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Audiobooks Narrated by Jessica Douglas-Henry
Browse audiobooks narrated by Jessica Douglas-Henry, listen to samples and when you're ready head over to Audiobooks.com where you can get 3 FREE audiobooks on us
"A wickedly dark police procedural with a hint of the supernatural, this crime novel is Dinuka McKenzie meets The Bluffs.
When Detective Sergeant Anastasia Brown is sent to investigate a grizzly murder in a small NSW town, she welcomes the chance to run from heartbreak and humiliation. But she quickly discovers that this is no ordinary murder. A popular doctor's body has been found on the mountain, chained and burned, with arcane symbols carved into the soles of his feet - and the boy who found him swears he saw a ghost lingering in the trees.
Is this a clever killer with a flair for the macabre? Or the work of an elusive Wiccan coven that worships on the mountain? Or, even stranger, are the local murmurs of the mountain being haunted more than just folklore??
As the investigation grows ever murkier, Ana realises that everyone in town has a secret… and some are deadly.
‘A cracking procedural with a visceral sense of place and creeping touch of the supernatural. Jackson has created a relentless heroine in Detective Sergeant Anastasia Brown.’ DINUKA MCKENZIE
‘Devil Mountain is a twisty and enthralling murder mystery in a creepy, potent setting. Inessa Jackson gives us an intriguing investigation through the eyes of a detective we can’t help but love. Atmospheric and thrilling – what a spectacular debut!’ MARK MUPOTSA-RUSSELL
‘A whip-crack of a mystery that will keep you up at night.’ VERONICA LANDO
‘Symbols, witches, and a ghostly woman stalking the hills — Jackson’s spooky thriller hits all the notes of a classic police procedural, but rises to a higher level with a goosebump-inducing supernatural subplot. Breathless pacing keeps the reader hanging on by their fingertips as we follow the dogged Det. Ana Brown down the rabbit hole to the hazy in-between of reality and folklore. Fans of Tana French or True Detective will love!’ LAURA MCCLUSKEY"
"The true story of Australia's first political assassination.
Could the conviction of Vietnamese refugee Phuong Ngo for the 1994 assassination of Cabramatta MP John Newman be one of Australia's greatest miscarriages of justice?
Cabramatta was embroiled in a heroin epidemic, gang wars and demands to deport Vietnamese gangsters when local MP John Newman was gunned down in the driveway of his home.
Newman's murder was billed as Australia's first political assassination and the killer was identified within hours as the politically ambitious Vietnamese refugee and Deputy Mayor, Phuong Ngo.
Ngo was accused of killing Newman to take his seat in parliament and sentenced to die in gaol. But there have always been questions about his conviction.
Why did it take seven years and three trials to find Phuong Ngo guilty? Why was so much evidence and the names of so many witnesses kept secret? How could Ngo be the murder mastermind when both of the men accused of shooting Newman were acquitted? Why is the killer still at large? And why do some of the day's most senior politicians say they never believed Phuong Ngo was guilty?
For the first time, Phuong Ngo tells his story and unpicks one of the country's longest and most secretive investigations in The Man Who Couldn't Wait.
'Superbly told - a story that gnaws at the conscience of the country.' DAVID MARR
'I think that every now and again our wonderful system cocks up, and this was one of those times.' FORMER ALP SENATOR GRAHAM RICHARDSON"
"A quest for the truth becomes a race for survival in this pacy new crime novel from award-winning author Alan Carter.
When Roz Chen's wife, Niamh, is killed in a hit-and-run on a lonely Tasmanian road, the grieving widow begins to wonder if Niamh's death was an accident after all. Meanwhile, SAS veteran Sam Willard is hoping for a fresh start with a job at a salmon farm. But as allegations of old war crimes surface and Sam is 'promoted' as a special operative against anti-salmon farm activists, he and Roz form an unlikely alliance.
Forced to retreat into the unforgiving Tasmanian wilderness, Roz and Sam find themselves scrambling for the truth with murderous thugs on their trail.
‘Carter is a master of his craft’ Herald Sun
‘An extremely intelligent thriller’ The AU Review
‘An absolute stand-out’ Australian Crime Fiction
‘Accomplished and entertaining’ Sydney Morning Herald"
"Over 500,000 years ago, a single gene mutated. It spread over time, becoming critical in the journey transforming our earliest ancestors into fully modern humans, capable of navigating the entire planet and beyond. Then just a few thousand years ago, humans gradually outsourced knowledge to writing, and we displaced art and music from the heart of learning.
