Features AudioFile Spotlight: Mystery and Suspense Audiobooks

From a Swiss physics lab to an Italian book tour, this month’s best mystery and suspense audiobooks feature crime in all sorts of far-flung locales. There’s plenty of summer listening here for everyone.

THE STARS TURNED INSIDE OUT
By Nova Jacobs| Read by Lisa Flanagan
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 10.5 hrs.]

Lisa Flanagan’s pleasant voice and skill with characterizations are on fine display in this intriguing new novel by Edgar Award-nominated author Nova Jacobs. Set at the Swiss physics lab CERN, the story—a mix of mystery, science fiction, and romance—starts with the suspicious death of Howard, a brilliant young physicist, in the facility’s giant underground particle collider. Flanagan’s clear performance keeps the parallel “before” and “after” plots separate, while her easy pacing makes the science and the speculative science accessible for listeners.

REVIEW

CLOSE TO DEATH: Hawthorne and Horowitz, Book 5
By Anthony Horowitz| Read by Anthony Horowitz & Rory Kinnear
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 9.25 hrs.]

Rory Kinnear’s performance of the fifth Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery is “something of a masterclass,” says author Anthony Horowitz in a recorded postscript that praises Kinnear’s flair and fluency. Indeed, Kinnear’s voice—rich and resonant, with precise articulation—is one of the many pleasures in this outing of the comical, ill-matched pair as they investigate which neighbor hated Giles Kentworthy enough to kill him. Kinnear delights in vocal characterizations and British class distinctions that enliven the audio experience. Hawthorne remains mysteriously deadpan; Horowitz sometimes whines. It’s all grand.

REVIEW

A CALAMITY OF SOULS
By David Baldacci| Read by MacLeod Andrews, Sisi Aisha Johnson, Cary Hite, & Kiiri Sandy
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 14.5 hrs.]

The world of trial attorney Jack Lee in Virginia in 1968 is brought to life by a uniformly outstanding cast. Narrator MacLeod Andrews uses accent, tone, and pace to portray Lee and the other white male characters. Lee partners with attorney Desiree DuBose, skillfully voiced by Sisi Aisha Johnson. Cary Hite does an outstanding job portraying the male African American characters, while Kiiri Sandy expertly voices the white female characters.

REVIEW

CITY IN RUINS: Danny Ryan Trilogy, Book 3
By Don Winslow| Read by Ari Fliakos
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 9 hrs.]

In the final book in the Danny Ryan Trilogy, a masterpiece of crime writing, Ari Fliakos delivers an astounding, empathetic performance. Rhode Island Irish mobster Danny Ryan experiences true love, devastating heartbreak, and unthinkable violence as he faces foes and scheming entrepreneurs, aided and abetted by Fliakos’s deft handling of accents, tempo, and emphasis. This epic tale of vengeance and violence is considered this generation’s GODFATHER. The best way to experience it is through Fliakos’s flawless delivery.

REVIEW

EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES: Vacation Mysteries, Book 1
By Catherine Mack| Read by Elizabeth Evans
[Macmillan Audio | 9.5 hrs.]

Elizabeth Evans masterfully voices successful crime novelist Eleanor Dash, listeners’ new best friend, who gossips about all of the people and craziness around her. On a book tour in Italy, Dash’s behind-the-scenes insights on writing and publishing, along with her plot notes for her next book, add depth and humor to this story. Evans demonstrates her talent for accents with voices that capture the personalities of each of the characters. Listeners are treated to vivid descriptions of beautiful scenery and mouthwatering descriptions of pizza, pasta, and gelato. Yum and fun!

REVIEW

AudioFile Spotlight: Mystery & Suspense Audiobooks