soo jay
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The Last Detective
- Detective Peter Diamond Book 1
- By: Peter Lovesey
- Narrated by: Michael Tudor Barnes
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
A woman's naked body is found floating in the weeds of a lake near Bath by an elderly woman walking her Siamese cats. No one comes forward to identify her, and no murder weapon is found, but sleuthing is Superintendent Peter Diamond's speciality. A genuine gumshoe, practising door stopping and deduction: he is the last detective. Struggling with office politics and a bizarre cast of suspects, Diamond strikes out on his own, even when Forensics think they have the culprit.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Boring, with no likeable characters.
- By soo jay on 30-10-2024
- The Last Detective
- Detective Peter Diamond Book 1
- By: Peter Lovesey
- Narrated by: Michael Tudor Barnes
Boring, with no likeable characters.
Reviewed: 30-10-2024
I bought this book because I really enjoyed Peter Lovesey's Sergeant Cribb series. But this will probably be my only venture into the world of the Last Detective. What a charmless old sod he is.
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A Catalogue of Catastrophe
- Chronicles of St Mary's, Book 13
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 80
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 74
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Story5 out of 5 stars 74
Punching well above their weight, Max and Markham set out to bring down a sinister organisation founded in the future—with a suspicious focus on the past. Max's focus is staying alive long enough to reunite with Leon and Matthew, alternately helped and hindered by St Mary's—who aren't always the blessing they like to think they are. But non-stop leaping around the timeline—from witnessing Magna Carta to disturbing a certain young man with a penchant for gunpowder—is beginning to take its toll. Is Max going mad? Or are the ghosts of the past finally catching up with her?
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3 out of 5 stars
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When did Max get to be such a pain?
- By Anonymous User on 28-04-2022
- A Catalogue of Catastrophe
- Chronicles of St Mary's, Book 13
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
Did we really need filing job details?
Reviewed: 14-09-2024
The story bogged down in tedious detail when Max started her new job as a filing clerk. Listening to someone being instructed in the minutia of basic work practices was unsurprisingly dead boring. I lost interest in the whole "Insight" story arc from there on.
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In a Place of Darkness
- By: Stuart MacBride
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 20 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
Detective Constable Angus MacVicar has just landed his dream job – transferred out of uniform and assigned to Oldcastle’s biggest ongoing murder investigation: Operation Telegram, hunting the “Fortnight Killer”. Every two weeks another couple is targeted. One victim is left at the scene, their corpse used as a twisted message board. The second body is never seen again. This should be the perfect chance for Angus to prove himself, but instead of working on the investigation’s front line, he’s lumbered with the forensic psychologist from hell.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Witty and gritty
- By Kim E. on 22-11-2024
- In a Place of Darkness
- By: Stuart MacBride
- Narrated by: Angus King
Dreadful over-acting by Angus King
Reviewed: 11-07-2024
Another Stuart MacBride audiobook ruined by terrible narration. Angus King needs someone to tell him to calm down and stop hamming it up so much. Listeners are not stupid and don't need him over emphasising every little moment and super-charging the humorous bits. The author's "voice" is drowned out by King's terrible acting - he totally ruined this book for me.
What ever happened to the infinitely superior Steve Worsley? I've listened to every Stuart MacBride book narrated by Worsley multiple times and never tired of his voice. He made Logan McRae come to life.
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Perfect Remains
- DI Callanach, Book 1
- By: Helen Fields
- Narrated by: Robin Laing
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
On a remote Highland mountain, the body of Elaine Buxton is burning. All that will be left to identify the respected lawyer are her teeth and a fragment of clothing. In the concealed back room of a house in Edinburgh, the real Elaine Buxton screams into the darkness…. Detective Inspector Luc Callanach has barely set foot in his new office when Elaine’s missing persons case is escalated to a murder investigation. Having left behind a promising career at Interpol, he’s eager to prove himself to his new team.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Hercule Poirot as underwear model
- By finnea on 29-04-2022
- Perfect Remains
- DI Callanach, Book 1
- By: Helen Fields
- Narrated by: Robin Laing
Definitely not for the squeamish.
Reviewed: 10-07-2024
This story was graphically gory and depicts psychotic levels of violence. I doubt I would want to read another book by this author. The story borders on the ludicrous, especially when dealing with the Roman Catholic Church.
The main character, an ex-Interpol officer, is a humourless but oh-so-handsome French hunk transplanted to Edinburgh and Police Scotland. Was the author dreaming of a TV series, perhaps?
There is little in this tale that feels believable, and since there is no "who-dunnit" suspense, I was unable to stick with to the end.
The narration was, as always with Robin Laing, excellent.
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Lost and Never Found
- DI Wilkins, Book 3
- By: Simon Mason
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
At three o'clock in the morning, Emergency receives a call. 'This is Zara Fanshawe. Always lost and never found.' An hour later, the wayward celebrity's Rolls Royce Phantom is found abandoned in dingy Becket Street. The paparazzi go wild. For some reason, news of Zara's disappearance prompts homeless woman Lena Wójcik to search the camps, nervously, for the bad-tempered vagrant known as 'Waitrose', a familiar sight in Oxford pushing his trolley of possessions. But he's nowhere to be found either.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator's croaky voice was distracting.
