The Best Crime Stories Ever Told
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The Best Crime Stories Ever Told
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Narrated by:
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Robin Bloodworth
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Suehyla El Attar
About this listen
When acclaimed mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers first began compiling anthologies of the best crime stories in the 1920s and ’30s, the genre was in the flush of its first golden age. While it is hard to imagine today - after every possible mystery plot has been told, retold, subverted, and played straight again by hundreds of writers over nearly a century - in Sayers’s day there were still twists that had never been seen, and machinations of crime that would shock even jaded Jazz Age fans.
Now today’s fans of mystery and crime can experience a handpicked collection of over thirty of the most outstanding stories from this era, originally chosen by Sayers and newly introduced by Otto Penzler, a leading expert and connoisseur in the field of mystery literature. As a prolific writer of the genre, Sayers understood the difficulty of putting together a mystery that was not only sufficiently challenging (so that the solution was not immediately obvious to the listener), but also solvable without forcing the writer to cheat. That balance between opacity and solvability remains the greatest challenge of writing great crime stories - and these are some of the greatest.
Authors appearing in this collection include:
- Edgar Allen Poe
- Herman Melville
- H. G. Wells
- Wilkie Collins
- Stephen Crane
- J. S. Le Fanu
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Editor reviews
Being an acclaimed mystery writer herself, Dorothy L. Sayers knows a thing or two about what makes a story captivating. In this anthology of short fiction, Sayers compiles over 30 of the best mysteries from the early 1900s, a veritable golden age for the genre. Robin Bloodworth and Suehyla El Attar perform with a robust gusto, clearly reveling in these classic tales by such luminaries as Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville, and H. G. Wells. Listeners will be thrilled by the many treasures unearthed in The Best Crime Stories Ever Told.
What listeners say about The Best Crime Stories Ever Told
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Boof
- 20-02-17
The first book I've returned
The stories in this anthology my be interesting and entertaining but you can't get past the terrible supposedly English accent. If you like horror then this will fit the bill on that aspect!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Breele81
- 04-02-24
Not for me book returned
The few stories I endured were fairly good but the narrations are awful. An American trying to perform an English accent doesn’t work well here. I found the false poshness irritating. The American pronunciation of many words with this strange posh attempt at an English accent was so distracting I have had to give in and return the book. I have tried to adjust to the idiosyncrasies for three hours but have succumbed to failure.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 29-02-24
Good selection of stories
Male narrator made some of it rather boring except for his appalling attempts at an English accent which were laughable, ranging from Birmingham to Australia with touches of South African and Cockney, apparently with a peg on his nose. Female narrator definitely better.
Varied collection of stories, many of which could have been better presented.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- LARRYG
- 01-07-15
best crime stories ever told
many stories engaging but male narration (accents/characters) spoiled the experience. he's better in other works
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. K. A. Ascroft
- 19-08-24
Don't Bother Listening
This is, without a doubt, the most boring book I have ever had the misfortune to waste my time on.
if these are supposed to be the best, I dread to think how bad the worst is.
Having said that, if you want something to put you to sleep, this would do wonderfully.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- T. J. Gluckman
- 04-03-24
Awful accents by male spoil slow-moving tales
Ghastly accents by the male reader spoil many of the stories for my sensitive ears. The readers are actually good when they use natural voices
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-06-21
Unfortunate Narration
Unfortunately, Robin Bloodworth's attempt at a British accent is quite irritating (chewy American twang keeps poking through)
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- kiskeria
- 21-05-24
Terrible speaker
The reader is so overbearing and dreadful that I could not concentrate on the story. I had to stop listening.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Hazel (Scotland)
- 04-07-24
Badly narrated, mostly supernatural tales
I listened from Audible as included in the plus catalogue. If I had used cash or a credit, I would have asked for my money back. But I kept listening, hoping it would get better - it didn't!
Lots of famous authors but not my favourite stories from them. Badly narrated for most of the chapters. Not many crime stories as mostly supernatural tales.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Rebecca Hague
- 15-08-24
Terrible Narrators
Really bad narrators. Average crime storys. Some are obvious who/how dunnit, others completely impossible due to lack of information given to listener.
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