The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo; Narrated by Kathleen McInerney ~~Armchair Audies

The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo (Kate Burkholder #6) Narrated by Kathleen McInerney

 Macmillan Audio

Nominated for an Audie in the Mystery Category

Kathleen McInerney’s narration was really good she used a nice slight accent when she was voicing the Amish people and her male voices were fine and her narration of Kate was very well done.

I have had my eye on this series for a while and now thanks to the Armchair Audies I finally listened to one, and I will now go back and listen to the beginning of this series.

I enjoyed this story it was interesting trying to figure out if the victims were seeing a ghost or was it just their guilt over what happened years ago. In this Amish community Kate Burkholder former Amish now Chief of Police has to go into the community she left behind and dredge up memories of a heinous crime where a father and 4 children are killed and the mother is taken and never seen again, one child survived and has stayed in the community although he deals with so much guilt over leaving his siblings to try to catch the people taking his mother he can’t catch them and when he gets back to the house it is completely engulfed in flames. But that was 35 years ago and today there are what at first look like suicides but Kate sees there is more going on here than meets the eye and it seems to have something to do with this long ago unsolved crime.

This book kept me guessing and the reveal surprised me it was definitely not who I thought it was. I liked the character of Kate but was a bit confused when it came to her relationship with Tomesetti but I think if I go back and listen to the previous books it will make more sense to me. That was the only part of the book where I felt like I was missing something although I still enjoyed the main story.

As I said I will go back and listen to previous books in this series so that tells you I liked it.

3 ½ Stars

Lacy Eye by Jessica Treadway narrated by, Ellen Archer

Lacy Eye by Jessica Treadway narrated by, Ellen Archer

This was quite a story it kept me on the edge of my seat, especially when you listen to it as a mother and wonder what would you think and feel? Would you also stand up for your daughter even when everyone else thinks she’s guilty? There’s no way you could have raised a daughter who had a hand in killing her father and left you severely beaten and left for dead. Yes, your daughter has always been a bit odd and was bullied and teased as a child because of a lazy eye but she isn’t a monster right??!!??

I had a hard time putting this one down, I needed to know if Hanna was right or if she had just let one of her attackers back into her home. Yes there were times when I thought Hanna open your eyes and listen to what everyone is telling you but then when you look at it from a mother’s perspective of always defending and protecting your child I could understand where she was coming from.

I also liked the way this is written almost from inside Hanna’s head who doesn’t remember anything about the night of the attack but that night when a police officer asked her who did this she implicated her daughter Dawn and her boyfriend Rud. Rud ends up in prison but Dawn is never indicted because her roommate gives her an alibi. A lot of the book is Hanna going through memories of Dawn’s life, I think in her own way trying to justify why she said Dawn did it because she can’t come to terms with the possibility that her daughter had anything to do with it. There are times in these memories when you feel so bad for Dawn and how her classmates and even her own sister, Iris, treated her but there are other times especially in the present day that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and wonder if Hanna is wrong about everything.

Okay I will stop now before I give anything away; this is a taut psychological thriller that I think would be fabulous for a book club because right now I wish I had a friend who had also read this book so I could talk to them about it. This is a powerful story and especially as a mother will pull at your heartstrings and leave you with a lot of “What if this happened to me?” questions.

Ellen Archer’s narration was very well done I thought the tones and sarcasm she gave Iris were perfect and also her narration of Dawn showed us that she really never grew up and seemed stunted as a child/teen. And with Hanna so much of the book is inside her head and I liked that I could tell when she was speaking to someone or just remembering things. I would definitely listen to this narrator again.

This was my first read by this author and I am now curious about her other books and will search them out.

4 ½ Stars

The Lost Key (A Brit in the FBI #2) by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison narrated by, MacLeod Andrews and Renée Raudman~~Armchair Audies

The Lost Key (A Brit in the FBI #2) by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison narrated by, MacLeod Andrews and Renée Raudman

Brilliance Audio

Nominated for an Audie Award in the Thriller/Suspense

I must admit to liking MacLeod Andrews narration faster than Renée Raudman’s I thought his narrations were fabulous and all his accents seemed real and well done. Raudman though it took me a little while to enjoy her voice although by the end I was enjoying her narration. I would listen to more by both of these narrators.

This book started out a bit slow for me and it took me a little while to warm up to the narrators but I ended up really liking this story and the narration once I got used to it.

