Recorded Books – Rosepoint Publishing

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger #AudiobookReview #ComingofAgeFiction

Best Mystery, Thriller and Suspense

Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Mystery & Thriller-2013

Book Blurb:

Award-winning author William Kent Krueger has gained an immense fan base for his Cork O’Connor series. In Ordinary Grace, Krueger looks back to 1961 to tell the story of Frank Drum, a boy on the cusp of manhood. A typical 13-year-old with a strong, loving family, Frank is devastated when a tragedy forces him to face the unthinkable – and to take on a maturity beyond his years.

My Review:

Krueger has found his chops and he’s using them again—or perhaps this is the one that started it, given Ordinary Grace was published in 2013. This Tender Land (set during the Depression) was published in 2019, The River We Remember in 2023 (Iron Lake in 2010. The latter is the only one whose main character is not a child and the start of a series.)

The characters are richly developed, become real, and easy to care about them all. The settings describe 50s or 60s landscapes, people, and morality. Frank, at thirteen, is growing up in an average household in an average small town, Minnesota. It’s so easy to visualize the area and feel the upper Midwest weather, almost like a cloak.

While his mother does not have a career, she is an accomplished musical director, musician. Frank has a younger brother, Jake, who has an unfortunate stutter and an older sister.

When eighteen-year-old Ariel is murdered, it spells the end of innocence as the boys knew it, and pretty much destroys their mother. Only their father, a local minister who lives the faith he preaches, manages to hold on and struggles with keeping his family together. The impact the death has on the little town is enormous and most have an unsubstantiated idea of who was responsible.

Once again, in Kreuger’s story, there is a sympathetic Native American that is the accused, although he manages to disappear before they can apprehend him. Also, as in This Tender Land, the narrator is a pre-teen or early teen on the cusp of losing his innocence in people and the world.

Themes of discrimination, intolerance, heart-crushing circumstances. The plots between his books are eerily similar, multi-layered, and complex. The author also examines love and faith, the latter of which plays a heavy part in the storytelling.

The twist at the end caught me by surprise—never really a person of interest—nor one I gave thought to. It’s tragic and forever.

Still, how would I rate this one, compared to the three others I’ve read by the same author? This one holds the interest, it’s engaging, and you must know who and why.

I can recommend this one. But I prefer This Tender Land.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Coming of Age Fiction, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B00BPA1T8G
Listening Length: 10 hrs 59 mins
Narrator: Rich Orlow
Publication Date: March 26, 2013
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links: Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 40 years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last five novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

“Ordinary Grace,” his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. “Manitou Canyon,” number fifteen in his Cork O’Connor series, was released in September 2016. Visit his website at http://www.williamkentkrueger.com.

Read with a friend.

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger #AudiobookReview #bookclub #TBT Banner

Goodreads Choice Award nominee (Also Goodreads Choice Award nominee 2023 for Best Mystery & Thriller

The selection for the October read of the Y Book Club was This Tender Land. Not the first experience with this author as I read Iron Lake last year, the kick off to his popular Cork O’Connor series. The book club meets once a month (except for December) and is very popular.

I must admit that Krueger is an extraordinary storyteller and it’s only nitpicky that I don’t feel a five star.

There might be a bit of déjà vu reading the plot line, that feeling of familiarity, borrowing from a couple masters perhaps, except that it’s not, creating a plot line of its own. The narrator is a twelve-year-old and the author does an exceedingly good job at standing in the youth’s shoes, at times mature beyond his age, and then a gentle reminder by his decisions and actions—no—he’s only twelve.

It’s the depression. The loss of Odie’s mother and then his father lands him and his brother Albert in an orphanage—not a white orphanage—one meant for the transition of Native Americans to white society. It’s cruel. Depressing. And unfortunately, historically accurate.

