Audiobook narrated by Michael Page

This is a revisit of one of my favourite books via Audible. Set is a second-world in a city not unlike pre-industrial Venice with alchemy and one specific type of magic, the Gentlemen Bastards are thieves with a difference, and Locke Lamora, The Thorn of Camorr, is their leader. He’s got a devious mind and a talent for deception and false-facing. Unlike the other cutpurse gangs, the Gentlemen Bastards have been educated by (the late) Father Chains to be more ambitious, and to run elaborate cons. This they hide from Capa Barsavi, the city’s crime boss and their supposed overlord, but when the Grey King starts to murder Barsavi’s gang-leaders, Locke and his little gang are dropped in it up to their necks and beyond. While trying to run a con to part a wealthy Don from his money Locke gets involved in both sides of the Grey King’s plans, and the Grey King has a Bonds Mage at his beck and call, a man so powerful that he can kill with a thought. Caught between the Grey King and the city’s Spider (head of the Duke’s Midnighters) Locke and his gang are in big trouble. There are plenty of exciting twists, and Locke goes through the mill (several times). Michael Page reads this well enough, though I could have wished for a little more excitement in the voice, to match Locke’s mercurial personality.

Audiobook narrated by James Anderson Foster

Media tie-in of one of my favourite TV series, Firefly, masterminded by Joss Whedon. Captain Mal Reynolds is kidnapped from a rough bar on Persephone and spirited away to a kangaroo court of Browncoats who’ve been told he’s a traitor. The crew, Zoe, Wash, Book, Jane, Simon and River scurry about trying to find a clue as to where he’s gone, while on board Serenity, five crates of dangerously volatile mining explosives are heating up towards a big bang. James Anderson Foster narrates the story well.

Audiobook narrated by Roy McMillan

Christopher Fairfax, priest, rides across remote Exmoor in the 1400s, sent by the Bishop of Exeter, to find an isolated village with a dead priest awaiting burial… except it’s not the 1400s you might think. This is gradually revealed to be a post-apocalyptic landscape, 800 years after some unknown cataclysm. It’s regressed to pre-industrial revolution levels of living. Science is proscribed, and even researching into the past and its artifacts can get you branded (literally) a heretic. The church is law. Law is the church. What Fairfax finds in that village leads him to question truths that have always been self-evident to a young believer. Expect religion, science and the apocalypse. The writing is superb, the story gripping, and Roy McMillan (who also narrated Conclave) is a perfect narrator. He subsumes his narration to the story while still subtly delineating character voices.

Full cast recording featuring Peter Dinklage as Hercule Poirot.

There’s a serial killer on the loose and Poirot has received letters from the killer simply signed ABC. There’s a new inspector at Scotland Yard, who tries to sideline Poirot as old-fashioned, but in the end they are forced to work together. First a woman whose name begins with A is murdered in Andover, then Betty in Bexhill, then a C and a D etc. Poirot and the police are baffled. I worked it out before they did. Poirot gets there in the end, despite a red-herring. I prefer straightforward reads to full cast recordings as the voices are not always well-differentiated, but Dinklage makes a good – and easily recognisable – Poirot.

Audiobook narrated by Tony Robinson

After an autobiography and several history books aimed at kids, this seems to be Tony Robinson’s first attempt at adult historical fiction, but he’s such a good narrator of other people’s books, his own seems to have landed without teething troubles. It covers the historical period of Alfred, later known as Alfred the Great, ruler of Wessex, and eventually King of the Anglo-Saxons until his death in the year 899. He was the youngest son of King Ethelwolf and three of his older brothers ruled before him. But this is not all from Alfred’s point of view. Chief amongst the viewpoint characters is Asser, idealistic monk (and eventually a bishop) who is credited with writing Alfred’s biography. The story concentrates of the rule of High Ethel Wolf, Alfred’s father and his children and heirs and also covers religious politics in Rome, with Asser and Cardinal Balotelli hoping for a better world, and to see an end to the predations of the Norlanders. For much of the story Alfred in in Rome, having been exiled by his father, while his older brothers jockey for position as the next High Ethel. The story moves from Anglo-Saxon Wessex to Rome and back again (several times) weaving a tapestry of historical fiction around real events. Expect Viking raids, down-to-earth rulers (good and bad), religious politicking, and some excellent characters. It’s a good listen.

Audiobook narrated ny Kat Riley and Ash Beverly

Lainie Eaves returns to Hideaway Cove after the death of her grandparents. She’s inherited the family house, but, being human, she knows nothing about shifters, which is a bit unfortunate as it turns out. She needs to see what's left of her inheritance, a crumbling house and a missing fortune in jewels. She doesn't know the cove and doesn't know that it's a sanctuary for shifters, having been sent away when it became obvious that she was 100% human. Then she meets Harrison Galway, a carpenter/builder when in human form - and also a griffin shifter. The premise is that shifters instantly recognise their one true mate - and Harrison sees Lanie and 'knows'. The rest plays out as you might expect with a spiteful member of the shifter community trying to eject Lanie from the town. These Hideaway Cove books guarantee a happy ending so I needn't outline the plot. It's lightweight, and at 4 hours 49 minutes, is a quick listen.  The readers make a decent job of it.

A short exploration of time travel in which you don’t have to worry that stepping on a butterfly will cause your grandfather to die in infancy. Yes time travel causes the future to change, but not OUR future. It causes the timeline to branch and a new future to be created. Thus we can time travel as much as we like and our world won’t be affected. And we never find out what happens on those branched worlds because we can never to back to take a peep. Fascinating stuff, all explained to the reader by the man who pushes the button to send tourists on their journey, and receives them back one second later. They have a choice of three return windows, either in 3 days, 9 months or 27 years. Thus they might return only 3 days older, or if they choose the final window, 27 years older. Or they can choose to stay and live their changed timeline. It’s all very fascinating, reading like a great setup, and then there’s a twist at the end. A short read but a fascinating one.

Audiobook narrated by Katie Villa

This is the third Unholy Island book, following on from The Ward Witch and the Book Keeper. It's set in the same universe as her Crow Investigations books and there is a little bit of crossover, but not enough to confuse a new reader. THe island, Unholy Island, is off the coast of Northumberland, joined to the mailland at low tide by a causeway. It's a sanctuary for magical misfits and people hiding from their past. In the first book. Luke came to Unholy Island looking for his missing brother, and met a whole cast of characters including Esme Gray. In the second book he became a permanent resident, taking over the island's magical bookshop. In this book, the island's mayor goes missing, Luke's twin, Lewis, finally turns up, but he's not quite what he seems to be. Esme and Luke's new relationship comes under strain when she seems to be the only one on the island immune to Lewis's particular form of attraction. I've enjoyed this whole trilogy. It has a certain cosiness without sacrificing tension. Katie Villa's reading is easy on the ear.

Penric is called to a building project because his son (helping his uncle) has quite rightly diagnosed an ox as being possessed of a demon. Things get complicated when the ox goes missing and Pen and his kids (natural and adopted) track it into the mountains. Pen is injured and the kids have to take charge. This one is more about the kids than it is about Penric. Though young, each one is thinking about their future. The point of view is divided between Pen and each of the kids. It’s always nice to get a further glimpse into the life of Penric and his growing family, though (injuries notwithstanding) this is more about Penric’s personal life than momentous events.