A Ghost of Caribou - Alice Henderson

A Ghost of Caribou is the latest entry in Alice Handerson's  Alex Carter series.

Alex is an wildlife biologist who travels Canada and the US tracking species that are in danger. And, it seems like wherever she goes, Alex attracts danger as well.

This time around, she's looking for confirmation that the reported sighting of a mountain caribou is real, as they are extinct in the contiguous United States. I've quite enjoyed learning about each of the featured animals in this series. Henderson's facts are real and she is a dedicated wildlife researcher who walks the talk.

I really like Alex as a lead character. She's strong, resilient, curious, intelligent, adventurous, and courageous. She doesn't back down from anything. But she's smart about it. Supporting players are her dad and her best friend Zoe. Because of her job, contact is usually over the phone. Their lives are interesting as well and there's usually a mystery one of their lives. 

The setting this time is in the Selkirk mountains of Washington state. Henderson does a fantastic job with her setting details. There's a lot going on in this forested area. Missing women, logging disputes, mysterious tunnels - and mysterious inhabitants. Alex has landed right in the middle of things.

The plot is very good. There are a few grains of salt needed with some of the happenings, but just go with it. There's lot of action and many a dangerous situation, characters to like, and many to dislike (strongly) And the end pages brought a surprise. Those who have read the first two books will be surprised as I was.

I chose to listen to A Ghost of Caribou. The same narrator, Eva Kaminsky, has read the previous two books as well. I really appreciate the continuity. Her voice absolutely matches the characters. Kaminsky captures the tone of A Ghost of Caribou. Her voice easily portrays the danger, the action and emotions of the book. Her voice is clear, easy to understand and pleasant on the ears. The speed of the narration is just right. I often find myself more drawn into a book when listened to, rather than a print copy. And that's the case with A Ghost of Caribou. Hear for yourself - listen to a sample of A Ghost of Caribou. 

Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories - Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie was truly the Queen of Crime. Her books and stories have been enjoyed around the world.

But I have to say, my absolute favorite recurring character of hers, is Hercule Poirot. I love his style, mannerisms, dialogue, idiosyncrasies - and those "little gray cells" that drive the investigations. I always have enjoyed the deductions, the piecing together, the reasoning, the seemingly innocuous clue tucked into a sentence somewhere along the way. Christie was a clever, clever writer.

Now I'm not much of a short story reader. But! When I saw that Harper Audio had released Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories, an audiobook of 50+ Poirot stories, I knew I wanted to listen. There's 35 hours of listening just waiting for you! Most are just 30ish minutes long, but there are some longer novellas as well. The length of the short stories were perfect - eating lunch, waiting rooms, while crafting and those nights when I can't sleep. There's much satisfaction in having a case presented and solved in thirty minutes. There were some familiar cases and some I'd never read. But each and every one was a treasure.

Now, the real reason I wanted to listen - David Suchet is one of the readers! There have been many actors that have portrayed Poirot, but he is the best in my opinion. Suchet portrayed Poirot for twenty five years! Hearing his voice immediately evoked a strong mental image of the character. And knowing the voice drew me right into the stories. Suchet brings Poirot to life with his voice. He captures Christie's work easily, changing the tone, tenor and emphasis as the plot progresses. Now, as excited as I was about Suchet, I was just as excited to find that Hugh Fraser was also a narrator. Fraser played Captain Arthur Hasting, Poirot's sidekick. Again, a familiar voice was like settling in with old friends to hear a tale. Nigel Hawthorne and Isla Blair rounded out the cast. Excellent performances all round. Hear for yourself - listen to an excerpt of Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories.

Matchup - Edited by Lee Child

I'm leaving the cover of Matchup a little larger this time so you can see the wealth of authors who contributed to this compilation. But if you look again, you'll see that they are paired - pairings that you wouldn't expect to see. For in Matchup, two well known authors have take their signature characters and co-written a short story featuring the two. Lee Child is the editor and he provides a small commentary before each story, giving some background on the authors as well as the collaboration.

I have read many of these authors and it was nice to see familiar characters again, but a few were new to me. Matchup  was a great way to get idea of who these characters were. Some of the pairings had me wondering how in the world two quite different leads would work together. Diana Gabaldon and Steve Berry? Sandra Brown and C.J. Box? Well, the answer is - really well. The stories are clever, fun to read and satisfying. I enjoy short story collections as you can pick them up and down, easily (and satisfyingly) finishing  a story at a short sitting.

I chose to listen to Matchup and I'm so glad I did. There are a number of narrators as well. I had listened to some of them before, but a few were new to me. This was also a great opportunity to discover some new audio  book readers.

It's really hard to pull out favourite stories, as I did truly enjoy them all. But if pressed I would say Lee Child and Kathy Reichs were a favourite. Tempe bossing Reacher around was great fun. And I also really liked Karin Slaughter and Michael Koryta. Koryta was new to me, but I am going to pick up one of his Joe Pritchard books after this introduction. Slaughter gives us a look at a young Jeffery Tolliver that was fun. I am a huge fan of both Peter James and Val McDermid. Having both Tony Hill and Roy Grace on the same case was wonderful.

I really enjoyed Matchup and hope we can see another collection such as this. Take a listen to an excerpt here. You can find out more about the readers here. Or if you prefer, read an excerpt of Matchup.