The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters

Last night, I finished listening to The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters, narrated by Josephine Bailey. It's always a gamble to choose an audiobook by an author I'm unfamiliar with, but I wasn't disappointed this time.

The Devil's Feather is a psychological suspense story about a journalist's confrontation with a sadistic serial killer who had held her captive for three days. After her torturous experience and inexplicable release, she retreats to a country house in England to nurse her wounds and hide from the world. The house holds its own secrets, which she discovers in due course. The level of tension is high throughout the novel, because the omnipresent threat of the psychopath's return. The denouement is neatly crafted and satisfying.

The aubiobook narration was quite well done. Josephine Bailey was able to project the main character's anxieties, terror, and anger into her voice. She was also able to distinguish between the narration of documents (emails, news articles, etc) and the main narrative by her tone and pitch - something which seems elementary in audiobook narration, but which I have found wanting in several audiobooks. They have left me wondering if particular passages were intended to be excerpts of documents or part of the narrative flow, and since I don't have the book in print to consult, it is quite frustrating.

Apparently Minette Walters is a fairly popular British suspense author with twelve titles under her belt. I wish audible.com had more of her books available. I'm in the mood for more suspense - it makes an excellent accompaniment as I wash my dishes and scrub the toilet.