Our first on the radar outing this week is a rather special one because all of the books featured, are audiobooks. Here at CFL we like to take a look at good crime fiction and thrillers across all formats, but we have yet to review an audiobook. This is something we hope to remedy in the not too distant future, and we thought we’d start with a quick look at a few of the audiobooks that have caught our eye recently.
First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
We start off with the first book in Jack McClure/Alli Carson series. Jack is a top ATF agent who has had more than his fair share of ups and downs. The loss of his only daughter Emma and subsequent marriage breakdown have left him with feelings of guilt, and immersing himself in his work. Edward Carson is about to take office as President of the United States when his daughter Alli is kidnapped, and he approaches his old friend, Jack for help. His search for Alli is his road to redemption but it also leads him into the path of a very dangerous man who is always one step ahead of him.
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
The fifth book in the Maisie Dobbs series brings us back to England in 1931 and a country that has a struggling economy. The Kentish village of Heronsdene is being plagued by acts of vandalism, thefts and arson. Maisie is called in to investigate when an old friend decides to buy Sandermere estate in the heart of the village. It’s hop picking time and the village is full of outsiders. Maisie has less than a month to solve these crimes in a village shrouded in secrecy.
Paul Temple and the Conrad Case by Francis Durbridge
Crime novelist turned detective Paul Temple and his journalist wife Steve (yes, really!) are called in to investigate the disappearance of Betty Conrad from her Bavarian finishing school by Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard. Paul and Steve travel out to Bavaria and begin their search at the school, but the only clue they have is an unusual cocktail stick found in the girl’s bedroom. Can the pair work out who’s taken her and why?
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
Our final audiobook takes us to the land of the rising sun and where the death of an abusive ex-husband is central to the story. Yasuko Hanaoka is a single mother trying to rebuild her life with teenage daughter, Misato. Here ex, Togashi, turns up demanding money and threatening Yasuko and Misato with violence and the situation quickly becomes dangerous. Togashi ends up dead. Yasuko’s concerned neighbour Ishigami overhears the argument and offers to help dispose of the body and formulate a cover-up. When Togashi’s body is discovered the case is assigned to Inspector Kusanagi. Yasuko is prime suspect for the death, but Kusangi knows something isn’t right about her alibi – he just can’t prove it. So he calls in his old friend Dr Manabu Yukawa. What follows is a high level battle of wits between Yukawa and Ishigami.
