That would be a mishmash of mystery-related bookishness, not so mysterious really, but it sounded good. I had a little audio binge yesterday and spent all my tokens at Audible that I had been hoarding. Actually I hadn't been hoarding so much as I hadn't come across anything I was dying to have. I am a really picky audio book listener so I tend to agonize over my choices. At the moment I am, or had been until I started to feel like it was the wrong audio book for me at the moment, listening to Amanda Knox's Waiting to Be Heard. Whatever you think about Amanda Knox, the book (read by her) was actually pretty interesting. It's exactly the sort of book I would listen to on audio--I will only listen to books I am unlikely to want to read or will listen to books I already have read. Only the Knox book was starting to depress me, so I had switched over to music for my morning and afternoon walks to the bus stop.
Audible always sends out emails with new titles that I usually mean to look at later in more detail but usually don't get around to. Yesterday, however, I started to browse as they have a buy one get one free deal at the moment and I can't resist a good deal. The catch is you have to choose from their list of books, but I managed to find a couple of promising sounding audio books. I had five tokens to burn through with another coming in just a little over a week, so I thought I should really spend some of them. Since it's been all about mysteries lately I thought I would likely find something good in that area and noticed the link to their radio dramatizations and all of a sudden my cart was filled and I had to add titles to my wishlist for later.
I didn't really plan on spending my tokens all on mysteries, but you know how it goes. Like a child in a candy store. Now I have a whole lineup of books to choose from and I hope they turn out to be 'good listens'. Now normally I want to get the most for my money and buy the longest books I can find--lots of listening pleasure then, right? Only it rarely seems to work that way. I get bogged down and then end up looking for something new. The radio dramatizations tend to be less than two hours long. For now, anyway, I think they will be a better fit. Since I only listen to my MP3 player when I am walking to get somewhere (as opposed to walking on my treadmill when I can hold a real book in hand) and I rarely walk for longer than half an hour at a time, really long books were hard to get through. Curious about what I found?
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie -- Now normally I would say this is one I want to read, and I might well pick it up sometime, but it sounded so good as a dramatization. Besides radio dramas tend to be abridged or even slightly rewritten, which in this case is fine with me (I would never read an abridged book if I could halp it). It is a Hercule Poirot mystery and it set on the Cornish Riviera!
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie --I read this one two years ago, so like Evil Under the Sun the twist won't be a surprise, but I liked the reader. Another story set on an island where the characters are knocked off one by one!
The Saint Overboard and The Saint Plays with Fire by Charteris Leslie -- This is a full cast BBC Radio dramatization. "In Saint Overboard, Simon Templar is in search of a sunken treasure. In The Saint Plays with Fire, Templar is convinced a country house fire is no accident."
Perry Mason and the Case of the Curious Bride by Erle Stanley Gardner -- I recently bought a couple of Perry Mason books and have long meant to try his work, but he was so prolific I don't imagine I'll get all his books read in any case. "In The Case Of The Curious Bride, a woman claims to want to consult Mason about her 'friend' whose husband, long thought to have died in a place crash, turns up alive."
The last two books are my buy one get one selections so they are actually unabridged books on audio and not radio dramas.
The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart -- She's one of my 'mean to try something by her' authors, so now I will finally get around to it. "Driven by a sense of duty and a fear of monotony, Sara Lee leaves her comfortable life and fiance in Philadelphia to serve the Red Cross in Belgium during World War I. The spirited heroine finds a niche for herself helping wounded soldiers. Then she meets a mysterious gentleman and falls into a haunting romance.The Amazing Interlude is a bittersweet journey that draws from author Mary Rinehart's own experience as a World War I correspondent. Fusing fiction with fact, she deftly portrays an exhilarating tale of an honorable woman's determination to make a difference in a time of tumultuous war." So this is my one non-mystery choice, but she was known as the American Agatha Christie--many of her books are romantic suspense, so maybe that counts?
Swing: A Novel by Rupert Holmes -- This came recommended to me for its San Francisco setting. "This second mystery novel by a noted songwriter and playwright is set in 1940, at the height of the big-band era, and its protagonist is a talented but troubled saxophonist beginning an engagement at a swank hotel." The book actually comes accompanied by a music CD, so I am hoping those tracks will be included as part of the audio experience. It sounds like fun plus nicely atmospheric and will help (as if I need help) to get me into the mood for San Francisco.
*****
My last couple of visits to the public library netted a few more mysteries--just in case I was in need of more choices.
The Wyndham Case by Jill Paton Walsh -- "A leisurely, literate style, an intriguing clutch of academic eccentrics, a clever puzzle, and a sharply intelligent sleuth whose gentleness sets her apart from the hard-edged aggressions of her fictional contemporaries--all in a refreshing debut in the Sayers tradition." (Kirkus Reviews)
The Missing File by D.A. Mishani -- "Told through dual perspectives, The Missing File is a crisp, suspenseful tale that introduces an indelible new detective and offers an evocative portrait of suburban life and tension with a universal reach. As it draws to its startling conclusion, D. A. Mishani's twisting mystery will have readers questioning notions of innocence and guilt, and the nebulous nature of truth." This is another title from the CWA International Dagger shortlist.
The Summer of Dead Toys by Antonio Hill -- "Gripping, sophisticated, and wickedly entertaining, The Summer of Dead Toys introduces a charismatic new detective and announces Antonio Hill as a new master of the crime thriller."
*****
One one last thing. I will leave you with a link. I plan on exploring some of these shows this weekend. Check out NPR's Crime in the City series (link thanks to Iliana!). They make a great audio companion for the Jakubowski book I mentioned yesterday!
Have a great weekend everyone. Hope you have some good, uninterrupted reading time. Oh, and I'm listening to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None first--so far, so good. Dramatizations are great fun it seems!