Each month, AudioFile Magazine reviewers and editors handpick the best new audiobooks for BookTrib readers. Get a jump on your June reading with this month’s sizzling selection!
Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Read by Lesley Manville, Tim McMullan | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 17.5 hrs.]
Talented actors Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan bring drama and rich characterizations to their narration, just as they do in the Masterpiece television adaptations of Horowitz’s series. Freelance editor Susan Ryeland returns to London to edit a continuation of the Atticus Pünd series. Author Eliot Crace is brought in to replace the murdered creator of the originals. What follows is a multilayered metafictional mystery filled with twists, anagrams, and clever clues. Manville and McMullan are in perfect step with the intricate plot, making this a thoroughly entertaining listen.
I See You've Called In Dead by John Kenney
Read by Sean Patrick Hopkins | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Zibby Publishing | 7.5 hrs.]
John Kenney’s latest novel successfully walks a tightrope between dark humor and genuine warmth, and Sean Patrick Hopkins’s narration provides the necessary balance. Bud Stanley is a newspaper writer who one night drunkenly writes and publishes his own obituary, setting in motion a grimly amusing series of events. Hopkins’s even tone perfectly conveys Bud’s sarcastic wit, as well as the thoughtful insights that lie just under that veneer. Together, author and narrator have created a funny and affirming novel about how understanding death can transform one’s life.
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
Read by Daphne Kouma | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 24 hrs.]
Narrator Daphne Kouma wows in this epic fantasy/murder mystery/political thriller. Kouma expertly leads listeners through the lush world-building and the twisting, action-packed plot. Most impressively, she takes on the voices of many characters, including the Raven spirit, who not only tells the story, but also interjects with asides and the occasional call of “Kraa! Kraa!” It’s a wonderfully immersive and satisfying performance of a richly imagined novel.
Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine
Read by Tim Paige, Jesse Vilinsky | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 11.25 hrs.]
Narrators Tim Paige and Jesse Vilinsky shine in this charming romance. Margot, a romance writer, has struggled with love in her own life. When her diary of disenchantment with the genre is maliciously revealed, her career is jeopardized. To help, her sister sends Margot to Alaska to reinvent herself. There, she meets Forrest. Romance tropes then seamlessly converge on the couple, beginning with a meet-cute. Paige and Vilinsky deliver a master class in narration—conveying emotions, especially vulnerability and longing, through pitch-perfect pauses, nuanced inflections, and expressive tones.
The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli
Read by Elizabeth Knowelden | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 9 hrs.]
Sparkling wit, ingenious plotting, and a superb performance by Elizabeth Knowelden make this debut novel a listening joy. As WWII threatens, a fundraising gala for the Women’s Voluntary Service is held at Sir Henry Heathcote’s manor. The period’s four most popular mystery novelists, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, act as hosts. All goes well until the morning after the ball, when Sir Henry is found murdered. Knowelden makes this absolutely delightful listening.
The Unquiet Grave by Dervla McTiernan
Read by Aoife McMahon | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Bolinda Audio | 12 hrs.]
Narrator Aoife McMahon returns to masterfully draw listeners into this multilayered police procedural featuring DI Cormac Reilly. In Ireland, it’s not unusual for ancient bodies to surface in bogs—but this one is the victim of a recent murder. Reilly and his colleagues peel back layers of lies to uncover what happened, a task that is further complicated by a string of copycat killings. A thoroughly immersive listening experience.
Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts
Read by January LaVoy | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 15 hrs.]
Golden Voice January LaVoy draws the listener into the story of Sloan Cooper, a natural resources police officer. Recuperating after having been shot, Sloan becomes interested in missing persons cases. It turns out the missing have been murdered. LaVoy embodies Sloan’s strength, aptly portrays the playful banter between Sloan and her love interest, and captures the killer’s fanaticism and the victims’ terror.
The Hanging of Hettie Gale by Tess Burnett
Read by Clare Corbett, Melanie Crawley | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Dreamscape | 10.5 hrs.]
Talented narrators Clare Corbett and Melanie Crawley deliver a haunting ghost story that shifts between 1776 and the present day. Corbett gives illiterate Hettie Gale a sharp West Country accent as she recounts her life and death in the late 1700s. Corbett and Crawley give superb performances, becoming the main characters and emulating the upper-crust writers of clue-laden journals. Together, they become Hettie, whose restless ghost seeks vengeance for her death, and Alice, who seeks the truth about what happened centuries earlier.
Wild & Wrangled by Lyla Sage
Read by Connor Crais, Savannah Peachwood, Stella Hunter, Lyla Sage [Note] | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 9.5 hrs.]
Savannah Peachwood and Connor Crais deliver swoon-worthy performances in this small-town contemporary romance. Camille had always planned to marry and cement her daughter’s future—until her groom failed to show up for their wedding. Now, Dusty is done traveling and is finally home and ready for a second chance with Camille. Peachwood and Crais create a slow-burning chemistry between the couple that simmers and then burns bright.
Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano
Read by Angela Dawe | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 9.25 hrs.]
Angela Dawe brings Finlay Donovan’s comedic crime solving to life with her narration of the fifth book in this series. When a body is discovered in a neighbor’s backyard and Finlay’s husband is arrested, Finlay and her nanny become involved, and the nosy neighbor moves in. Dawe is simply amazing at creating different personalities with the power of her voice, painting pictures that amplify the listening experience.
