Review: Two For Sorrow by Nicola Upson (audio book)

Two For Sorrow by Nicola Upson read by Sandra Duncan, Whole Story Audiobooks, September 2010, 13 CDs, ISBN: 9781407459271

TWO FOR SORROW is the third book from Nicola Upson to feature real-life crime writer Josephine Tey. Josephine doesn't do any detecting, rather she leaves that to (the fictional) Archie Penrose from Scotland Yard.

We're back in London, after Cornwall in ANGEL WITH TWO FACES, and Josephine is staying at the women's-only Cowdray Club, run by her old teacher, Celia Bannerman. Josephine is writing a fictional account of the Sach and Walters case (two women who were hanged for “baby farming” ie baby murdering) thirty years before and Celia was one of the warders at the time and knew Amelia Sach.

There is to be a gala ball at the Club and Josephine's friends, the Motley sisters, are creating the gowns. However tragedy strikes when one of their seamstresses, a former prisoner, is sadistically murdered in the Motleys' shop and the woman's father is also found dead, just outside. Archie is called in to investigate.

As Archie digs, his investigation increasingly overlaps with the subject of Josephine's writing until he is forced to keep secrets from her for her own safety...

As well as being on the periphery of the investigation, Josephine's emotions are in turmoil with the reappearance of an old friend who wants more than perhaps Josephine is willing to give.

TWO FOR SORROW is quite long but always interesting. As well as a crime novel it's a fascinating look at the role of women in the 1930s and highlights how things were so much worse for women than men in prison. “Baby farming” is a term I'd only come across recently in a teenage fiction book (VELVET by Mary Hooper) but in this there is a lot of shocking and upsetting detail and Archie goes to some grim places in pursuit of his enquiries.

I do love the showbizzy glamour of the books set in London (see also AN EXPERT IN MURDER) with real-life actors and thinly disguised actors flitting in and out and I have one eye on Google to see who and what is real and who and what's fictional. So little is known of Tey's life that this series is like reading a biography of her, fleshing out the few known facts that there are.

Sandra Duncan gives an outstanding performance with a warm Scottish accented Josephine and clipped, attractive upper-class accent for Archie plus many more different vocalisations for the supporting cast.

Review: Bryant & May Off the Rails by Christopher Fowler (audio book)

Bryant & May Off the Rails by Christopher Fowler read by Tim Goodman, Whole Story Audiobooks, April 2011, 9 CDs, ISBN: 9781407472713

Bryant & May Off the Rails is the eighth in this series which features London's Peculier Crime's Unit (the PCU) headed up by London's two most ancient detectives Arthur Bryant and John May. Fast friends but with completely different ways of working.

Off the Rails pretty much follows on directly from the tragic end to On the Loose. The PCU have one week to find the elusive killer, Mr Fox, a chameleon who is drawn to King's Cross Station. If they don't solve the case then they'll be shut down.

A second case is presented to them when a young woman is pushed down a flight of stairs in King's Cross Station and a sticker is left on her back. This sticker leads the team to the Karma bar and on to a house in Bloomsbury full of students. When one of the students impossibly disappears off a late-night underground train then pressure is increased on the remaining students as Arthur becomes convinced one of them is behind the disappearance.

The fascinating history of the London Underground is imparted to the listener via Mr Bryant and the security team at King's Cross. All sorts of legends and rumours as well as hard facts are presented and of course there's a field trip down there by Bryant and May. After much surveilling of suspects and attempts at magic tricks by Arthur, all routes finally lead to King's Cross in a dramatic ending where murder is thwarted by a most unlikely source.

This is another good entry in this innovative and informative series which mixes history with laughs. There is a late scene with "Acting Temporary Head of the PCU" Raymond Land which made me snort loudly on the train, delivered in such a dead-pan way by the always excellent Tim Goodman. Land also makes some attempt to clear up how old the two senior detectives are as he reckons that Arthur has moved the first case, Full Dark House, back by 15 years. Arthur disputes this so we are none the wiser.

Christopher Fowler is possibly the UK's answer to Fred Vargas, both take events which appear to be supernatural and provide rational explanations and both Bryant and Vargas's Adamsberg have very unorthodox ways of getting to the truth.