And it’s the cruelty that forces Odie to a wretched act forcing him and his brother, along with mute Native American Mose, and little girl Emmy to flee. Possessing knowledge of the capture and return or disappearance of previous attempts, they elect to catch a local river (rather than the train) with hopes it’ll take them far away from the brutality of the orphanage and it’s owners.

The epic novel follows them through the experiences of their venture down the river where they meet a whole world of people, the good and bad, in their bid to find their home, now a destination to St. Louis and a surviving aunt.

It’s a multi-layered plot, complex, alternately heart-wrenching and joyous. Even the support characters are so well developed and engaging, you’ll want to know what happens to them.

A breath-taking conclusion, however, may not answer all your questions. Are there some you must decide for yourself? Perhaps. For the most part, it’s satisfying, and though it leaves an impact, allows you to close the chapter and the tale.

An epic saga working on becoming a classic. Many thanks to our local well-stocked library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Book Club Thoughts

The publisher provides pointed questions for discussion at the book club, ably kept on topic (for the most part!) by the moderator. Some of the questions this time, however, just didn’t jive with our own areas of lively interest, with points of view generally in agreement.

We all found it amazing that a twelve-year-old could or would proceed with maturity sufficient to survive in a world heavily poverty stricken and starving. Of course, there was little question that thrust into the world at large these days, a child of twelve, virtually without any resources, would not find the same level of success.

Items specifically examined were:

►The individuals in the vagabond group: Odie’s older brother the oldest, Emmy, the girl, and the youngest.

►The sad state of those Native Children being torn from their families, their way of life, even their languages.

►Those who managed to hang on to their properties, farms or ranches, but without any resources to manage them.

►Revival tents and the level of religious fervor as well as the money generated.

►Hoovervilles—the hopelessness generated by the loss of everything and the lack of governmental intervention.

A look back at a sad time in this country beautifully laid in prose, emotion, well-developed characters, and atmospheric scenes. Well-paced, engaging, and thoughtful. I can recommend this novel. Narrated by Scott Brick who brings a special kind of emotion to the narrative.

Book Club and my star ratings

Book Details:

Genre: Indigenous Literature, Coming of Age Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books

Narrator: Scott Brick
ASIN: B07S85YLDY
Listening Length: 14 hrs 19 mins
Publication Date: September 03, 2019
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

“Ordinary Grace,” his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. “Manitou Canyon,” number fifteen in his Cork O’Connor series, was released in September 2016. Visit his website at http://www.williamkentkrueger.com.

The Narrator: Scott Brick (born January 30, 1966, in Santa Barbara, California) is an American actor, writer and award-winning narrator of over 800 audiobooks.

Brick studied acting and writing at UCLA before embarking on his professional career in 1989.

In 1999, Brick began narrating audiobooks and found himself a popular choice for top publishers and authors. After recording some 250 titles in five years, AudioFile magazine named Brick “one of the fastest-rising stars in the audiobook galaxy,”^[1] and proclaimed him a “Golden Voice,” a reputation solidified by a November 2004 article on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Publishers Weekly then went on to honor Brick as Narrator of the Year in 2007 and 2011. To date, he has won over 50 Earphone Awards, two Audie Awards and a nomination for a Grammy Award.

He opened his own audiobook recording studio and publishing company, Brick By Brick Audiobooks, with the goals of streamlining production and ensuring consistency throughout his body of work. [Courtesy Wikipedia]

The YMCA Book Club

Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell #AudiobookReview #bookclubs #TBT

Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Readers’ Favorite Fiction (2011)

My first participation with the Y Book Club in our local area. I was thrilled to find an active, dynamic book club and attended on Wednesday for their May selection: Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell. This book club meets once a month and is very popular. I could see why—it’s lovely—the moderator did a great job keeping us to script. It was discovered that there were several books by the same name and this was not the one recommended.

Book Blurb:

A finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Bonnie Jo Campbell is a rising star in contemporary fiction. Hailed by Booklist as a female Huckleberry Finn, Campbell’s heroine is 16-year-old Margo Crane. Complicit in her father’s death, Margo flees home for the Stark River. And as she follows the current, she learns the ways of the world from the eccentric characters she meets.

