General Crime (part 1)Talking Books
The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.
Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title, you will then receive another one.
If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Customer Services Team on 0303 123 9999 or email
If you would like further information, or help in selecting titles to read, then please contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 53 33 or email
You can write to us at RNIB NLS, PO Box 173, PeterboroughPE2 6WS
General crime
Adair, Gilbert
The act of Roger Murgatroyd. 2006. Read by Glen McCready, 8hours. TB 14924.
Boxing Day, 1935. A snowed-in manor on the very edge of Dartmoor. A Christmas house party. And overhead, in the attic, the dead body of Raymond Gentry, gossip columnist and blackmailer, shot through the heart. But the attic door is locked from the inside, its sole window is traversedby thick iron bars and, naturally, there is no sign of a murderer or a murder weapon. TB 14924.
Adam, Paul
Sleeper. 2004. Read by Daniel Philpott, 9hours 56minutes. TB 14671.
Rainaldi was a violin-maker and when he was discovered slumped over his workbench, murdered with one of his own chisels, both the police and his friends are at a loss to discover a motive. Then it comes to light that Rainaldi had believed he was on the track of an infamous Stradivari - twin to the one housed in the Ashmolean Museum and subject to two hundred years of myth and rumour. With nothing else to go on, his two close friends pick up the search from where he left off and plunge headlong into a world where great musical instruments change hands for millions, where forgery is an art form and where murder is often a dealer's chosen method of negotiation. TB 14671.
Akunin, Boris
The winter queen: a novel. c2003. Read by Steve Hodson, 10hours 14minutes. TB 13773.
Erast Fandorin series; book 1. This book features Erast Fandorin, a gentleman sleuth who solves murders and mysteries in tsarist Russia. Moscow 1876 - a young law student commits suicide in broad daylight in Moscow's AlexanderGardens. But this is no ordinary death, for the young man was the son of an influentialindustrialist and has left a considerable fortune. Erast Fandorin, a hotheaded new recruit to the Criminal Investigation Department, is assigned to the case. Brilliant, young, and sophisticated, Fandorin embarkson an investigation that will take him from the palatial mansions of Moscow to the seedy backstreets of London in his hunt for the conspirators behind this mysterious death.Contains strong language. TB 13773.
Archer, Jeffrey
A matter of honour. 1987. Read by David Sinclair, 12hours 11minutes. TB 6834.
He should never have opened the envelope... Adam Scott listens to the reading of his father's will, aware that the results can only be pitiful. The Colonel, after all, had nothing to leave - except a letter he had never opened himself, a letter Adam fears can only bring further disgraceto the family name. Against his mother's wishes, Adam opens the letter, and immediately realises his life can never be the same again. The contents leave him with no choice but to follow a course his father would have described as A Matter of Honour. TB 6834.
Arnott, Jake
He kills coppers. 2002. Read by Stephen Greif, 11hours 15minutes. TB 12900.
August 1966 - the long hot summer of World Cup euphoria is abruptly shattered when three policemen are gunned down in a West London Street. It is a senseless crime that shocks a nation seemingly at ease with itself and brings an end to the victory celebrations. Yet is also marks abeginning for three men whose fates are inextricably bound up with the event and its consequences which come to a head thirty years on.Contains strong language. TB 12900.
Baker, John
Poet in the gutter. 2002. Read by Cornelius Garrett, 7hours 50minutes. TB 13256.
Sam Turner series; book 1. Sam Turner has always had a romantic yearning to be Sam Spade. So he tells his men's group in York that he's a private eye - it's better than admitting he's an unemployed alcoholic. But then one of his friends asks for help in tracking an erring wife. So suddenly Sam is a P.I. And the next thing he knows, he's on the track of a serial killer. TB 13256.
Ballard, J G
Super-Cannes. 2001. Read by David Thorpe,13hours. TB 13581.