Read another Euro Crime review of Bryant & May Off the Rails.

More reviews of Christopher Fowler's books can be found on the Euro Crime website.

Review: Games Traitors Play by Jon Stock (audio book)

Games Traitors Play by Jon Stock, narrated by Paul Panting (Whole Story Audio Books, February 2011, ISBN: 9781407471495, 10 CDs)

Games Traitors Play is the sequel to 2009's Dead Spy Running and is the middle part of the "Legoland" trilogy, Legoland being the nickname for the MI6 building at Vauxhall. And as before, the audio edition was published one month before the print edition.

The hero of this set of books is MI6 agent Daniel Marchant, the son of a former head of MI6 who is not trusted by the Americans but has the absolute trust of the current MI6 head, Marcus "the Vicar" Fielding.

As a result of the events in Dead Spy Running, Daniel has been grounded for a year by the Americans and is only now able to continue his mission to find his half-brother, Salim Dhar, who is also the world's most wanted terrorist, and turn him into a secret asset for Britain.

Daniel's pursuit of Dhar takes him to all over the world: Morocco, Sardinia, India but it seems the only way to meet Dhar is for Daniel to defect to Russia which is from where, Dhar's believed to be planning an attack on Britain. Daniel's the only person who has a chance of stopping him.

There is plenty of action in Games Traitors Play with an exciting opening chase sequence in Morocco and a nerve-wracking finale in Britain and a fascinating look at what goes on in a huge Indian temple mid-way through. Daniel meets some familiar faces from the first book - both friends and enemies and makes more of each along the way.

Games Traitors Play contains plenty of double-crossing and complicated political manoeuvring in particular when Daniel is trying to convince the Russians he wants to defect and the Russians have to be made to believe him. Daniel and Dhar's father seems to be pulling the strings from beyond the grave.

Games Traitors Play does give away nearly all the surprises in Dead Spy Running so it would be better to listen to them in the correct order. Dead Spy Running is a superb thriller and one that set a very high standard and I didn't feel that Games Traitors Play was quite as continuously gripping. Nonetheless it's still a very entertaining and enlightening listen and I'm looking forward to the next instalment.

As before, the narration by Paul Panting was superb, in particular the slightly harsh voice of Daniel and the refined, quieter tone of Fielding, and I hope he is available to record the final part of the trilogy when it's released.

There is a bonus disc with Jon Stock being interviewed by Maggie Mash (who narrates Stella Rimington's spy-series) and includes a few details of some new settings in book three, plus the fact that he wants Daniel to carry on after the trilogy.

You can follow Daniel Marchant on twitter: @MarchantMI6 and read more about the books and Jon Stock at his website.

New Bryant & May on Audio Book

The March new releases from Whole Story Audiobooks sent me jumping for joy (and not just figuratively!) as another instalment of my favourite series on audio was released yesterday.

There are a few narrator-author combinations I seek out in preference to the print books even though it means a wait: Adjoa Andoh and the Mma Ramotse series by Alexander McCall Smith, Cathleen McCarron and the 'big Marge' series by Aline Templeton, Maggie Mash and the Liz Carlyle series by Stella Rimington and above all....Tim Goodman narrating the hilarious Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler.

1 March saw the release of Bryant and May on the Loose (and Bryant and May Off the Rails is "coming soon"):

Long regarded as an anachronism, the Peculiar Crimes Unit is to be disbanded. For octogenarian detectives Arthur Bryant and John May, it seems retirement is now the only option. But then a headless body is found in a freezer, and a suspicious, gigantic figure has been spotted - dressed in deerskin and sporting antlers made of knives. It looks like the PCU are back in business...

Review: The Sounds of Crime Anthology (audio book)

The Sounds of Crime Edited by Maxim Jakubowski with stories by Lawrence Block, Mark Billingham, Christopher Fowler, Peter James and Val McDermid, read by multiple narrators (Whole Story Audio Books, September 2010, CD ISBN: 978 1 40743 572 5)

The Sounds of Crime is a collection of especially commissioned short stories on the theme of "audio". The stories are not available in print. Each story is about 30 minutes long and there is a short introduction from editor Maxim Jakubowski at the beginning of the collection.