My Review:

I must say that Campbell weaves a spell-binding tale—she is quite the storyteller.

Unfortunately, the ladies in the club didn’t appreciate her brand of raw, rude, and sometimes crude, style of storytelling. This sixteen-year-old was taught by her dad and granddad to hunt and dress game. In fact, she is an excellent shot. Too good. She flees following the death of her father.

What follows is her experience as a teenager left to fend for herself, any way she can. Margo may appear unacceptable to the main population, but this is the 70s and 80s (although it seemed older than that).

I thought it was similar to Where the Crawdads Sing, except this narrative is darker, shocking. Margo Crane, the main character, is a strong fan of Annie Oakley, sees herself in Oakley, and tries to model after the famed nineteenth-century sharp shooter. Having been abandoned at an early age by her mother, she goes on a quest to find her and reconnect.

You might argue that, once again, we have a coming-of-age story not with a male MC, but a female MC, experimenting, pushing boundaries, pushing sexual limits, exploring the limits of her own abilities and reveling in successes.

In any case, you may see the gradual growth of maturity but still refuse to like the character. She is all but feral and essentially retains that essence of wild through the climax. Margo is self-sufficient. She may be looking for love. But she doesn’t need it to survive.

Book Club Thoughts

On the whole, most of the attendees did not like the book, with one commenting, “that is the worse book I’ve ever read.” Others commented they couldn’t identify or engage with the main character, nor any of the support characters. One of the ladies asked how the book club ended up with that book. (Yes, same title but was written by another author.) Lively discussion and as another lady pointed out, salient points noted by other attendees actually raised, perhaps one-half star their original estimate of star rating. Final concensus was approximately 1.75-2 stars by the body.

Book Club Rating

I’m looking forward to attending more book club meetings, the next scheduled book being The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood. Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Book Details:

Genre: Coming of Age Fiction, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B005HH0KLK
Print Length: 349 pages
Publication Date: August 16, 2011
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of the national-bestselling novels The Waters and Once Upon a River. Her critically-acclaimed short fiction collections include American Salvage, which was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critic’s Circle Award; Women and Other Animals, which won the AWP prize for short fiction; and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters. She is also author of the novel Q Road and a poetry chapbook. Her story “The Smallest Man in the World” was awarded a Pushcart Prize and her story “The Inventor, 1972″ was awarded the 2009 Eudora Welty Prize from Southern Review. She was a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow.

#ThrowbackThursday

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava #AudiobookReview #ActionThriller

Book 1 of 8 Ryder Creed

Book Blurb:

Ryder Creed and his dogs have been making national headlines. They’ve intercepted several major drug stashes being smuggled through Atlanta’s airport. But their newfound celebrity has also garnered some unwanted attention. When Creed and one of his dogs are called in to search a commercial fishing vessel, they discover a secret compartment. But the Colombian cartel’s latest shipment isn’t drugs. This time, its cargo is human. To make matters worse, Creed helps one of the cartel’s drug mules escape – a 14-year-old girl who reminds him of his younger sister who disappeared 15 years ago. Meanwhile, FBI agent Maggie O’Dell is investigating a series of murders – the victims tortured, killed, and dumped in the Potomac River. She suspects it’s the work of a cunning and brutal assassin, but her politically motivated boss has been putting up roadblocks. By the time she uncovers a hit list with Creed’s name on it, it might be too late. The cartel has already sent someone to destroy Creed and everyone close to him. But Creed and his dogs have a few surprises in store on their compound in Florida. Will it be enough to stop a ruthless cartel determined to remove the thorn in its side once and for all?

My Review:

OMG, another dog series I’m just discovering and why hasn’t someone told me about this one?

The main character is a damaged Afghanistan ex-military person. In this case, Ryder Creed. He has teamed with Hannah and together they rescue and train dogs for all the different jobs that humans have discovered they can excel at. Many of the dogs are multi-service and their service is in demand.

