Well crafted character flaws in this 21st century noir detective story with a cheating wife and an ex-circus dick.
A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy read by Rosalyn Landor
A serious Swede, heir of a prestigious Accounting firm, talks to his tour bus driver who must, like him, return to an unwanted fate, a little farm waiting for him to take it over: “I’m no good at going out looking for sheep that have got stuck on their back with their legs in the air, and turning them the right way up…” .
And somehow the Swede finds himself in a nearby village, at a wonderful old Irish House, eating supper at the same hotel table as a displaced, twice-divorced Hollywood movie star, a bitter retired schoolmistress, an anchorless, childless Dr & Dr couple and a heartbroken librarian with an occasional feel for the future. There at that table he takes out his nickle harp and plays for his fellow guests, who like him, are homeless, and suddenly at home.
The remarkable Maeve Binchy throws these oddments of people together in a place that becomes their home for a time, and from the joyful encounters of strangers comes magic and hope and the exchange of fates.
The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro read by Xe Sands
A cross between a painter, an MFA student, and a woman finds herself attached to charming, untrustworthy male artists and thence to the forgery of a stolen Degas. In between whining about herself and her lacks, she tells us about several famous forgers and shows us how they worked their craft.
Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
Insider’s guide to Heists read with wet, phlegmy voice of “Jake Weber” who may also be Robertson Dean. Read it instead.
Thursday the rabbi Walked Out by Harry Kemelman read by George Guidall
The conservative Rabbi of a small Massachusetts town inserts himself into the secular and criminal affairs of his congregation, illustrating that the same hypocracies, connivances and plots have been at work in American Jewry since at least 1960….
Things We Once Held Dear by Ann Tatlock
Mary and Neil are cousins: sort of, by adoption. They were once, possibly, in love. Neil has returned to Mason, Ohio where he is related to just about everybody, for a summer. He is helping an Aunt turn an oyster of a house into a bed and breakfast.
Mary is married and sad. Neil is her door to the past, and she walks right through it. But even the past changes…..
Last Days of Summer by Margaret Maron read by Kate Forbes
For those who do not like the Judge Knott series, Maron has penned this sweet perfectly turned out book about an heiress, an illustrator, granddaughter of a legendary children’s book publisher. Meek, sensitive, submissive as both wife and publishing executive, Amy Steadman finds herself alone, driving to the family house in North Carolina, to sort through her thoughts, her past, her grandmother’s things. On her first night at the house she is awakened by a loud bossy woman hauling away the dining room furniture, who turns out to be one of many southern cousins who has benefitted from her grandmother’s death. While she cleans out the house, she reflects on her mother’s suicide, the uncomfortable past that attaches itself to her comfortable life. She reads letters, then diaries, then watches some old family movies, and realizes that she remembers is not what she has been told. The house is stage the stage of old and new betrayals, lies, half-truths, false confidences, passing on from one generation to another.
The Betrayed by David Hosp read by Richard Ferrone
Sydney has a sister, a reporter, who is murdered. Dissatisfied with her powerful mother’s decision to stop the investigation, she traces the last story of her sister’s career, and discovers some very dirty truths.
Oath of Office by Michael Palmer read by Robert Petkoff
Fury in the doctors office: odd thinking and odder emotions find their way into clinical space. The Emergency Room doctor as addict, as alcoholic, as James Dean, or James Bond.
Genetically modified foods unregulated by the Department of Agriculture served with grandmotherly love by a local eatery are at the basis of another entertaining tale of greed and corruption.
Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman read by Flora Plumb
Only if you want to listen to a spoiled wife’s marriage problems while her husband, the surgeon, has chemotherapy for his brain cancer. A long array of the usual complaints, followed by forgiveness and a touch of rural religion.