Dolly's Trash and Treasures by Laurence Block narrated by Buffy Davis
This is probably my favourite of the set. Set in America, Dolly a compulsive hoarder is visited by a series of officials with the story conveyed almost completely through dialogue between Dolly and her visitors. An atmospheric and very creepy story in which my sympathy switched as the tale progresses.

Meet Me at the Crematorium by Peter James narrated by Eve Karpf
Fed up with her bullying husband Trevor, Janet travels to Germany to start a new life with a man she's recently met over the internet. But the story doesn't go the way you'd expect from such a description...

Happy Holidays by Val McDermid narrated by Mike Grady
This is a mini Tony Hill-Carol Jordan outing as they are faced with a case of murders being committed on festive days such as Bonfire Night. Tony fears a Santa will die at Christmas. This is a good sampler of this series which is well known, at least in the tv version Wire in the Blood, for its unpleasant methods of murder and this one includes a couple of memorable descriptions.

The Walls by Mark Billingham narrated by Eric Meyers
Best known for the London Tom Thorne series (soon to be on SkyOne), Mark Billingham writes this unsettling tale in America. A man and woman arrive at the same hotel. The man says he's a contractor, the woman's there for a family reunion of sorts, but one them is lying. Attraction and necessity takes its course - giving a new meaning to the phrase "you'll hate yourself in the morning".

The Deceivers by Christopher Fowler narrated by John Hasler
This has a Tales of the Unexpected feel to it. Presented as a monologue, the young narrator tells of how he and a friend relieved the boredom of living in a small town on the Devon-Cornwall border and the unforeseen consequences.

I enjoyed The Sounds of Crime. The stories are well written, as you'd expect from these top crime authors. Each story held my interest throughout. Stories of this length are very suitable for commuters or those who struggle a bit to fit in a full length audio book or for someone to just sample the audio book experience. The narrators are very good with special credit to Buffy Davis who made Dolly very memorable.

Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy - on audio

The final part of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, came out on audio book this month. All three books are now available as a set for £65 from Whole Story Audio Books.

(Shame about the prominent typo)

The books are narrated by Saul Reichlin.

Over at Petrona, Maxine splendidly summarises the three books.

Whole Story Audio Books & Me

Regular blog visitors may know that I'm a huge fan of audio books and I always have one on the go. Currently it's Dead Line by Stella Rimington, narrated by Maggie Mash. So I was very chuffed to be asked by Whole Story Audio Books to be a guest reviewer. My bio is now online with links to my review(s).

My first two review books will be:

Cold in Hand by John Harvey.
The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason

My previous blog posts on audio books, including reviews, can be found here.

Review: Dead Spy Running by Jon Stock (audio book)

Dead Spy Running by Jon Stock, narrated by Paul Panting (Whole Story Audio Books, June 2009, ISBN: 1407437011, 9 CDs)

This audio book version of Dead Spy Running will be available on 1 June, nearly a month before the print version. Quite a coup for Whole Story Audio Books and a noteworthy event. Like Stephen Fry, I am a big fan of audio books and leapt at the chance to have a review copy and I wasn't disappointed with the result.

Dead Spy Running is the first of a trilogy and the central character is MI6 agent Daniel Marchant. Daniel's father, a former head of MI6, was forced out of his job under a cloud of suspicion and died shortly afterwards. Daniel has been suspended pending an investigation into his father's activities to see if he was indeed a traitor. Daniel wants nothing more than to clear his father's name.

The book starts with Daniel and his fellow agent/girlfriend entering the London Marathon where Marchant's professional instincts kick in and he spots a fellow runner wearing a belt that could contain explosives. The runner soon confirms that he must run above a certain speed or the bomb will detonate.

When Daniel saves the day, he expects to be treated rather more as a hero than a suspect. And yet the Americans want to 'debrief' him, treating him as hostile. Daniel's boss, Fielding, aka "the Vicar" agrees to release Daniel to the CIA so long as he is returned alive and does not leave British soil.

