Category: Audiobooks

Title: Malice Prepense (Barbara Holloway #3) Author: Kate Wilhelm Reader: Anna Fields Category: Mystery/ Legal Thriller Audio published: April 1st 2004 by Blackstone Audio (First published 1995) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Infinity Box | Audible Teddy Wendover is a hulking twenty-eight-year-old with the mind of a child. An accident at eight left him severely retarded. But did it turn him into a cold-blooded killer? Someone has bludgeoned Oregon congressman Harry Knecht to death. Knecht was the man who organized the ill-fated field trip that led to Teddy's injury. Two more murders convince defense attorney Barbara Holloway that there's a broader circle of guilt. Before staging a dramatic courtroom performance, she must sift through dead ends, hearsay, and veiled clues--only to discover that truth is more dangerous than speculation . . . . Malice Prepense is the third in the Barbara Holloway series I've read or listened to. I like the series overall. Barbara is an interesting woman, full of contradictions, and her father is just a solid, good, intelligent man. They are...

Title: The Bear Pit (Scobie Malone #17) Author: Jon Cleary Reader: Christian Rodska Category: Mystery Audio published: Sept 24, 2013 by AudioGo (First published 2001) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon | Audible Scobie Malone's job as a homicide cop is to try to keep murder at bay. His job as a father is to keep his family safe. Now, as the eyes of the world are turning toward his city, both of Malone's careers are in serious jeopardy. An important politician is murdered in high-profile public as his nation rushes toward center stage in the international arena. The assassination is clean and professional -- and senseless on the surface. Malone knows, however, that violent death is sometimes politics' strangest and darkest bedfellow. And before thousands of visitors descend on his city, the dedicated detective will have to put himself in the line of fire to flush out a killer. But he won't be alone in someone's rifle sight. An ambitious young reporter will be joining Scobie Malone in...

Title: The French Powder Mystery (Ellery Queen #2) Author: Ellery Queen Reader: Robert Faas Category: Mystery Audio published: September 15, 2013 by AudioGo (First published 1930) Rating: 2½ out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon The windows of French’s department store are one of New York’s great attractions. Year-round, their displays show off the finest in fashion, art, and home décor, and tourists and locals alike make a point of stopping to see what’s on offer. One afternoon, as the board debates a merger upstairs, a salesgirl begins a demonstration in one of the windows, showing off French’s new Murphy bed. A crowd gathers to watch the bed lower from the wall after a single touch of a button. But as the bed opens, people run screaming. Out tumbles a woman—crumpled, bloody, and dead. The victim was Mrs. French, wife of the company president, and finding her killer will turn this esteemed store upside down. Only one detective has the soft touch necessary—debonair intellectual Ellery Queen....

Title: Casino Royale (James Bond #1) Author: Ian Fleming Reader: Simon Vance Category: Thriller Audio published: February 9, 2011 by Blackstone Audio (First published 1953) Rating: 2½ out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon Introducing James Bond: charming, sophisticated, handsome, chillingly ruthless, and licensed to kill. This, the first of Ian Flemings tales of Secret Agent 007, finds Bond on a mission to neutralize a lethal, high-rolling Russian operative called Le Chiffre by ruining him at the baccarat table, forcing his Soviet spymasters to retire him. It seems that Lady Luck has sided with 007 when Le Chiffre hits a losing streak. But some people just refuse to play by the rules, and Bonds attraction to a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster and to an unexpected savior. I think I may have been somewhat spoiled by the Bond movies. The James Bond in Casino Royale is just not the sexy, dangerous 007 I know. Bond in this does not making the smartest decisions, lets his guard down too easily for...

Title: The Roman Hat Mystery (Ellery Queen #1) Author: Ellery Queen Reader: Robert Faas Category: Mystery Audio published: September 15, 2013 by AudioGo (First published 1929) Rating: 2½ out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon A murder in a crowded theater leaves a pack of suspects, but only one clue. Despite the dismal Broadway season, Gunplay continues to draw crowds. A gangland spectacle, it’s packed to the gills with action, explosions, and gunfire. In fact, Gunplay is so loud that no one notices the killing of Monte Field. In a sold-out theater, Field is found dead partway through the second act, surrounded by empty seats. The police hold the crowd and call for the one man who can untangle this daring murder: Inspector Richard Queen. With the help of his son Ellery, a bibliophile and novelist whose imagination can solve any crime, the Inspector attacks this seemingly impenetrable mystery. Anyone in the theater could have killed the unscrupulous lawyer, and several had the motive. Only Ellery Queen, in his...