AudioFile Magazine

With a clear voice and authentic French accent, Madeleine Lambert becomes investigator Aimée Leduc, making her way down the cobblestone alleyways of Paris on her trusty Vespa and into the black market art world, in search of a long-lost Modigliani portrait of Lenin and her long-missing mother. Read the full AudioFile review

This quick-paced and irresistibly quirky final Nightside outing sees John Taylor, Nightside P.I., on the hunt for one last case before his impending marriage. Mark Vietor emphasizes not only the wild inventiveness of the plot but also the emotionality inherent in this series finale. Read the full AudioFile review

Jo Nesbø’s complex police procedural features a nearly burned-out cop who works in Norway’s capital city, Oslo. John Lee’s sonorous voice is perfect for the American ear. His voices, accents, and careful attention to characterization reveal Lee’s vocal mastery, even as a 14-year-old girl. Read the full AudioFile review

You don’t have to be familiar with “Downton Abbey” to enjoy this contemporary novel. We meet three very different women who form a lasting friendship. Narrator Orlagh Cassidy's interpretation of this charming story about friendship, loyalty, and self-discovery is near perfect. Read the full AudioFile review

Teddi Overman, born and raised in rural Kentucky, becomes an accomplished furniture restorer. Jenna Lamia performs her journey of self-discovery and love in a melodious Southern accent. She differentiates secondary characters with skill, offering luscious descriptions of Kentucky’s natural beauty. Read the full AudioFile review

This work explores the moral challenges and questionable compromises of "the global war on terror." Supposedly fictional, it reads with prickling reality. John le Carré provides a brilliant listening experience. His passion and anger are unleashed in the text, yet finely controlled in his performance. Read the full AudioFile review

In 2010, Eve Ensler, author of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She tells her story with the rhythms and cadence of an angry, passionate poet, intense and fully aware of the devastating irony of that diagnosis. Ensler offers raw, unrelenting, no-holds-barred listening. Read the full AudioFile review

This encyclopedic history of English life in the 1700s offers a survey of every factor that shaped social life and produced changes over the century. Through a steady recounting of detail, Simon Vance conveys Porter’s sharpness and precision illuminating the intellectual and sensual imagination. Read the full AudioFile review

This thorough, gripping biography demonstrates Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, growth as a person and a leader. A superb, highly detailed account of King and the Civil Rights Movement, the book reveals much new material. Narrator Andrew L. Barnes excels at keeping things moving and the listener engaged. Read the full AudioFile review

The pleasures of this novel lie in its slow unfolding, its careful details (historical and fantastical), its gritty Lower East Side realism in New York's immigrant communities on the cusp of the twentieth century. With subtle, authentic shadings, George Guidall offers a beautiful listening experience. Read the full AudioFile review

Stockholm’s grandeur in the late-eighteenth-century forms the background for this fascinating look several arcane practices. Simon Vance creates characters as diverse as the mistress of a gaming establishment, Sweden’s King Gustav, a French fan-maker, and a scheming villainess. Read the full AudioFile review

Eleanor Amore, an abused girl with magically caused memory loss, seeks refuge with her grandmother and two aunts, who are all witches. Narrator Cassandra Campbell completely disappears, capturing the mystical atmosphere of witchcraft, ghosts, and old secrets. Read the full AudioFile review

Heather Lind continues to maintain suspense in this dystopian sequel to BLOOD RED ROAD. As Saba struggles externally with her ungrateful twin and internally with her nightmares and self-doubt, Lind makes use of her wide vocal range to fully flesh out the supporting cast. Read the full AudioFile review

Rosina Harrison’s life as a lady’s maid to Lady Nancy Astor was one of service and splendor. The superb Wanda McCaddon transitions from Rose’s Yorkshire accent to Lady Astor’s witty outspoken cadence making this audiobook a delight for the ears and a feast for the imagination. Read the full AudioFile review

Unlikely hero, eighty-two-year-old Sheldon Horowitz, helps an orphan and for his trouble is hunted by family, police, and criminals. Sean Mangan’s matchless delivery, diverse accents and emotional range offer laughs and painful looks at war in this elegant multilayered story. Read the full AudioFile review