🎧Have You Heard?🎧Audiobooks For Your Listening Pleasure🎧The Best of March🎧

#whoismauddixon #alexandraandrews #thereseplummer #shadesoftwilight #lindahoward #natalieross #tinylittlething #beatrizwilliams #kathleenmcinerney #abandonnedindeath#jdrobb #susanericksen  

Because March is Women’s History Month, all the Best of March listens are written by women and narrated by women. I’ve never done a head count of my favorite authors or narrators to see which gender is my favorite. Honestly, it’s all about the story, how well-written it is and whether the narrator adds to it or subtracts from it. My favorites for March include the latest from our beloved cop Darlin’ Eve Dallas; a book that starts and ends with a question; a book that would scandalize my grandmothers but whose narrator continuously brought them to mind; and a visit with the Schuyler sisters and their la-de-da world.

Who is Maud Dixon?

By Alexandra Andrews

Narrated by Thérèse Plummer

Did you ever want to be a published writer? There are a number of paths to reach this goal. You can write a book, send it to a publisher, and — voila! — the publisher loves it, publishes it, and you’re famous! Or if you really believe in yourself and have the money, you can write a book, publish it, and if the public loves it, you’re famous! Florence Darrow has in mind to do it the old fashioned way, but when opportunity presents itself, she takes the path of least resistance and, through a twist of fate, she assumes the identity of her employer, an established author. Author Alexandra Andrews takes readers and listeners on a darkly humorous, inventive, and  twisty ride as she tells Florence’s story, or is it Helen’s story, or is it truly the enigmatic Maud’s story? I can’t resist a plot that makes me root for the bad guy; the only problem is . . . all the guys are bad in this book. Expertly narrated by Thérèse Plummer, Who is Maud Dixon? is an appropriate title for a book that concludes with the question “Is this the end, or is this the beginning?”

Shades of Twilight

By Linda Howard

Narrated by Natalie Ross

For those of who love a good mystery that also happens to be a steamy romance, Shades of Twilight by Linda Howard is the book for you. Jessica Tallent is dead. Initially the killer seems obvious; it’s either her jealous husband Webb Tallent or her jealous lover, but as time passes and there is no proof against the husband and the lover is unidentified, the gossip dies down. Sleeping dogs lie until Webb returns from self-exile to manage the family business, and someone with a grudge begins to terrorize the family including Roanna Davenport, the heir to the family fortune. Don’t expect to figure this one out! You’re going to have to wait until the very end when all will be revealed. Thanks to narrator Natalie Ross for expertly handling those lovely Southern accents that rarely exist these days except in the minds of those of us, such as the author and myself, who are old enough to remember them.

Tiny Little Thing

By Beatriz Williams

Narrated by Kathleen McInerney

Beatriz Williams is one of the currently acknowledged queens of historical novels.  Historical novels can, at times, get a bit stuffy but there is nothing stuffy about Ms. Williams’ books. Her characters are funny, sassy, flawed, and altogether entertaining whether they are involved in ordinary relationships or scandals. Tiny Little Thing is book #2 of a trilogy about the Schuyler sisters who are part of a family that populates many of Ms Williams books lending their unique brand of snobbishness and pragmatism to the highfalutin world they inhabit. I’ve enjoyed the Schuyler sisters trilogy because the books take me back to a time that I actually remember well although I certainly wasn’t a member of the elite class which typically populates the storylines.  The books don’t necessarily have to be read in order —I did read book #1, The Secret Life of Violet Grant, first, but I read book #3, Along the Infinite Sea, before book #2.  Kathleen McInerney does an excellent job of narrating the sometimes rocky, but always loving relationship between sisters Tiny and Pepper.

Abandoned in Death

By J.D. Robb

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

Although fans of the In Death Series are familiar with Lieutenant Eve Dallas’s mantra that she stands for the dead, J. D. Robb’s latest installment, Abandoned in Death, puts our heroine in the middle of a murder mystery that brings back painful memories of a past where she, too, was abandoned. Young women of a type are disappearing and two have been brutally murdered. Is there any significance to the fact that their corpses are lovingly dressed up and laid out in areas frequented by children? Of course there is, and it will be up to Eve and her team to find the killer before he claims another victim, but will the reminder of her troubled past which is so similar to that of the killer hamper Eve’s ability to track down him down? I always love my visits with the NYPSD and this one has a bit of a twist that you may or may not suspect early, but it won’t change your satisfaction when Eve and narrator Susan Ericksen bring an unlikely killer to justice.

Thank You For Following Us at Literati Literature Lovers and Happy Listening in April!