I love audiobooks and listen to so many each month. I love being able to get book time when I’m at the grocery store or folding laundry. Here are 8 I gave FIVE STARS April – June of 2024. To see which audiobooks earned five stars January – March of 2024, click here. 

Playing It Safe (Electra McDonnell #3) by Ashley Weaver — Another outstanding addition to this series. Ellie McDonnell—formerly a safecracking thief has been assisting the British government during WWII. Her contact, British Intelligence officer Major Ramsey, approaches her with a new assignment. Ellie is to travel to the port city of Sunderland under an assumed identity. In Typical Major Ramsey fashion, he leaves the details vague and simply tells Ellie to await further instruction.

Only moments after arriving in Sunderland, Ellie witnesses a man fall dead in the street, with a note clutched in his hand. Her instincts tell her this must be connected to her new mission. What follows is a face-paced, nail biting mystery that involves possible Nazi spies and a counterfeiting operation. And on top of that, bombs start falling on the city of Sunderland.

This is a solid mystery featuring wonderful characters and also some follow up to plot lines introduced in earlier books. Fans of historical mysteries like Maggie Hope should get their hands on this series.

Locked in Pursuit (Electra McDonnell #4) by Ashley Weaver — I adore this series. The mysteries are solid and keep me turning the pages. The characters are outstanding and the romance between Electra and Ramsey is perfect. My only complaint is omg what a cliff-hanger ending…it’s going to be tough to wait for the next entry!

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies (The Vacation Mysteries #1) by Catherine Mack — This is a solid mystery and also light and fun and funny and so clever.

Bestselling mystery author Eleanor Dash is on a special book tour in Italy with other authors and fans. She’s excited to be in Italy, but all she really wants to do is figure out how to kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in her next Vacation Mysteries series book. But then an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life―the con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can’t get out of her life, and Eleanor finds herself trying to sort through a long list of suspects.

Eleanor is a hilarious main character and often breaks the fourth wall to talk directly to the reader which I absolutely loved. This book has that zany Clue like feeling and also made me think of the wonderful Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz with the creative use of footnotes.

Girl Walks into a Bar . . .: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle by Rachel Dratch — I found this one to be terrific. It’s a little bit of everything–life before, during and after SNL. It’s honest and funny and full of lots of heart. Her story of the surprise of motherhood at age 44 was so much fun to listen to. Really well done.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi #1) by Shannon Chakraborty — 17ish hours of absolute delight. I could not stop listening. It is the perfect combination of adventure (pirates! treasure!), mystery (a missing granddaughter), fantasy (magic) and found family. I had picked it up in print and struggled for a min to get into it. Decided to give it a try on audio and I was off and sailing. I just loved this so much. Can’t wait to read more.

James by Percival Everett — Wow. Just wow. This retelling/reimagining of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was brilliant. I finished listening to this several days ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it. It’s the kind of book that will stay with me for a long time. It takes everything I’ve thought about the story of Huckleberry Finn and turns it around, allowing me to see it in a new way. This would make an excellent book club discussion.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr — This is a book I wanted to hug when I finished. This is the charming story of 26 year old Clayton Stumper who was abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers. This eccentric group raised him and Clayton was content to be with the group as long as possible (publisher description of Clayton: “he dresses like your grandpa and drinks sherry like your aunt”–how can you not love him?!) Time, though, marches on, and Clayton finds himself adrift as Pippa Allsbrook, the matriarch of the puzzlemakers has passed away. The story alternates in point of view and time period, hearing from Clayton in present day and Pippa in the past as she started the fellowship. This is a warm feelings kind of book – a bittersweet story of a young man coming into his own and a reflection of how life changes over time. I just loved it so much. Outstanding characters.

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center — I loved this book with my WHOLE heart, and it was absolutely delightful as an audiobook. I kept looking around my kitchen, looking for things I needed to clean so I could keep listening. This publishes Tuesday (6/11) and just go ahead and order it–your summer reading TBR will thank you!

Emma Wheeler has been the caretaker for her loving dad for years and she’s good at it. She has color coded sticker charts to manage all aspects of his health and care (I knew I loved her when I read that). She has put her dreams of screenwriting off so she could support both her dad and younger sister. And now she gets the chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates–her absolute favorite writer ever. Her family comes together to support her and gives her the push she needs to head out of LA to tackle this opportunity. When she arrives let’s just say it’s not exactly as she thought…

What follows is such a wonderful story – an amazing combination of humor and romance, without being afraid to tackle themes of grief and healing, family bonds and expectations. I smiled and sighed and held my hand to my chest as I listened, loving the characters through their hurts and joys. The feelings were all so real and I loved it. I felt like I was reading a movie. And the audiobook features a bonus scene and an author’s note that were chef’s kiss.