Grace is a little Jack Russell Terrier and my favorite. JRs are a feisty, smart breed. She is one of the multi-service dogs, keenly aware of all the nuances of her handler, intelligent, and with a nose that knows. As Ryder says, “Grace is never wrong.”

In fact, there are several engaging characters, including Maggie O’Dell, who is apparently a character from another series by the author. An obvious romance link, though neither acknowledges the tension—fine by me—I’m not here for the romance.

Maggie is an FBI profiler but tends to play fast and loose in her position. She’s experienced and has enough history behind her to project authority.

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava — Audiobook cover – UK

There is a sub-level plot with lots of things going on, a mystery, well-developed and engaging characters, and a plot that is steeped in action if not description and explanation of the training and psyche of canines.

There is an escalation of body count which involves drug cartels and nasty people. The connection with Ryder and his dogs though is primo in this narrative and anyone who loves or is fascinated by their abilities will enjoy. It is also, however, a credible thriller with some human characters that this reader loved as well. The narrator did a fine job with the Southern accents and kept the pressure on.

I appreciated the ease into Book 1 of a new series which appears to be a spin off of a previously well received series and enjoyed it enough to go looking for Book 2. Look for Silent Creed soon.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Action Thriller & Suspense Fiction, Crime Thrillers, Mystery Action & Adventure
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B00RN8QS4O
Listening Length: 7 hrs 6 mins
Narrator: Graham Winton
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links:

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK

The Author: ALEX KAVA is a New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of twenty novels including the award-winning FBI Profiler Maggie O’Dell series and the critically acclaimed and now award-winning Ryder Creed K-9 Mystery series. Recently LOST CREED won the 2019 Nebraska Book Award. Her novel Stranded was awarded both a Florida Book Award and the Nebraska Book Award. One False Move was chosen for the 2006 One Book One Nebraska and her political thriller, Whitewash, was one of January Magazine’s best thrillers of the year. Published in over thirty-four countries, Kava’s novels have made the bestseller lists in the UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Poland.

“A TRAILBLAZER IN THE K-9 FICTION GENRE, Kava creates a “dynamic between Ryder and his canines that reveals a world rarely shared in fiction and perhaps nowhere presented more effectively than in this series.” —Phil Jason, Florida Weekly

“It’s impossible not to care about and root for the human and canine heroes in Kava’s series.” —Tracie Holtcher, The Radio Pet Lady Network ™

She is a member of the Nebraska Writers Guild and is a founding member of International Thriller Writers. Kava divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska and Pensacola, Florida with her pack of westies.

The Stranger Diaries Book 1 of Harbinder Kaur by Elly Griffiths #AudiobookReview #GothicHorrorFiction

Editors’ pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

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

My Review:

Having ventured into a Ruth Galloway book, I thought I’d try another first in the series. This series, however, leads the reader into a totally different experience and, actually, as a girl, I loved gothic stories.

Not so much this one.

I don’t have a problem with multiple POVs, usually enjoy them. In this case, it changed the vibe of the book for me. Stopped what might have been an interesting flow to begin another and one not so engaging.

This novel begins a slow burn for me perhaps because I always found English classes dry and lacking connection. While we aren’t exactly talking classics here, I struggled with the academia side of the narrative, found most characters haughty and arrogant, and a couple I actively disliked. The plot centers around Clare and her teenage daughter, Georgia (Yet another snotty teen?) Clare’s best friend is murdered. Enter DS Kaur, I thought a bit too intense and forceful. My favorite character is the little dog, of course.

The author R M Holland lived in the particular old school building where he wrote his best known works. He is surrounded by myth and the story of the death of his wife. He left an extract that becomes a mantra throughout the book, and as it was an audiobook, became a bit much.

“Hell is empty, all the devils are up here.”

At first the passage jolted me as it sounded much like something my grandfather once said. But then it was repeated, over and over.

