by Sandra Brown, R.L. Stine, Jeffery Deaver and Andrew Gulli
Length: Approximately 9 hours
Genre: Mystery
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0
DescriptionReview: Just look at the gallery of authors on this - whew!
Alexander McCall Smith. Sandra Brown. Faye Kellerman. J.A. Jance. Jeffery Deaver. Kathy Reichs. Lisa Scottoline. Jeff Lindsay. These are only a handful of the names that make up the all-star lineup of authors behind No Rest for the Dead, a tale of vengeance, greed, and love that flows seamlessly, in the words of David Baldacci, "as it passes from one creator's mind to the next."
When Christopher Thomas, a ruthless curator at San Francisco's McFall Art Museum, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in a Berlin museum, his wife, Rosemary, is the primary suspect, and she is tried, convicted, and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, is convinced that the wrong person was put to death. In the years since the case was closed, he's discovered a web of deceit and betrayal surrounding the Thomases that could implicate any number of people in the crime. Solving this case may be Nunn's last chance for redemption…but the shadowy forces behind Christopher's death will stop at nothing to silence the past forever.
In this innovative storytelling approach, each of these twenty-six bestselling writers brings their distinctive voice to a chapter of the narrative, building the tension to a shocking, explosive finale. No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling accomplishment that only America's very best authors could achieve.
This story is told part in first person through Jon Nunn’s diary and a couple of other characters and part in third person. Some readers may find that distracting but I enjoy the changes, even more so since there were different narrators for this audiobook.
The primary character, Jon Nunn, took a nose dive into the bottle ten years ago when he determined that his detective work helped send an innocent woman to execution. All the evidence pointed to her but it was almost too pat and by the time Rosemary was headed into the death chamber he was convinced that she had been framed. Jon lost his job as a police detective and his beautiful wife, Sarah, as a result of his depression and obsession with the case.
Ten years later there are a gallery of suspects he wants to interrogate. Jon recruits the head of the museum where Rosemary and Chris Thomas worked to host a memorial for the 10th anniversary of Rosemary’s execution inviting all of the related family, friends, enemies and suspects. Although there are various reactions to the invitation, everyone is drawn for different reasons.
The story reveals early the ugly character of Chris Thomas, the victim, as a blatant womanizer and an unscrupulous thief selling stolen art. At least two of his lovers might have had motive to kill him. The partners in crime or money lenders may have had motive. Chris had already been attacked by an ex-con husband of an artist whose work was rejected after she rejected Chris’ advances. And don’t forget Rosemary’s drunken brother who had no love for Chris but needed money. Nunn has a host of nefarious characters to sort through to try to find the true killer and put his own guilt to rest.
There is someone who is very unhappy that Nunn and an old journalist friend of Rosemary’s are raising questions. Stirring the pot has apparently stir up a whole ugly hornet nest of surprises with threats and attacks.
Although a lot of the story is slower it was still interesting as the suspects were being lined up and hints of motives were developed. The tension and excitement picked up after the memorial and with the chase at the end. I enjoyed the mystery as a whole although I thought there were some unrealistic scenes in the ending.
I found it great fun to note which authors wrote each chapter and to see if I could match their styles to previous books I may have read/listened to. I enjoyed the six different narrators and the varied points of view. The narrators fittingly portrayed character emotions - depression, arrogant disdain, greed - as well as the character personae such as clingy girlfriend, arrogant assistant and low-life security guard. If you are a mystery fan I am sure you would enjoy this audio.
I received this Audio Book from Simon & Schuster Audio. as a part of the Solid Gold Reviewer program at Audiobook Jukebox.
