Audiobook Reviews

This section features reviews of recently published mystery, thriller and suspense titles as well as opinions on "classic" works by authors such as Agatha Christie. All reviews are based on the audio book version of the work and can be found for rent here at AudioMysteries.com. We try hard not to give away plot points in our reviews. For a plot synopsis, click on ►Rental Information.

Our "Ears" rating system:

I wasn't crazy about it, but you might enjoy it.

Ok- depends on what you like.

Good. Worth your time - try it!

Exceptional - I definitely recommend it.

Reviews

Featured Review

Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson
(Reviewed 9/18/07)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
(Reviewed 8/24/07)

The Collectors by David Baldacci (Reviewed 6/10/07)

White Sister by Stephen J. Cannell (Reviewed 10/14/06)

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
(Reviewed 8/05/06)

Cold Moon by Jeffrey Deaver
(Reviewed 7/6/06)

More Reviews

Dead Wrong by J.A. Jance reviewed by Robert W. Karp ►Rental Information

I have had the most delightful week listening to J.A. Jance’s Sheriff Joanna Brady mystery, Dead Wrong. Why you ask? Well even if you didn’t ask, I’m going to tell you. Because this series takes place in Cochise County, Arizona. I’ve been reading and collecting Jance for many years while I lived in California. Now that I live in Hereford, Arizona I’m right smack in the middle of Cochise county and only minutes from many of the locations described in Dead Wrong. It’s fun to have a character in novel eat breakfast at the same place you do, or drive by only minutes from where the body was dumped!

Joanna Brady is pregnant, very pregnant. She is about to give birth. And that brings lots of complications to her job and personal life. At her job as Sheriff of Cochise County she must decide when to stop working and how long she will be on maternity leave. Not a big problem, but she faces staff shortages, a detective with a health problem, and a newly discovered body. At home her less than supportive mother is giving her some grief and her in-laws have descended upon her and her family, without an invitation. Not good at all.

The body turns out to be that of an ex-con who long ago was convicted of the murder of his wife. But did she die? Her body was never discovered. Why was he killed now years later, and what does this have to do with Joanna’s father, who arrested the man some 20 years previously? There is also the matter of dead dogs turning up in unlikely places, an indication of illegal dog fights. (Jance was topical well before the Michael Vick incidents earlier this year.)

As in the very finest mystery, deeds of the past haunt the present and have a way of coming to the surface based on the just a brief encounter. The plot is complex yet realistic, the characters innocent and guilty compelling. The observations about family right on the money. Everything ties together at the end in very satisfying ways. This is a wonderful book well worth your time.

Dead Wrong is one of the best from a very, very good author who now has three different series featuring very different main characters. I’m not going to tell you more, found out for yourself!

About Robert W. Karp - Robert Karp is the owner of AudioMysteries.com. He is an avid reader of mystery and detective fiction and collects signed first editions of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe and other great mystery authors.