I’ve always loved reading and I love having a book read to me even more. It always feels like such a luxurious indulgence. Combined with the sheer joy of a road trip, a good audiobook can certainly add a special spark to an adventure. Not only do we listen whilst driving along – especially on otherwise boring stretches of motorway – but an audiobook also makes an excellent alternative to watching TV, something which I flatly refuse to allow in the camper van!
When it comes to audiobooks, narration is key. I believe that an audiobook is only truly a success if you finish listening to it with the impression that it would have been an inferior experience if you had read it yourself. For me, that was true of all of the books I’m recommending to you here.
So, here are 9 audiobooks that we have absolutely L-O-V-E-D, so much so that we’ve often continued to listen long after we had reached our destination. We just couldn’t turn them off!
Let’s dive right in…
The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware
“When Harriet Westaway receives an unexpected letter telling her she’s inherited a substantial bequest from her Cornish grandmother, it seems like the answer to her prayers. She owes money to a loan shark, and the threats are getting increasingly aggressive: she needs to get her hands on some cash fast.
There’s just one problem – Hal’s real grandparents died more than 20 years ago. The letter has been sent to the wrong person. But Hal knows that the cold-reading techniques she’s honed as a seaside fortune-teller could help her con her way to getting the money. If anyone has the skills to turn up at a stranger’s funeral and claim a bequest they’re not entitled to, it’s her.
Hal makes a choice that will change her life forever. But once she embarks on her deception, there is no going back. She must keep going or risk losing everything, even her life….”
The Child by Fiona Barton
“When a paragraph in an evening newspaper reveals a decades-old tragedy, most readers barely give it a glance. But for three strangers, it’s impossible to ignore.
For one woman it’s a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her.
For another it’s the dangerous possibility that her darkest secret is about to be discovered.
And for a third, a journalist, it’s the first clue in a hunt to uncover the truth.
The Child’s story will be told.”
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
“What would you do if you caught a glimpse of something you weren’t supposed to see? Would you come forward? Would you let yourself get sucked into the mystery?
Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. Now they’ll see – she’s much more than just the girl on the train…”
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
“This was meant to be the perfect trip. The northern lights. A press launch on a luxury cruise ship. A chance for travel journalist Lo Blackwood to recover from a traumatic break-in that has left her on the verge of collapse and to work out what she wants from her relationship.
Except things don’t go as planned. Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next-door cabin. But the records show that no one ever checked in to that cabin, and no passengers are missing from the boat.
Exhausted, emotional and increasingly desperate, Lo has to face the fact that her sleep problems might be driving her mad, or she is trapped on a boat with a murderer – and she is the sole witness…”
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
“People are capable of almost anything.
Fast-paced and addictive, The Couple Next Door announces a major new talent in thriller writing.
You never know what’s happening on the other side of the wall.
Your neighbour told you that she didn’t want your six-month-old daughter at the dinner party. Nothing personal, she just couldn’t stand her crying.
Your husband said it would be fine. After all, you live only next door. You’ll have the baby monitor, and you’ll take it in turns to go back every half hour.
Your daughter was sleeping when you checked on her last. But now, as you race up the stairs in your deathly quiet house, your worst fears are realised. She’s gone.
You’ve never had to call the police before. But now they’re in your home, and who knows what they’ll find there.
What would you be capable of when pushed past your limit?”
In a Cottage in a Wood by Cass Green
“Her dream home will become her worst nightmare….
A strange encounter.
Neve comes across a troubled woman called Isabelle on Waterloo Bridge late one night. Isabelle forces a parcel into Neve’s hands and jumps to her death in the icy Thames below.
An unexpected gift.
Two weeks later, as Neve’s wreck of a life in London collapses, an unexpected lifeline falls into her lap – a charming cottage in Cornwall left to her by Isabelle, the woman on the bridge. The solution to all her problems.
A twisted secret.
But when Neve arrives, alone in the dark woods late one night, she finds a sinister-looking bungalow with bars across its windows. And her dream home quickly becomes her worst nightmare – a house hiding a twisted secret that will change her life forever…”
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
“Pirriwee Public is a beautiful little beachside primary school where children are taught that ‘sharing is caring’. So how has the annual School Trivia Night ended in full-blown riot? Sirens are wailing. People are screaming. The principal is mortified.
And one parent is dead.
Was it a murder, a tragic accident, or just good parents gone bad? As the parents at Pirriwee Public are about to discover, sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal. Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, school-yard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.”
Sleep by C.L. Taylor
“All Anna wants is to be able to sleep. But crushing insomnia, terrifying night terrors and memories of that terrible night are making it impossible. If only she didn’t feel so guilty….
To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare.
Each of the guests has a secret, but one of them is lying – about who they are and why they’re on the island. There’s a murderer staying in the Bay View hotel. And they’ve set their sights on Anna.
Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One deadly lie.
Someone’s going to sleep and never wake up…”
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
“Someone’s getting married. Someone’s getting murdered.
Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.
There was a dark, dark house
Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?
And in the dark, dark house, there was a dark, dark room
But something goes wrong. Very wrong.
And in the dark, dark room…. Some things can’t stay secret forever.”
