My Review (5 stars out of 5) In 1922, solicitor Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong was tried and found guilty of killing his wife by poisoning her with arsenic. Hanged for her murder, the case caused a scandal not only in Hay-on-Wye where he lived but across the whole country. My first introduction to this story…
Category: Audiobook
‘Catch Me If You Can’ by Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding
My Review (3 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) In the nineteen sixties, American Frank W. Abagnale, while utilising several aliases, became one of the cleverest con men the world has ever seen. Posing as an airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, and sociology professor, he forged thousands of cheques, stayed free of charge in hundreds…
‘Little Lindy Is Kidnapped’ by Thomas Doherty
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) On March 1st, 1932, the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was taken from his bedroom in Hopewell, New Jersey. Given Lindbergh’s reputation as an aviator – having been the first person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic – the American public were appalled that…
‘Burning Ridge’ by Margaret Mizushima
My Review (4 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) Police officer Mattie Cobb and her police-dog partner, Robo, discover a burned body on an isolated ridge in Colorado. But as the investigation into the death gets underway, Mattie finds she has familial links to the dead man, throwing her whole life into a tailspin. When three…
‘Kitty Genovese’ by Catherine Pelonero
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) Subtitled: A True Account of a Public Murder and its Private Consequences, this is the story of the horrific murder of Kitty Genovese on the street where she lived in Queens, New York in 1964. What proved more horrifying however, was the number of witnesses to her…
‘Let’s Do It’ by Jasper Rees
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) In this authorised biography, the life and work of entertainer, writer, actor, comedienne and – in all likelihood – the funniest woman on TV, Victoria Wood, is laid bare in all its hysterical, heart-warming and often poignant detail. The audiobook version includes VW’s hilarious classic, the Ballad…
‘Once Upon a River’ by Diane Setterfield
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) On the longest night of the year at the Swan Inn on the banks of the Thames, the regulars entertain each other with stories. But the storytelling is interrupted when a stranger bursts in carrying what appears to be a dead child. Summoning the help of local…
‘Yorkshire Ripper – The Secret Murders’ by Chris Clark and Tim Tate
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Known as the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe was convicted in 1981 of killing thirteen women. Though it’s long been understood that West Yorkshire police might’ve caught him earlier if they hadn’t only focused on murdered prostitutes, what is generally not known about are all the other murders that…
‘This Much is True’ by Miriam Margolyes
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) Known for memorable characters including Lady Whiteadder and Professor Sprout, roles in Little Dorrit and Oliver Twist, and a host of voice-overs for TV adverts, Miriam Margolyes is a national treasure. From her childhood in Oxford and posing naked for artist Augustus John to working with Martin…
‘Let This Be Our Secret’ by Deric Henderson
My Review (4 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) True crime story set in Northern Ireland where an apparent suicide pact turned out to be a double murder. Eighteen years after the incident, dentist Colin Howell confessed to police, telling them he and his former lover, Hazel Buchanan, murdered their respective spouses. Although superbly narrated by…
Colin Garrow 