Occasionally a story is so perplexing at times that you want to stop reading/listening, but you can’t because you have to know how it all comes together.
That’s how I found Nicci French’s third installment in the Frieda Klein Mystery series, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY, which was recently released. It seemingly had numerous plots going at the same time with no apparent connection. The main focus appears to be the confusion and troubled life of the protagonist, Frieda Klein, a London psychotherapist-turned-detective.
Narrator Beth Chalmers does an excellent job giving each character their own individual voice. Through her cadence and mannerisms, Chalmers makes it easier to follow as the story weaves back and forth.
One of the stories deals with the murder of a wife and mother of three in an apparent burglary gone wrong. But the woman has a scandalous dark secret that might not be a secret as she had hoped.
Meanwhile Jim Fearby, a former journalist, is set on a path to track down the real killer of a young woman an innocent made had been imprisoned for. Through the course of his investigation, Fearby has compiled a list of missing young women he believes have been killed by the same man.
Frieda is sent a fake client by a rival police consultant, Dr. Hal Bradshaw, who wants to undermine her work. When Frieda doesn’t report the client’s alleged criminal impulses, Bradshaw makes her (and several other colleagues) look inept. Frieda, fixated on a statement from the fake client, goes in search of the original source of the statement beginning her own search for a missing girl.
As the story weaves back and forth, readers/listeners can begin to see how the different plots are slowly coming together. What starts off as a bit confusing leads readers/listeners on an intriguing journey with unexpected twists and turns laced with humor, haunting moments of self-doubt and suspense.
The author has created a cast of captivating characters giving them personal problems and emotional upheaval in their lives as they struggle to perform professionally. With an eye for detail and rich descriptions, the author transports readers/listeners to London adding depth to the story.
WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY is the third installment in the Frieda Klein Mystery series. While it can be read/listened to on its own, readers may not completely understand the cause of Frieda’s troubles without having at least read the previous installment, TUESDAY’S GONE.
While the story starts off a bit slow and confusing, it is truly well worth the effort to read/listen further as it holds you captive wanting answers. The suspenseful conclusion will leave fans of the series anticipated what will happen next to Frieda and her friends.
Waiting For Wednesday by Nicci French, Frieda Klein Mystery Book #3, Read by Beth Chalmers, Penguin Audio, @2014, ASIN:BOOJ8MX3KU, Digital Download, Listening Time: 14 Hours and 10 Minutes
FTC Full Disclosure - This book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
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I’ve been listening to a lot of audio books lately…in the car, while cooking and cleaning, doing yard work, just relaxing. I still enjoy the feel of a print copy of a book in my hands, but sometimes I need to be doing other things and an audio is the perfect way to ‘read’ and do what I have to do.
The two books I have to share with you today are both suspenseful and by authors I had not read before. One is a new release and the other is new on audio but a re-release of an older book. See audios also help you find books you missed that are ‘old but new again’ by being re-released.
When it comes to psychological thrills and suspense, author Nicci French knows how to draw readers in with TUESDAY’S GONE.
Narrator Beth Chalmers does an excellent job giving voice to the numerous characters and bringing them to life. Her English accent adds to the feel of the story, as her cadence pulls listeners into the fascinating plot of twists and turns.
Making a routine home visit a London social worker finds her psychotic client, Michelle Doyce, serving tea to a naked, decomposing corpse. With no way to identify the man, Chief Inspector Karlsson asks psychotherapist Frieda Klein to see what she can make of Michelle’s confused ramblings.
In time Frieda learns that the man is Robert Poole, an extraordinary con man who has touched many lives. As she discovers more, Frieda begins to wonder if Poole’s death was an attempt by someone from her past to pull her into the investigation. She tries to put the pieces together to determine if she will be the next victim.
TUESDAY’S GONE is told from a number of viewpoints and time frames. With the switching back and forth from the heroine to an unknown person, place and time; I wasn’t sure it would be easy to follow. It was, however, and the more I listened the further I was drawn in wanting to know how the psychological puzzle fit together.
The characters are well-developed and the story moves at a steady pace. Filled with suspense, just when you think you have something figures out the author adds a new twist will lead you in a different direction.
TUESDAY’S GONE is the second book in the Frieda Klein psychological thriller series by the internationally bestselling husband and wife writing team of Nicci Gerard and Sean French writing as Nicci French. While there are references to events in the first installment, BLUE MONDAY, readers/listeners will not be lost reading TUESDAY’S GONE as a stand alone.
This psychological thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat and then eagerly WAITING FOR WEDNESAY.
Author Nicci French’s website is http://www.niccifrench.co.uk/
Tuesday’s Gone by Nicci French, A Frieda Klein Novel, Performed by Beth Chalmers, Penguin Audio, @2013, ISBN: 978-1101605134, Unabridged, Digital Download, Listening Time: 12 Hours, 46 Minutes
FTC Full Disclosure - A digital download of this audio book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
Author Wendy Corsi Staub created a protagonist in Elizabeth Baxter that I both hated and loved. I hated her because she was continuously going over the same circumstances again and again in her head. I loved the character because those same flaws made her more realistic. Her fears were plausible and her actions what most of us would do in the same situation.
Narrator Allyson Ryan brings the characters to life with her delightful interruption. Her vocalization of Elizabeth’s fear and concern places the listener along side the protagonist as she agonizes with her worries.
Elizabeth Baxter is paranoid. She doesn’t have friends, she doesn’t socialize, she doesn’t go outside her home unless she absolutely has to and then she wears dark sunglasses and constantly looks over her shoulder. In the sleepy little village of Windmere Cove, RI, Elizabeth is living in fear. If her past catches up to her, she’s a dead woman.
As she considers five years has been long enough and she can finally make a friend or two, it happens. A card with no return address, just the message that sends Elizabeth’s world into a nosedive - ‘I know who you are.’
In the past Elizabeth had been Hollywood’s hottest young actress Mallory Eden. At the height of her career, a mysterious stalker had entered her life making it a living nightmare. Feeling she had no choice, Mallory had faked her own death and began a new life as Elizabeth.
It appears the stalker has found her. Frightened, Elizabeth isn’t sure what to do. Should she trust the locksmith she recently befriended after her house was broken into or her neighbor the cop? The more she learns about each, the less she knows what to do.
FADE TO BLACK will hold you spellbound as you come to feel Elizabeth’s paranoia. The twists and turns will make your breathless as you try to figure out who the real stalker is and why.
Staub has gone into great detail with her characters giving them both good and bad traits to keep you guessing. The story moves at a steady pace and is filled with an endless array of possible stalkers. This is a thriller that will have you second-guessing yourself.
Author Wendy Corsi Staub’s website is http://wendycorsistaub.com/
Fade To Black by Wendy Corsi Staub, Performed by Allyson Ryan, Harper Audio, @2013, ISBN: 978-0062285133, Unabridged, Digital Download, Listening Time: 10 Hours, 32 Minutes
FTC Full Disclosure - A digital download of this audio book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope your week is going okay so far. Have you given audio books a try yet? If so, what do you think? If not, why not?
