Features AudioFile Spotlight: Mystery and Suspense Audiobooks for April

This month’s best mystery and suspense audiobooks will take listeners from a South African housing estate haunted by a djinn to a small town in Louisiana full of secrets. With several ensemble performances—and one knockout performance that sounds like an ensemble!—there’s something here for every mystery lover.

KILL SHOW: A True Crime Novel
By Daniel Sweren-Becker| Read by Megan Tusing, Desmond Manny, Pun Bandhu, Melissa Redmond, Byron Wagner, Christine Lakin, Stacy Gonzalez, Xe Sands, Fred Sanders, Sara Morsey, Chris McLinden, and Robert Fass
AudioFile Earphones Award
Harper Audio | 8 hrs.

An ensemble of wildly talented narrators elevates this fictional true-crime case told through first-person interviews. The narrators infuse a generous amount of personality and empathy into their portrayals of the community, media, and family involved in the tragic case of missing teenager Sara Parcell. Robert Fass’s weary voice portrays Dave, Sara’s downtrodden father, as he recollects the case from prison. Melissa Redmond’s assertive performance embodies a gusty TV producer who turns the case into a media spectacle. A compelling audio with a winning combination of narrators.

REVIEW

FIRST LIE WINS
By Ashley Elston| Read by Saskia Maarleveld
AudioFile Earphones Award
Penguin Audio | 9.25 hrs.

Listeners will be convinced there’s a full cast delivering this fast-paced thriller. Yet it’s just one narrator, Saskia Maarleveld, who masterfully voices all the characters. Evie Porter is a criminal with a heart and a conscience. She has adopted many names and personas for her work for the mysterious Mr. Smith. The narrative goes back and forth in time, revealing the successful and disastrous assignments that have landed her in small-town Louisiana. The twists and turns will keep listeners glued to their earbuds all the way to the satisfying conclusion.

REVIEW

ANNA O
By Matthew Blake| Read by Dan Stevens, Hannah Curtis, Sarah Cullum, and Christine Rendel
AudioFile Earphones Award
Harper Audio | 12 hrs.

Hannah Curtis, Sarah Cullum, and Christine Rendel, led by the incomparable Dan Stevens, skillfully deliver this extraordinary twisty novel. One night, Anna Ogilvy, a young wannabe writer, inexplicably stabs two people to death while sleepwalking. She hasn’t woken up since the crime. Stevens’ portrayal of Anna’s psychiatrist, Ben, carries much of the narrative. He adds depth to Anna’s plight and Ben’s mission to awaken her so she can stand trial for her crimes. Curtis, Cullum, and Rendel also enhance this seemingly unreal but plausible story.

REVIEW

THE DJINN WAITS A HUNDRED YEARS
By Shubnum Khan| Read by Soneela Nankani
AudioFile Earphones Award
Penguin Audio | 10.25 hrs.

Soneela Nankani dynamically narrates this unique mystery. Sana and her father move to an old South African estate that has been repurposed as housing. Still grieving the passing of her mother, Sana tries to make connections with the other tenants and stumbles upon the estate’s former resident and her djinn. Nankani’s performance seamlessly weaves together suspenseful moments and hopeful discoveries. Although the djinn is as an invisible entity, Sana’s interactions with it are performed with so much care that listeners will feel the genuine connection between the two characters.

REVIEW

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS
By Janice Hallett| Read by Kristin Atherton, Annie Aldington, Nneka Okoye, Gareth Armstrong, and Sid Sagar
AudioFile Earphones Award
Simon & Schuster Audio | 10.5 hrs.

This marvelous audiobook unfolds through a series of emails complete with verbal emojis—a narrator’s challenge. Kristin Atherton gives a knockout performance as journalist Amanda Bailey, who is investigating the malevolent cult of the Alperton Angels. Sid Sagar as Amanda’s journalist friend; Nneka Okoye as her street-smart assistant; Gareth Armstrong as the cult leader; and Annie Aldington as the murder club president provide plot twists and turns. All involved create a superbly choreographed performance.

REVIEW

AudioFile Spotlight: Mystery & Suspense Audiobooks