Jo Reed and Michele Cobb dig into three Earphones Award–winning police procedurals, each pairing a compelling investigator with a narrator who knows how to build suspense. In Missing by E.A. Jackson, Nicola Walker’s understated, magnetic performance and English accent capture Detective Inspector Martha Allen’s intelligence and persistence as a decades-old case pulls her back in. Dervla McTiernan’s Three Reasons for Revenge, read by Alison McGirr and set in Melbourne, Australia, follows Detective Sergeant Judith Lee through a brutal, psychologically driven investigation, with McGirr handling both the emotional stakes and the novel’s mounting tension. And in Michael Connelly’s Ironwood, narrator Will Damron returns as Detective Sergeant Stilwell, bringing a steady sense of urgency to an investigation on Catalina Island—with welcome appearances from Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch. Three very different detectives, three accomplished narrators, and three mystery audiobooks that earned their Earphones Awards.

Audiobooks Discussed:

Missing by E.A. Jackson, read by Nicola Walker (Simon & Schuster Audio)

Three Reasons for Revenge by Dervla McTiernan, read by Alison McGirr (Harper Audio)

Ironwood by Michael Connelly, read by Will Damron (Hachette Audio)

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