The plot becomes quite complex. The atmospheric gothic quality of the campus descriptions of the area lends a strong character quality to the Victorian storyline, building tension and adding to the “creep” factor. Lots of threads pulled up in the denouement. Sometimes though the motive for a murder feels a bit weak, but okay, everything buttons up in the end.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts. Did you read this one?

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Gothic Horror Fiction, Police Procedural Fiction, Gothic Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B07MKZFRQT
Listening Length: 10 hrs 32 mins
Narrators: Andrew Wincott, Esther Wane, Sarah Feathers, Anjana Vasan
Publication Date: March 5, 2019
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links:

Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Elly Griffiths - author — Elly Griffiths – author

The Author: Thank you for visiting my Amazon author page! I’m the author of the Dr Ruth Galloway books, the Brighton Mysteries and four standalone titles featuring DI Harbinder Kaur. I’ve also written a middle grade mystery series, A Girl Called Justice. My new series, about time-travelling detective Ali Dawson, started in 2025 with The Frozen People.

I was born in London but moved to Brighton when I was five. I always wanted to be an author and wrote my first detective story, The Hair of the Dog, when I was 11. I studied English at King’s College London and worked in a library before joining HarperCollins as a publicity assistant, eventually becoming editorial director for children’s fiction. I wrote my first published novel, The Italian Quarter, whilst on maternity leave expecting my twins. Three other books followed, all written under my real name, Domenica de Rosa. When I wrote my first crime novel, The Crossing Places, I was advised to get a ‘crime name’. I chose Elly Griffiths, after my grandmother, and have now published 32 books under that name..

I live near Brighton with my husband, Andy. We have two grown-up children and a cat.

Have a happy Easter! — AI generated graphic compliments of Dream Lab, Canva.

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

A Dave Robicheaux Novel Book 1

Book Blurb:

New York Times best-selling author James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux novels began with this first hard-hitting entry in the series.

In The Neon Rain, Detective Robicheaux fishes a prostitute’s corpse from a New Orleans bayou and finds that no one, not even the law, cares about a dead hooker.

My Review:

My first go-round with this author and I gotta admit checked most of the boxes for me. I could identify with the time period, if not “Nalans” and, indeed, New Orleans is a whole character unto itself.

It’s good I was listening to the audiobook as the author did a beautiful job of the accents (French), dialects of the locals (Cajun), as well as the protagonist’s name, Robicheaux (pronounced Row-be-show).

Even better when I start a healthy (24 installments in the series??) with Book 1. Yes, the first book is usually an introduction to the main character, the location, and the setting, in this case, the police department. Back then we had a lot of veterans, some still fresh from ‘Nam. Dave Robicheaux has apparently been back long enough to have achieved detective level with the local police department.

I loved how the description of the area rolled off the tongue of the narrator, making it almost sensual. I got a feeling pretty quickly about gritty Robicheaux, hardened from battle, brass, baddies, and loss. He’s no one to mess with.

When he discovers a young prostitute’s body, it hits him hard, and he throws all effort at finding the perp. Unfortunately, it also begins to uncover a lot more than he bargained for, and he reverts to drinking again and is placed on leave.

No problem.

He goes rogue.

In the meantime, the reader is treated to the prose created by the beauty of the bayou, the music, the mood, the food, the heat, the French Quarter, and the rain. In our experience, the latter happened every afternoon about 4 p.m. Ever notice that moss hanging from those iconic trees? Did you wonder why?

Graphic details, descriptions, and language paint a noir picture through the storyline and solid support characters. It is well-paced, suspenseful, gritty, and within a hard-boiled mystery. Armchair tourist? This might well be one trip you’ll enjoy.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedural Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Suspense
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0028TY1GU
Listening Length: 8 hrs 22 mins
Narrator: Will Patton
Publication Date: May 5, 2009
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links:

Amazon-US
Amazon-UK

The Author: James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, three-time winner of the Edgar Award as well as the Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America, winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger and Gold Dagger and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction.

