Features AudioFile Spotlight: Mystery and Suspense Audiobooks

Get ready for fall with excellent suspenseful audiobooks. Dive into a thrilling, suffocating audiobook from Megan Abbott, or curl up under a blanket with a cup of tea and a lively Regency mystery from Alison Goodman. Looking for a new audiobook from an old favorite? Read on to find your next great listen from new and favorite authors to keep you company on these cooler autumn nights—you may just want to listen with the lights on.

BEWARE THE WOMAN
by Megan Abbott| Read by Brittany Pressley
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 9.25 hrs.]

Brittany Pressley captures a young woman’s fear as her world closes in on her. Newly married Jacy and Jed are traveling to meet his parents who, on arrival, are excited to learn of Jacy’s pregnancy. But soon things start to feel off, especially with Jed’s father, Doctor Ash. Jacy struggles to maintain control of her medical history, while Jed appears too willing to excuse his father’s increasingly controlling behavior. Pressley creates a progressively suffocating environment that makes for a very satisfying listening experience.

REVIEW

AFTER THAT NIGHT: Will Trent, Book 11
by Karin Slaughter| Read by Kathleen Early
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Blackstone Audio | 16.5 hrs.]

Kathleen Early delivers a captivating performance in Slaughter’s 11th in the Will Trent series. Emergency Department doctor Sara Linton encounters a dying rape victim and promises her justice. With the support of her fiancé, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Will Trent, Linton embarks on a mission to fulfill her promise. Early’s skillful transitions among characters using tone, accent, and pace will have listeners enthralled by the twists and turns of the investigation and form a deep connection with the expertly portrayed characters. It’s nonstop engagement from start to finish.

REVIEW

THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY OF ILL-MANNERED LADIES: The Ill-Mannered Ladies, Book 1
by Alison Goodman| Read by Kristen Atherton
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 15.5 hrs.]

Kristen Atherton’s excellent use of accents, inflection, and tempo brings Alison Goodman’s characters to life in this lively feminist Regency adventure. Twin spinsters Lady Augusta and Lady Julia Colebrook may be considered “on the shelf” by some members of the town, but others know them as determined deliverers of women and girls in calamitous situations. From aristocratic lords who overestimate their value to affable innkeepers to a dastardly madhouse warden—Atherton’s animated performance captures them all in three interlinking stories that will delight fans of Regency fare.

REVIEW

THE COLLECTOR: Gabriel Allon, Book 23
by Daniel Silva| Read by Edoardo Ballerini
[Harper Audio | 9.25 hrs.]

Edoardo Ballerini creates a suspense-filled performance of Daniel Silva’s latest thriller featuring Gabriel Allon, master art restorer and former chief of “The Office,” Israel’s espionage agency. Allon is summoned to Amalfi by the Carabinieri Art Squad to assist in the investigation of a murder and the recovery of a major painting from the Dutch Golden Age. Allon soon discovers the painting is linked to international intrigue involving his enemies in Russia and their war against Ukraine. Ballerini builds tension with subtle changes in tone and cadence, making use of the characters’ vocal distinctions and perfectly delivering the urgency of the story’s drama.

REVIEW

AN HONEST MAN
by Michael Koryta| Read by Robert Petkoff
[Hachette Audio | 11.5 hrs.]

Narrator Robert Petkoff uses a variety of New England accents to enhance this thriller set on an island off Maine. Petkoff’s controlled, dark narration adds some brine to the unraveling mystery of who killed seven people on a beached ghost ship. Like a set of Russian nesting dolls, the story reveals secrets that beget secrets as Israel Pike, the island outcast, attempts to put a corrupt cop out of business. Add intriguing plotlines and characters to Petkoff’s professional storytelling, and the result is hard-to-put-down suspense read.

REVIEW

AudioFile Spotlight: Mystery and Suspense Audiobooks