Paul Sinclair stumbles on a beguiling mystery when he accompanies his wife Jane to the south of France where she is to work as a doctor in Eden-Olympia, a high-tech business park set in the hills above Cannes.With the very latest in facilities, Eden-Olympia appears to be a paradise for its hard-working, high-achieving workforce. So what caused Jane's apparently sane and respected predecessor to set out one morning andmurder ten people on a shooting spree that would make headlines around the world?Contains strong language. TB 13581.
Barnard, Robert
Sheer torture. 1981. Read by David Sinclair, 6hours 10minutes. TB 4342.
Supt. Perry Trethowan series; book 1. Reluctantly Perry Trethowan returned to his ancestral home: his father has been found dead - wearing gauzy spangled tights! TB 4342.
Beckett, Simon
The chemistry of death. 2006. Read by David Thorpe, 11hours 5minutes. TB 14526.
When the bizarrely mutilated and long-dead body of a young woman is found in a ditch in Manham, an isolated and insular village in the Norfolk marshlands, it isn't just the fact that she had been a friend that disturbs Dr anthropologist and all too familiar with the different faces of death, until a devastating personal tragedy made him turn his back on his former life and career. Now hidden away as a country doctor, Hunter's past is asecret he hopes will remain buried. So when he's asked by the police to use his arcane skills to help track down the killer, he's reluctant to become involved. Then another young woman disappears.Contains strong language. TB 14526.
Black, Ingrid
The dead. 2005. Read by Tara Ward, 12hours 44minutes. TB 14818.
Five years ago Ed Fagan disappeared and since then nothing has been heard from the serial killer known as the Night Hunter. Now a Dublin newspaper has received a letter claiming to be from Fagan with a chilling message:he's going to kill again. At first, the Dublin Metropolitan Police are inclined to dismiss the letter as the work of a crank. Then the body of prostitute Mary Lynch is found and it's only too clear that a murderer isat large again. But is it Fagan? Saxon, a former FBI agent, was writing a book about Fagan when he disappeared and is certain that the killings are not the works of Fagan. But how can she convince the police to look beyondthe obvious and to go after the real killer.Contains violence. TB 14818.
Bonner, Hilary
No reason to die. 2004. Read by Richard Derrington, 12hours 21minutes. TB 13775.
By a freak chance John Kelly, once a reporter, always a maverick, becomes embroiled in the mystery surrounding a series of disturbing deaths at a tough Dartmoor army training camp. Several young men and women stationed at the bleakly remote Hangridge have died suddenly and tragically, mostly from gunshot wounds that the army claim have been self-inflicted. The army has a plausible explanation for each death individually, but when puttogether these explanations look very suspicious indeed - Kelly takes his concerns to his old friend Detective Superintendent Karen Meadows and together they attempt to break through the wall of secrecy which the army has erected.Contains strong language. TB 13775.
Booth, Stephen
Black dog. 2001. Read by David Thorpe, 13hours 22minutes. TB 14399.
Ben Cooper and Diane Fry series; book 1. When smart, sexy teenager Laura Vernon goes missing one long, hot summer in the Peak District, local police mount a full-scale search operation. But it's retired lead miner Harry Dickinson who finally discovers Laura's body, and he seems bent on obstructing their investigation. Even her parents are holding something back. But what could be more important than finding Laura's murderer? Ben Cooper, a young DC living with tragedy, has known the villagers all his life, but his instinctive feelings about the case are called into question by the arrival of Diane Fry, a ruthlessly ambitious DC from another division. As the investigation twists and turns, Ben and Diane discover that to understand the present, they must alsounderstand the past - and in a world where no one is entirely innocent, pain and suffering can be the only outcome.Contains strong language. TB 14399.
Brett, Simon
The body on the beach. 2000. Read by Simon Brett, 7hours 25minutes. TB 12467.
Fethering Mysteries; book 1. Very little disturbs the ordered calm of Fethering, a self-contained retirement settlement on England's southern coast. Carole Seddon has chosen to retire there, and the last thing she expected to find was a neighbour with a colourful past, or a body on the beach. TB 12467.