- By soo jay on 10-03-2024
- Lost and Never Found
- DI Wilkins, Book 3
- By: Simon Mason
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
Narrator's croaky voice was distracting.
Reviewed: 10-03-2024
The story was definitely up to the standard of the previous two, but the voice of the narrator sounds positively damaged. It really detracted from the enjoyment of listening.
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The Return of Captain John Emmett
- By: Elizabeth Speller
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4
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Story5 out of 5 stars 4
1920. The Great War has been over for two years, and it has left a very different world from the Edwardian certainties of 1914. Following the death of his wife and baby and his experiences on the Western Front, Laurence Bartram has become something of a recluse.
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3 out of 5 stars
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I just found it too depressing.
- By soo jay on 02-03-2024
- The Return of Captain John Emmett
- By: Elizabeth Speller
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
I just found it too depressing.
Reviewed: 02-03-2024
I had to stop listening to this well written book as the central incident, revisited again and again within the story, was just so disturbing and depressing.
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Mycroft Holmes
- By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anna Waterhouse
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Story4 out of 5 stars 16
"When I say, therefore, that [my brother] has better powers of observation than I...I am speaking the exact and literal truth." (Sherlock Holmes) This story occurs when Mycroft, an athletic Cambridge graduate, assists the secretary of state. He becomes embroiled in a mystery in Trinidad based on actual history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a huge Holmesian, seven feet two inches tall, basketball's all-time leading scorer, and a US cultural ambassador. Anna Waterhouse is a professional screenwriter and script consultant.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Ridiculous.
- By soo jay on 14-11-2023
- Mycroft Holmes
- By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anna Waterhouse
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
Ridiculous.
Reviewed: 14-11-2023
I couldn't get past the very silly fight scene in the first chapter. A bunch of thuggish, Cockney-accented drunks, all of whom * own horses*! Give me a break.
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The River's Edge
- By: Joy Ellis
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 295
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 282
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Story5 out of 5 stars 282
The peaceful little village of Saltern-le-Fen is buzzing with excitement. A film crew are in town, shooting a new TV police drama, Fen Division Five. But Detective Jackman receives a disturbing tip-off that something is wrong. Detective Marie Evans meanwhile is looking forward to moving into her dream home. But there’s no time to celebrate. The naked body of a young man is found at the river’s edge. He’s been strangled, his skin massaged in expensive oil. Two days later, another handsome young man is discovered in a shallow lake.
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3 out of 5 stars
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I am a long-term fan of Jackman & Evans
- By soo jay on 31-10-2023
- The River's Edge
- By: Joy Ellis
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
I am a long-term fan of Jackman & Evans
Reviewed: 31-10-2023
but this one was a disappointment. An unbelievable story not helped by some of the corniest dialogue I've ever read.
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1 person found this helpful
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T2 Trainspotting
- By: Irvine Welsh
- Narrated by: Tam Dean Burn
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 24
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Years on from Trainspotting Sick Boy is back in Edinburgh after a long spell in London. Having failed spectacularly as a hustler, pimp, husband, father and businessman, Sick Boy taps into an opportunity which to him represents one last throw of the dice. However, to realise his ambitions within the Adult industries, Sick Boy must team up with old pal and fellow exile Mark Renton.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Missing half the text
- By Anonymous User on 10-01-2024
- T2 Trainspotting
- By: Irvine Welsh
- Narrated by: Tam Dean Burn
Bought this by mistake & can't return it.
Reviewed: 17-10-2023
Dreadful! I didn't realise this was an abridged version. After listening to Skagboys and Trainspotting, I was expecting much, much more than this dull schoolboy "erotica". Even the narrator sounds bored.
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The Detective Up Late
- The Sean Duffy Series, Book 7
- By: Adrian McKinty
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 63
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
Slamming the door on the hellscape of 1980s Belfast, Detective Inspector Sean Duffy hopes that the 1990s are going to be better for him and the people of Northern Ireland. As a Catholic cop in the mainly Protestant RUC he still has a target on his back, and with a steady girlfriend and a child the stakes couldn’t be higher. After handling a mercurial triple agent and surviving the riots and bombings and assassination attempts, all Duffy wants to do now is live. But in his final days in charge of Carrickfergus CID, a missing persons report captures his attention.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant
- By Christine on 03-09-2023
- The Detective Up Late
- The Sean Duffy Series, Book 7
- By: Adrian McKinty
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
The fascinating Sean Duffy returns!
Reviewed: 13-08-2023
I am over the moon with delight at the return of my favourite detective. I feared we had seen the last of DI Sean Duffy and his team at Carrickfergus RUC. This latest instalment is every bit as good as any in the series - intriguing, exciting, laced with genuine human warmth and humour, and as always, a fascinating window on life in Belfast during the Troubles.
Gerard Doyle is the perfect narrator for these stories.
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