THE ECHO - Minette Walters, narr Simon Prebble

From the back of the BOCD: Best-selling author Minette Walters captivates mystery aficionados throughout the world with her evocative, multi-layered novels, which have been translated into 22 languages. In THE ECHO she spins a finely-wrought web of secrets and betrayals, love and guilt that entangles everyone who touches it.

A homeless man has been found dead of starvation--huddled next to a food-filled freezer--in a London socialite's garage. When journalist Michael Deacon interviews the wealthy woman, he suspects she is hiding something. His search for answers leads him on a perilous journey through unsolved crimes of the past and the shadowy world of London's down and out.

Edgar Award-winning Minette Walters grips her readers' emotions with her ever-heightening psychological suspense. British actor Simon Prebble's dramatic performance will keep you enthralled throughout the sinuous plot and the shattering finish.

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The first part of the story was a little bit tangled up for me, the end of the story was a little bit tangled up for me, but the middle part was superb and made up for the tangles on either end.

You have to like British dark suspense with all that that entails of everything having hidden meaning and no one is who they appear to be at any given time. I know I love watching these on BBC America, with all of the visual cues and atmosphere.

My sister's been on me to read Minette's books, so this was the way I chose to do the first one. I'll read more and listen to more.

Four British atmospheric suspenseful beans......

THE PRIVATE PATIENT - P D James, narr Rosalyn Landor

B&N synopsis: Cheverell Manor is a lovely old house in deepest Dorset, now a private clinic belonging to the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell. When investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrived there one late autumn afternoon, scheduled to have a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar removed, she had every expectation of a successful operation and a pleasant week recuperating.

Two days later she was dead, the victim of murder.

To Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who with his team is called in to investigate the case, the mystery at first seems absolute. Few things make sense. Yet as the detectives begin probing the lives and backgrounds of those connected with the dead woman--the surgeon, members of the manor staff, close acquaintances--suspects multiply all too rapidly. New confusions arise, including strange historical overtones of madness and a lynching 350 years in the past. Then there is a second murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself confronted....

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It's been a long while since I've read or listened to a book by P D James. The last one was a couple of years ago, THE LIGHTHOUSE. I do love her books, but I need a few years between each one. They are chewy, involved, well developed mysteries. Each one has highly detailed background on each character so that the reader doesn't really know who might be a suspect, because each person could be. The mystery can be solved (or is it?) and there is more story to be told. I love that P D James writes more than just the mystery. I will be a fan forever, especially of the Adam Dalgliesh series.

Five in-depth British mystery beans....