Brookmyre, Christopher
The sacred art of stealing. Read by Lesley Mackie, 12hours 24minutes. TB 13211.
The press tend to talk about bank robberies as daring, ingenious or audacious, never as 'Dadaist', even the ones who know what 'Dadaist' means. But how else does one explain choreographed dancing gunmen in Buchanan Street, or the surreal methods they use to stay one step ahead of the cops? Angelique de Xavia is no art critic, but she is a connoisseur of crooks, and she's sure that this heist isn't the work of the usual sawn-offs-and-black-tights criminal. It's her job to hunt this unique species of thief to extinction - though the fact that it's not just his M.O. that's cute might prove a distraction.Contains violence. TB 13211.
Buckley, Jonathan
So he takes the dog. 2006. Read by Richard Burnip, 12hours 35minutes. TB 14807.
On a beach in southern England, a dog returns to its owner with a human hand in its mouth. The hand belongs to Henry a homeless eccentric who has been wandering the south-west of England for the last thirty years. Alocal policeman and his colleague, in piecing together his movements prior to his death, talking to those who knew and observed him, uncover and extraordinary life. TB 14807.
Butler, Gwendoline
Coffin on the water. 1986. Read by Conrad Philips, 2hours 42minutes. TB 13533.
Coffin series; book 6. Sequel to: Coffin in Oxford. A number of bodies are dropped on the rising tide of the River Thames. John Coffin, a detective doing his probation in the bleak Docklands of the immediate Post-War era, discovers that these bodies have made this journey for "one hell of a purpose". TB 13533.
Camilleri, Andrea
The shape of water. 2004. Read by Daniel Philpott, 5hours 1minute. TB 14639.
Inspector Montalbano series; book 1. The goats of Vigata once grazed on the trash-strewn site still known as the Pasture. Now local enterprise of a different sort flourishes: drug dealers and prostitutes of every flavour. But their discreet trade is upset when two employees of the Splendour Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, apparently deceased in flagrante at the Pasture. The coroner's verdict is death from natural causes - refreshingly unusual for Sicily. But Inspector Salvo Montalbano, is not ready to close the case -even though he's being pressured by Vigata's police chief, judge and bishop. TB 14639.
Carr, Caleb
The Italian secretary : a further adventure of Sherlock Holmes. 2005. Read by Robbie McNab, 7hours. TB 14377.
Mycroft Holmes, charged with ensuring the personal safety of Queen Victoria, calls on his brother for help when a number of attempts have been made on her life and when two unexplained deaths occur amongst thestaff at her Scottish residencies. Accompanied by Dr Watson, Sherlock Holmes goes north by train, examining the few facts Mycroft has been able to cryptically supply. To Watson's bafflement he is sure there is a linkbetween these deaths and the murder in the old royal apartments at Holyrood of the secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots: a killing which left a bloodstain that daily refreshes itself and in a room where voices can be heard in the darkest hours of the night. Can Holmes's extraordinarydeductive powers solve the historical crime as well as the contemporary one? TB 14377.
Caudwell, Sarah
Thus was Adonis murdered. 1981. Read by Norma West, 7hours 54minutes. TB 4266.
Professor Hilary Tamer trilogy; book 1. A group of young barristers become involved in the case of their friend, Julia, who was nearly convicted on a charge of murder during a holiday to Venice. TB 4266.
Cleary, Jon
Winter chill. 1995. Read by Steven Crossley, 10hours 33minutes. TB 10808.
An international convention of one thousand lawyers is taking place in Sydney. At three o'clock one morning, the body of one of them is found in the monorail. The next day the body of a security guard is fished out of the harbour, and during the investigation a police officer is ruthlesslygunned down. Three murders. Three different weapons. And a trail that leads to the heart of the city's legal profession. TB 10808.
