As promised, I am returning to the topic of favorite narrators to share with you four of my favorite female narrators as a way to meet AudioFile’s Listening Challenge #12: Listen to an audiobook performed by your favorite narrator. There are so many outstanding female narrators for mystery audiobooks, it has been very challenging to pick just four to highlight here.
I know I have singled her out many times, but I want to start with the multiple award-winning narrator Lorelei King. Janet Evanovich’s recent FORTUNE AND GLORY demonstrates King’s talents in creating unique voices for each character. This is the 27th addition to the Stephanie Plum series, so the characters have become like family members (OK, sure, a big, dysfunctional family). King’s pacing, accents, and tone bring the humor and the personalities to life, thus keeping listeners committed to the series. You can also check out King reading Darynda Jones’s A BAD DAY FOR SUNSHINE. Along with director Ali Muirden, King has written and narrated STORY TELLER: How to be an Audiobook Narrator, giving away all of her secrets for excellent narration. I also have to confess that I recently re-watched the movie Notting Hill just to see King pop on screen as Julia Roberts’s Public Relations manager.
Next on my list is January LaVoy, who is so versatile and able to differentiate characters that you truly believe you are listening to a full cast. LaVoy is a recent Golden Voices inductee. You can read all about her in this post. LaVoy has an extensive audiography across many genres. In mystery/suspense, you can catch her narrating MEET YOUR MAKER by Matthew Mather and QUANTUM by Patricia Cornwell, for which she won an Earphones Award. For something a little different, you can hear LaVoy join a full cast that includes another outstanding Golden Voice narrator, Bahni Turpin, in the historical fiction audiobook THE EVERLASTING by Katy Simpson Smith.
Now to head across the pond, I want to include Aoife MacMahon. I am just taken in by her soft Irish accent, which she tweaks so effectively for different dialects. You can listen to McMahon perform Dervla McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly Series. The most recent addition is an audio novella prequel, THE ROOMMATE. There is a musical cadence to her narrations that lures you into the stories. I also very much enjoyed her segments of the multi-narrator audiobook THE GUEST LIST, by Lucy Foley.
And finally, I want to call out Imogen Church. You may have watched her in action on AudioFile’s Mysterious Voices live discussion that took place on October 27. You can catch the discussion on a recording of the event. For psychological thrillers where the narrator’s voice has to convey a certain level of fear and dread lying just beneath the surface, Church gets the job done. Check out her narrations of Ruth Ware’s stand-alone audiobooks, the most recent of which is ONE BY ONE, which earned Church an Earphones Award.
Those are just four of my faves. Who is on your list?