Daniel's globe-trotting is about to begin, with the CIA ignoring Fielding's order and taking him on a rendition flight to Poland. Poland is soon followed by an MI6 assisted flight to India and Daniel begins to close in on the truth as to what his father's unexplained actions were all about, whilst all the while trying to avoid re-capture by the Americans and ultimately preventing one of the most shocking terrorist attacks of all time.

Dead Spy Running is 'edge of the seat' listening; from the very possible sounding Marathon scenario at the beginning of the book to the tense final set piece in India, the pace doesn't sag and includes a (rather too) memorable water torture scene along the way. The Indian setting was particularly well evoked. What I especially enjoyed was all the inside information about the relationships between MI5, MI6, CIA and also about what goes on in the MI6 building (aka Legoland), both the business side and the other snippets such as - does the MI6 boss actually have a butler?

Dead Spy Running is well written and just flows along. I was absolutely hooked and would have gone straight onto the next book, were it available. If you've enjoyed Stella Rimington's Liz Carlyle series then you'll love Dead Spy Running.

Narrator Paul Panting gives a marvellous performance, especially his world-weary Daniel, as well as whole host of other different accents and voices.

You can listen to a ten minute extract on the Whole Story Audio Books page.

What I'm listening to...

My current audio book listen is Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason which is narrated by the peerless Saul Reichlin. My introduction to Indridason was Voices which focused mainly on Erlendur and less on his colleagues Sigurdur Oli and Elinborg. After all the praise for Indridason I was a bit let down by Voices and that's why it's taken me a while to try another title. I spotted that Silence of the Grave was available on audio (unlike Jar City, The Draining Lake and the latest, Arctic Chill) and I've whizzed along to CD3 of eight today on my journeys to and from work. The sidekicks are fleshed out as is the family situation which pays a large role in Voices. So far so very good though the descriptions of wife-beating are horrific to listen to.

Silence of the Grave on audio is produced by Whole Story Audio Books and on the product page you can listen to the opening of the book being read by Saul Reichlin.

Reviews of the 'Reykjavik Murder Mysteries' can be found via Arnaldur Indridason's bibliography page.

New (Whole Story) Audio Books for January

Whole Story Audio Books produce unabridged audio books on CD. A new feature of their website is that you can now upload your own review of an audio book.

The new Euro Crime titles for January are:

The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell
The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst Review

New Audio Book releases in November

Whole Story Audio Books produce unabridged audio books on cd. New Euro Crime titles for November are:

In The Dark by Mark Billingham
Typhoon by Charles Cumming (book review)
Until Its Over by Nicci French (book review)
The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin (book review)
The Roar of the Butterflies by Reginald Hill

New Books on CD in October

Whole Story Audio Books produce unabridged audio books on cd. New Euro Crime titles for October are:

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks (read by Jeremy Northam!!)
Gone to Ground by John Harvey (book review)
The Manor of Death by Bernard Knight(book review)
The House of Shadows by The Medieval Murderers (book review)

Whole Story Audio Books - Maggie Mash

I just wanted to plug the current offer over at Whole Story Audio Books for books narrated by Maggie Mash. I've been a fan of her work since I listened to Phoenix by John Connor. I'm currently playing catch-up with Stella Rimington's books as her fourth is out soon from Quercus - I've listened to Secret Asset and have almost finished Illegal Action - another series that Maggie Mash narrates. (You can listen to a sample of her narration at the site.)

Currently there's 20% off her titles. See here for the whole list.

New Books on CD in September

Whole Story Audio Books produce unabridged audio books on cd. New Euro Crime titles for September are (much rejoicing about the first one!):

The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler(book review)
The Tarnished Chalice by Susanna Gregory
Dead Man's Footsteps by Peter James(book review)
The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon (book review)

New Audio Book Releases

Whole Story Audio Books produce unabridged audio books on cd. New Euro Crime titles for August are:

City of Lies by R J Ellory
The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin (book review)
The Saladin Murders by Matt Rees(book review)
This Night's Foul Work by Fred Vargas(book review)