Cole, Martina
Dangerous lady. Read by Annie Aldington, 16hours 45minutes. TB 12949.
Ducking and diving is a way of life down Lancaster Road; all the Ryans are at it, but Michael the eldest, has ambitions beyond petty crime. His little sister, Maura, turns a blind eye to his misdeeds until they cost her the only man she's ever cared about and she decides to join the family "firm". No one thinks a seventeen-year-old blonde can take on the hard men of London's gangland, but it's a mistake to underestimate Maura Ryan. Tough, clever and beautiful and determined not to be hurt again. But whenit comes to the crunch, Maura discovers her heart is not made entirely of stone. TB 12949.
Cornwell, Bernard
Gallows thief. 2001. Read by Sean Barrett, 10hours 2minutes. TB 13483.
A man in Newgate had been found guilty of murdering the aristocrat whose portrait he was painting. Captain Hawkes is given the job of investigating, but when his first steps produce a sizeable bribe to look the other way, it arouses his smouldering anger over the condition of England. TB 13483.
Cutler, Judith
The food detective. 2005. Read by Diana Bishop, 8 hours 18 minutes. TB 14857.
Josie Welford series; book 1. When Josie Welford settles in the idyllic West Country village of kings Duncombe, she honestly believes she can bury her past. The widow of one of Britain's most wanted criminals, she knows what it's like to be an outsider and fervently wishes for a fresh start in life. TB 14857.
Davis, Lindsey
The silver pigs. 1990. Read by Christopher Scott, 9hours 46minutes. TB 10320.
Falco series; book 1. Rome AD 70. Private Eye Marcus Didious Falco is approached by 16 year old Socia Camillina. Her uncle, a senator, has his suspicions of a highly profitable, if highly illegal, trade in silver ingots or pigs. For Falco, this is the start of a murderous trail leading to a godforsaken land called Britain, to Emperor Vespasian himself and to Helena Justina, a ladyleagues out of his class. He should have listened to his mother; she always said girls would be his downfall. TB 10320.
Diamond, Sarah
The spider's house. 2005. Read by Lucy Scott, 12hours 15minutes. TB 14719.
When Anna's husband is offered a job in Dorset she is as happy to move as he is. After the move, however it's a different story. With few ideas for her new novel and little else to do, Anna's getting increasingly restlesswhen she makes a shocking discovery - Rebecca Fisher, the notorious child murderess of the 1960s, was the previous inhabitant of their picturesque old cottage. At first she is just curious, and begins reading up on thecase but as she learns more she beomes increasingly convinced that she's close to discovering secrets that have been hidden for years. But someone else has other ideas. An unseen enemy threatens her marriage, her safety and ultimately her life…. Unsuitable for family reading. TB 14719.
Dibdin, Michael
Ratking. 1988. Read by William Gaminara, 9 hours. TB 9449.
Aurelio Zen series; book 1. An investigation into a kidnapping in Italy turns to murder. Police Commissioner Aurelio Zen has crossed swords with the Establishment before, and lost. From a mundane desk job in Rome, he's unexpectedly transferred to Perugia to take over a kidnapping case involving one of Italy's most powerful families.
TB 9449.
Doherty, P C
The soul slayer. 1998. Read by Peter Barker, 13hours 35minutes. TB 13496.
Rebecca Lennox, daughter of a former priest, is neglected and feared by the villagers of Dunmow in Essex. They regard her as cursed, by both her hare lip and her gift of second sight. She finally finds a mortal confidant in a young Catholic priest who comes to the village, but in latesummer, a new parson is appointed. Henry Frogmore is more interested in the black arts than the teachings of religion. For him holy orders are merely a convenient cover for his nefarious activities, but in Rebecca and
Michael he finds powerful opponents. And in the ensuing struggle the price for each of them is all too heavy.Contains strong language. TB 13496.
Elton, Ben
Past mortem. 2005. Read by Glen McCready, 11hours 5minutes. TB 14168.