sheriff Wheaton. He pulled her from her mother’s wrecked car when she was three. Since then, Cash navigated through foster homes and at 13 was working farms, driving trucks. Wheaton wants her to take hold of her life and signs her up for college. She gets an education there at Moorhead State all right: sees that people talk a lot but mostly about nothing, not like the men in the fields she’s known all her life who hold the rich topsoil in their hands, talk fertilizer and weather and prices on the Grain Exchange. In between classes and hauling beets, drinking beer, and shooting pool, a man who claims he’s her brother shows up, and she begins to dream of the Cities and blonde Scandinavian girls calling for help.

My Thoughts: The second Cash Blackbear novel has Cash starting college which she finds a really alien environment. Between hippies and flower children and the growing American Indian Movement, she's being introduced to all sorts of things that haven't come into her world before. She used to working for farmers, drinking beer, smoking and shooting pool. She been in her own apartment since she was thirteen and Wheaton got her out of her last abusive foster home. 

When a college girl goes missing for no apparent reason, Cash finds herself introduced to the white slavery industry which is also something new to her. Another new thing is the reappearance of her brother. She hasn't seen him or heard anything about him since she was taken from her mother as a small child and started on the parade of foster homes. Mo tracks her down and moves in to get to know her. He's a recently discharged Vietnam veteran who was a medic and who has come home with PTSD. They spend time together drinking beer and shooting pool. 

Cash is doing well in college. So well, in fact, that she opts to test out of her freshman English and science classes. Her results on her English final are so good that her professor enters her into an essay contest which will result in her first trip to the Twin Cities for the award ceremony at Macalaster College. And it results in her own encounter with white slavery.

I really enjoyed this story. The setting is familiar to me since I am also a Minnesotan although the Red River Valley is on the opposite side of Minnesota from where I grew up. Cash and I would be near in age and, although our life experiences couldn't be more different, some aspects were completely familiar. 

I liked the author's note that talks about real problems faced by Native American women. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Murder, Stage Left by Robert Goldsborough

Murder, Stage Left
Author: Robert Goldsborough
Narrator: L. J. Ganser
Series: A Nero Wolfe Mystery (Book 12)

Publication: Blackstone Audio (May 28, 2019)
Length: 6 hours and 19 minutes

Description: It’s curtains for a famous Broadway director, and private investigator Nero Wolfe is on the case - but his assistant, Archie Goodwin, is a suspect.

When a renowned theater director senses something amiss during his latest production, he calls in Nero Wolfe. Though the corpulent genius wouldn’t normally accept a job this vague, a mutual friend dangles the prospect of a very rare orchid in exchange for his services, and Wolfe can’t resist.

With a mind to suss out useful backstage gossip, Wolfe turns to his faithful assistant, Archie Goodwin, to impersonate a journalist in order to speak to the cast. Though Goodwin’s conversations prove unfruitful, on his last day at the theater, the director is murdered in his sound-proof booth, poisoned by an unseen culprit during an evening performance. In short order, an actor whose health is failing attempts suicide with the same poison.

Now Archie Goodwin is a prime suspect in the director’s demise, effectively sidelining him for the rest of the case, and freelance gumshoe Saul Panzer must step in to help wrangle the various members of the play - from the ingénue and the diva to the handsome movie star and the surly stage manager - so that New York’s smartest, and most reclusive, private detective can determine who is responsible for these dramatic deaths and clear Goodwin’s name once and for all.

Continuing his beloved series, Nero Award - winning author Robert Goldsborough “brings Nero Wolfe, late of Rex Stout, gloriously back to life” (Chicago).

My Thoughts: Archie goes undercover to try to figure out why a Broadway producer/director is getting bad feelings about his new production. When the producer is murdered, Archie becomes a suspect in the case. 

At first, Nero Wolfe is interested in a limited way. He was convinced to take the case at the request of a fellow orchid grower who has recently received a unique orchid which Wolfe covets. He agrees to solve the crime in return for three of the rare orchids.

Archie had interviewed all the potential suspects in his persona as a writer for a Canadian theater journal, but now Nero Wolfe wants to see each suspect in his office. It is a small cast but filled with big Broadway personalities from the star who will do anything to win a Tony, to a Hollywood movie star making his Broadway debut, to an old pro character actor on his last legs, to a couple of young actors playing the romantic leads. 

This was an entertaining audiobook filled with interesting characters. I enjoyed the historical setting. I also enjoyed the plot and the relationship between Nero Wolfe and his right-hand man Archie Goodwin. 

I got this one via Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Copenhagen Connection by Elizabeth Peters

The Copenhagen Connection
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Narrator: Grace Conlin
Publication: Blackstone Audio (August 23, 2006)
Length: 6 hours and 47 minutes (384 p.)

Description: A strange twist of fate brings Elizabeth Jones face to face with her idol, the brilliant, eccentric historian Margaret Rosenberg, at the Copenhagen Airport. An even stranger accident makes Elizabeth the esteemed scholar's new private assistant. But luck can go from good to bad in an instant -- and less than twenty-four hours later, the great lady is kidnapped by persons unknown. Suddenly desperate in a foreign land, Elizabeth must cast her lot with Rosenberg's handsome, insufferable son Christian in hopes of finding her vanished benefactor. On a trail that leads from modern wonders to ancient mystery, a determined young woman and an arrogant "prince" must uncover shocking secrets carefully guarded in the beautiful Danish city. And they must survive a mysterious affair that is turning darker and deadlier by the hour.

My Thoughts: Elizabeth Jones who works as an assistant at a publishing company in New York has saved up for a couple of years to take her dream trip to Denmark. She really wants to see the Little Mermaid statue and has pored over all the guidebooks to plan her trip. Her trip doesn't start out very well since her seatmate is determined to tell her all about her family's medical issues in great detail. When Elizabeth escapes to the restroom, she discovers that her literary idol Margaret Rosenberg is on the same flight. 

She makes an embarrassing approach which winds up with her spilling coffee into Rosenberg's son Christian's lap and slinks back to her seat. However, they are destined to meet again at the baggage claim when she witnesses an accident which happens to Rosenberg's secretary. Both to spend more time with her idol and because her boss who is Rosenberg's publisher would like it, she volunteers to fill in for the secretary who has a broken arm.

Being in close proximity to Margaret lets her see all of Margaret's eccentricities and makes her understand why Christian might be such an uptight sort of man. He recruits her to help ride herd on Margaret. However, she barely gets started in the job when Margaret disappears from the hotel suite. 

Elizabeth and Christian begin a hunt all over Denmark to try to find his missing mother. Who hasn't been kidnapped but has taken off on her own for reasons she hasn't shared with her son. There are villains who want to find Margaret and get something she has. Elizabeth and Christian keep running into them in their pursuit of Margaret.

The story is packed with action. I did feel that the romance between Elizabeth and Christian was a little too insta-love to be believable though. Going from sniping at each other to love seemed awfully fast. The characters were otherwise interesting and well-rounded. 

Grace Conlin did the narration. She wasn't the best at the male voices and sometimes I was confused about whether Elizabeth or Christian was doing the talking. She did a great job with the pacing and the suspense though. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.