THE WICKED HOUR

Narrator Sophie Amoss offers her best take on the hard-boiled detective in this police procedural about a serial killer who is targeting young, female violinists. While the premise seems like an intriguing setup for an audiobook, Amoss has the deck stacked against her. For instance, she convincingly portrays an exhausted young detective who suffers from a combination of grief, PTSD, and a string of sleepless nights. As a result of this accuracy, though, listeners may find themselves zoning out right alongside the detective. Perhaps more difficult for Amoss, however, is a slow-building plot that delivers too few returns for the listener's patience. Those who are not big fans of the genre may want to pass on this. G.P. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2020]