#ThrowbackThursday

Echoes of Memory by Sara Driscoll #AudiobookReview #AmateurSleuth #standalone

Book Blurb:

Quinn Fleming, a San Diego florist grappling with post-traumatic amnesia, is the only witness to a murder … and the only one who can solve it—in a brand-new thrilling mystery from Sara Driscoll, author of the FBI K-9 novels!

After surviving a terrible attack, Quinn Fleming has recovered in every way but one—her ability to retain new memories. Now, months later, it appears to the outside world as if the San Diego florist’s life is back to normal. But Quinn is barely holding on, relying on a notebook she carries with her at all times, a record of her entire existence since the assault.

So when she witnesses a murder in the shadowy alley behind the florist shop, Quinn immediately writes down every terrifying detail of the incident before her amnesia wipes it away.

By the time the police arrive, there’s no body, no crime scene, and no clues. The killing seems as erased from reality as it is from Quinn’s mind … until the flashbacks begin.

Suddenly, fragments of memories are surfacing—mere glimpses of that horrible night, but enough to convince Quinn that somewhere, locked in her subconscious, is the key to solving the case … and she’s not the only one who knows. Somebody else has realized Quinn is a threat that needs to be eliminated. Now, with her life on the line and only her notes to guide her, Quinn sets out to find a killer she doesn’t remember, but can’t forget …

My Review:

Quinn Fleming has been left with a traumatic brain injury from an attack that she recovered from physically. She is now fully functional and working at a florist shop. She’s been left with the inability to retain short-term memories, however. Having reconciled to this new self, she has learned to live with it by immediately writing notes to herself and she keeps a journal.

One evening as she was closing the shop and tossing trash in the dumpster behind the store, she realized she was not alone in the alley. She witnesses what she believes to be a murder, victim of foul play, and also knew if she didn’t write her observations immediately, they’d be lost to her by the time she could give a complete statement to the police.

Unfortunately, when the police arrive, they do not find a body nor evidence of an attack. She apparently has history with Detective Reyes, however, and Detective Reyes learned how to keep Quinn’s involvement in the moment and tease out details. The question was: were the perps aware there was a witness?

I must confess I’ve read many of the author’s books and jumped on this just seeing her name. I didn’t realize it was a standalone and quickly understood it was not one of my favorite FBI K-9 series. I recently read Lockdown, Book 3 of the NYPD Negotiators series and enjoyed it, but still, it’s hard to beat one of her FBI K-9 novels.

The storyline seemed a slow burn for me. There was a lot of dialogue between Quinn and the detective, explanation of her brain injury, description of the elaborate system of notes she’d made and kept for herself so she could function somewhat normally.

While I enjoy the intelligence of her narratives, I guess I’ve gotten used to more activity, faster pace. The main character is well developed and I marveled at the patience the detective employed in gleaning out the tiniest memory from Quinn, but at times it was also a bit exasperating. Good book, yeah.

Interesting, yeah.

Unique, okay.

If you are a solid diehard fan of the author, then you may appreciate the burn. I am a fan, but obviously chose my favs early on and color me a bit disappointed if there are no dogs involved.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Amateur Sleuth, Women Sleuth Mysteries, Suspense
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0D2LRKGRS
Listening Length: 11 hrs 9 mins
Narrator: Cynthia Farrell
Publication Date: July 23, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Echoes of Memory – Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Sara Driscoll is the pen name of Jen J. Danna, coauthor of the Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries and author of the FBI K-9s and the NYPD Negotiators. After over thirty years in infectious diseases research, Jen hung up her lab coat to concentrate on her real love—writing “exceptional” thrillers (Publishers Weekly). She is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada and lives with her husband and four rescued cats outside of Toronto, Ontario. You can follow the latest news on her books, including the FBI K-9s, at http://www.saradriscollauthor.com.