This book had a conspiracy theory, a historical artifact that may be the key to the worst weapon ever, a large amount of gold bars and a secret society trying to make the world a better place. However when you have powerful people after something very important there is always a chance for someone to be subverted and when members of this secret society start to die you have to wonder if the threat is coming from the inside of the group or the outside.

This was my first book by this author and I think I will go back and listen to the first book in this series and follow this series as it progresses.

3 ½ Stars

A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott narrated by Cassandra Campbell

A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott narrated by Cassandra Campbell

First off I need to tell you I am a huge classic movie fan; I think movies made before 1950 are the best movies out there. That is why I requested this book from edelweiss but then I saw that Cassandra Campbell narrates it so I waited for the audiobook.

I loved all the insider info into the fights, casting, script writing, censors and producers that went on during the filming of this movie. I am so glad Louis B. Mayer didn’t get his way and that David O. Selsnick filmed the ending he wanted because it was the best ending possible!

Julie Crawford a young writer from Indiana comes to Hollywood to write for the movies, on her first job she doesn’t get a message to one of the directors of Gone With the Wind fast enough and is fired on the spot, however she has just met a beautiful woman who says she will help her out. When someone asks if she knows who the lady is she admits she looks familiar but can’t place her; the woman turns out to be Carole Lombard soon to be wife of Clark Gable who stars and Rhett Butler in the film. What I found a little weird about these scenes was if you are going to Hollywood to write for the movies wouldn’t you at least know a little about the stars you hope to write for? But she and Carole become very good friends and I loved all the scenes of them together Carole seemed like a very down-to-earth person. Also on that day she meets Hank Weinstein and they start a relationship even though he is Jewish. This is 1938-39 so Hitler is starting his holocaust of the Jewish people including Hanks grandparents so he is having a tough time of it.

I was impressed with Gable’s civil rights ideals (I really hope they were true) when he sees that the bathrooms and other places are segregated he has a fit and fights for their rights of non-segregation. Including almost not going to the premier because Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen would have to use a back door and sit in the colored section, even though it was Hattie who convinced Gable to go even when she boycotted the event.

This was a fun book it was such an insider’s look into old Hollywood and especially Carole Lombard & Clark Gable’s relationship. I did think Julie could be quite naïve but it was the 30’s and she grew up in Indiana so …

Cassandra Campbell’s narration was as always fabulous, I like how she made Clark gruff but didn’t try to imitate his voice, every character had their own cadence and tone and you were never left guessing as to who was talking.

If you are a fan of old Hollywood, and /or Gone With the Wind I think you will enjoy this book very much. I have enjoyed all of Alcott’s books so if you haven’t read anything by her before give her a try you’ll be glad you did!

4 ½ Stars

Searching for Grace Kelly by Michael Callahan, narrated by, Kristin Kalbli

Searching for Grace Kelly by Michael Callahan, narrated by, Kristin Kalbli

I enjoyed this book very much it was like listening to an old B&W Movie, which I love BTW. Especially Dolly’s voice it was the voice of so many characters in old films.

The Barbizon Hotel and New York City were almost their own characters in this story, and it gave a look into many different classes of people in the 1950’s from the elite of Park Avenue to the emerging bohemians and even the back alleys where no single girl should go. Every character in this book is so fully fleshed out I could see everything they did in my head, even the side characters were fascinating. Every character is flawed in one way or another and is trying to hide these flaws which lead to some very interesting storytelling. These three girls Laura, Dolly and Vivian come from such completely different worlds yet as roomies in the big city they become fast friends. I loved how strong all these women were even when they didn’t think they were (Dolly I’m looking at you). They are trying to find careers and maybe a husband but that is secondary, Laura finds two wildly different men so there is a bit of a love triangle but it is very well written and I could see why Laura was attracted to both of them.  Vivian’s find is less satisfactory and we see her go through the toughest choices. And Dolly dear sweet Dolly I just enjoyed her character, she isn’t as pretty, skinny or chic as her roommates but she is a good friend. I also loved the bookstore I would hang out there all the time too!

Kristin Kalibi was a new to me narrator and I was blown away, great voices, every character had a distinct sound and even all of the secondary characters had their own voices I will definitely be on the lookout for more books she has narrated!

As I said I really enjoyed this book , if you like historical fiction from the 50’s and old B&W movies I’d say to give this one a try and I highly recommend the audio version of this because Kristin Kalibi’s narration makes this book even better.

4  Stars

I received this book from the publisher (ListenUp Audiobooks) for a fair and honest review.