Silver: Return to Treasure Island
by Andrew Motion (Crown, 2012); audiobook read by David Tennant (W. F. Howes, 2012)
Andrew Motion envisages a second adventure to Treasure Island set forty years after Stevenson’s original. This reprise is poetically written (as is Motion’s wont) and more memorable for its depictions than for its action. David Tennant’s narration brings the audiobook to life.
The Blind Watchmaker
by Richard Dawkins (Norton, 1986); audiobook read by Richard Dawkins & Lalla Ward (Bolinda, 2014)
In this measured (pre-confrontational) treatise on evolution, biologist Richard Dawkins cites numerous real-world examples and constructs thoughtful analogies to make accessible a topic of vast complexity. Sections of the audiobook are read alternately by Dawkins and Lalla Ward, which invigorates the text.
The Magic Faraway Tree
by Enid Blyton (George Newnes, 1943); audiobook read by Kate Winslet (ABC Audio, 2014)
Younger children will still thrill to the imagination of the Faraway Tree and the many lands that cycle into place above it. Adults may be less impressed, but at least must credit Kate Winslet for her composure in reading about toffee shocks.
Doctor Who: The Lost Flame
by Cavan Scott & George Mann; audiobook read by Clare Higgins (BBC, 2017)
An exaggerated scenario with a deus ex machina finale. A concluding serial that ties in but tenuously with the rest of the series. Clare Higgins handles the reading with aplomb, but once again Cavan Scott and George Mann have failed to deliver.
Gently Through the Mill
by Alan Hunter (Cassell, 1958); audiobook read by Andrew Wincott (Bagna House, 2012)
Gently is an intriguing detective — prone to brooding self-doubt — and Alan Hunter gives readers an unusual degree of access to his musings and methods. The mystery is much what viewers of the (subsequent) TV series might expect, solidly narrated by Andrew Wincott.
Doctor Who: The Lost Magic
by Cavan Scott; audiobook read by Dan Starkey (BBC, 2017)
After two ho-hum instalments, Doctor Who’s “Lost” series attempts something more ambitious, revealing the creature behind the Time Lords’ mastery of the fourth dimension. Unfortunately, the length of story makes for a negligible denouement (and the two American companions continue to freeload).
Sherlock Holmes: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries
by John Taylor; audiobook read by Benedict Cumberbatch (AudioGO, 2010)
Although contrived in places, these four Sherlock Holmes pastiches are of sufficient quality that they feel like original Conan Doyle stories. Benedict Cumberbatch, at the time having just concluded series one of Sherlock, narrates from Watson’s perspective without unduly distracting the listener.
The Bone is Pointed
by Arthur W. Upfield (Angus & Robertson, 1938); audiobook read by Peter Hosking (Bolinda, 2010)
This mystery doesn’t take much solving, but neither did many of Arthur Conan Doyle’s. As with Sherlock Holmes, it is the character of half-caste Aboriginal detective Napoleon Bonaparte that bewitches the reader, plus in this case Upfield’s vivid descriptions of outback Australia.
Doctor Who: The Dreaming
by Mark Morris (Woodlands Books, 2014); audiobook read by David Troughton (Bolinda, 2015)
With the fourth and final Trenzalore story — another classic foe brought back and lessened — the series must go down as a disappointment. David Troughton is rather splendid as a narrator but Trenzalore was the perfect setting for new dangers. A missed opportunity.
The Killing Lessons
by Saul Black (St. Martin’s Press, 2015); audiobook read by Christina Delaine (Macmillan Audio, 2015)
Glen Duncan’s oeuvre showcases an uncensored, unrelenting search for the truths of human nature. Writing now under a pseudonym, Duncan turns his literary vivisection upon serial killers, cops and victims – to urgent, disturbing effect. Christina Delaine is a willing and able accomplice.