The Comfort of Ghosts: Maisie Dobbs Book 18 by Jacqueline Winspear #AudiobookReview #HistoricalMysteries

in Historical Mysteries

Book Blurb:

A MILESTONE IN HISTORICAL MYSTERY FICTION AS MAISIE DOBBS TAKES HER FINAL BOW

London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.

aisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.

The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, audiences drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.

My Review:

The eighteenth in the series and I didn’t realize when I got it, intended to be the last. As I read it, however, it seemed an obvious goodbye; farewell.

This is one of those series where the protagonist actually ages with the years, beginning in 2003 as a teen in the early twentieth century and ending in 2024 having lived through two world wars. This book ends with the end of WWII in 1945, post-war UK.

The author does a beautiful job of molding a young woman through her service as a young maid to becoming a nurse during the war and extending her expertise to becoming a private investigator, psychologist. She has endured love and lost it, experienced the death of both husband and child but she never turned inward, instead becoming a compassionate support for post-war individuals and their stories.

This story is about the discovery of children who, like many post-war individuals, discovered empty or abandoned homes in which to squat. The children eventually tell a harrowing story of the service to their country they were to execute should there have been an invasion of the English shores. It’s a shocking story now becoming familiar. A sad testament to the use of one last desperate commodity.

Maisie also begins to uncover secrets tied to her own past when yet another revelation is made that has her digging into the death of her first husband. The dual plot line leads to doors that will open to a peaceful future and quell heartaches she’s failed to conquer. A lovely conclusion pulling together threads not closed prior to Book 18.

Back in February 2022, I read To Die But Once and greatly enjoyed it, vowed to read more in the series. It’s a great historical novel with the mystery well drawn and satisfying then in the conclusion. I can recommend to any who enjoys a detective story authentically mixed with WWII wartime drama.

This installment signals the end of an era, sad to say of a lovely series that draws you in and invests in the characters so you might very well wish to begin with Book 1. The narrator does an emotional job of it, conveying her own goodbye.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest opinions.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Mysteries, Women Sleuth Mysteries
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0CQZ3TJG1
Listening Length: 10 hrs 6 mins
Narrator: Orlagh Cassidy
Publication Date: June 4, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Comfort of Ghosts [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author:

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of eighteen novels in the award-winning, New York Times, National and International bestselling series featuring psychologist-investigator Maisie Dobbs. In addition, Jacqueline’s 2023 non-series novel, The White Lady was a New York Times and National bestseller, and her 2014 WW1 novel, The Care and Management of Lies, was again a New York Times and National bestseller, as well as a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist. Jacqueline has also published two non-fiction books, What Would Maisie Do? and an Edgar-nominated memoir, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing. Jacqueline’s work encompasses essays and journalism covering a wide range of subjects, from women working in wildfire management to articles on international education and social history. [Amazon]

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education and in marketing communications in the UK.

She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.

A regular contributor to journals covering international education, Jacqueline has published articles in women’s magazines and has also recorded her essays for KQED radio in San Francisco. She currently divides her time between Ojai and the San Francisco Bay Area and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Jacqueline is the author of the New York Times bestsellers A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, Among the Mad, and An Incomplete Revenge, and other nationally bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for best novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. [Goodreads]

The Narrator: Orlagh Cassidy is an American actress, both parents from Dublin, Ireland. She works in Theatre, Television and Film and has recorded numerous award winning audiobooks and commercials. She can be seen in ‘St. Vincent’ with Bill Murray as well many guest starring roles on ‘Homeland’, ‘Billions’, ‘Good Wife’, ‘Elementary’ and ‘The Mysteries Of Laura’. She has worked in New York theatre at MTC, The Public Theatre, MCC, Origin Theatre Company and The Irish Rep where she received a Drama Desk nomination for the role of ‘Mamie’ in the ‘The Field’ in 2007. She is a recipient of The Princess Grace Foundation Award and has a BFA from SUNY Purchase.