This is the extraordinary story of the discovery of a supergene that makes us uniquely human. Dr Lynne Kelly recounts how a widespread congenital disorder was the critical clue she and her collaborators needed to identify the gene that has long eluded researchers into human cognition.
The knowledge gene supercharged our ability to learn and share knowledge with others, explaining the prodigious memories of Indigenous people the world over. The discovery of the knowledge gene unlocks many other puzzles too. It explains for the first time why humans are the only species to make art, offers new insights into the earliest music and storytelling, and into the cognitive strengths of neurodivergent people.
The Knowledge Gene shows that we can all access the full power of our memories, without giving up any of the advantages of writing and technology. The implications for learning and creativity at any age are profound."
"Everyone is guilty of something.
Handywoman Barb Young has lived in the sleepy coastal town of Bullford Point for over fifty years - and frankly, in that time, not much has happened, unless you count that business where a bush turkey managed to board the ferry a couple of years ago.
When Joe Griffiths returns from Sydney after six years of drug addiction, jail and, eventually, rehab, Barb offers him a job, hoping to help him turn his life around. However, when another new resident of Bullford Point is murdered, Joe becomes the prime suspect.
Barb thinks the police have got it wrong, but the more she tries to find the truth and clear Joe's name, the more confusing things become. Is the murder connected to the developers circling the waterfront home Joe inherited from his parents? Or to the true crime podcast he has been making about the death of his ex-girlfriend, seven years previously? And what was the information the murdered woman had been trying to horse-trade with police?
As her off-the-books investigation continues, Barb discovers that drowsy Bullford Point is actually a town full of secrets - and that even though she's known everyone in the close-knit community for years ... everybody lies.
PRAISE FOR LIARS:
'I loved it. Intriguing, genuinely mysterious and authentic. Such a well-told story, so surprising and rewarding. I honestly couldn't put it down. If you only read one book this year, make it this.' WIL ANDERSON"
"There is more than one way to save a life …
In 1940, as the Nazis sweep toward Lithuania, Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara defies his own government and secretly issues thousands of visas to Jewish refugees desperate to flee. After the war, Sugihara is dismissed and disappears into obscurity. Three decades later, in Australia, Rachael Margolin, her father and her grandmother live disconnected from one another and haunted by unspoken tragedies.
When Rachel announces her engagement to a Greek Orthodox man, it detonates a long-held secret. The Margolins are Jewish, and her family has concealed their identity from her and the world. But why? As Rachel struggles to understand this deception, an opportunity arrives to visit Chiune Sugihara, the man who risked his life to save them during World War II. Rachel becomes determined to meet him, but will a journey to Japan, and the secrets it uncovers, heal the Margolins or fracture them for good?
An extraordinary novel inspired by the true story of Chiune Sugihara, and the thousands of people – including the author – who owe him their lives."
"In 1960, when the legendary icebreaker Magga Dan set sail for Antarctica, it contained a secret. Hiding on board was Nel Law, wife of expedition leader Phillip Law. She would make history by becoming the first Australian woman to set foot on the icy continent, but it was her art that would change everything.
Though a talented artist, Nel has always been defined by her role as ‘the explorer’s wife’, but in the clear expanse of the Southern Ocean, her true self is finally allowed to emerge. Despite misogyny from the all-male crew and increasing resentment from her mercurial husband, Nel’s art begins to flourish. Her new friend, a gentle ornithologist, encourages her to explore, but as the ship ploughs on towards Antarctica, rumours swirl, threatening her marriage and the tenuous peace between the controlling Phillip and his crew. In the clear, white light of the south, Nel will be forced to confront the truth of herself and the man to whom she has dedicated her life.
This stunning reimagining of Nel Law’s life reveals a ground-breaking artist searching for freedom in a world where women’s lives were still defined by their husbands."
"Koalas regularly appeared in Australian biologist Danielle Clode's backyard, but it was only when a bushfire threatened that she truly paid them attention.
In vivid, descriptive prose, Clode embarks on a delightful and surprising journey through evolutionary biology, natural history, and ecology to understand where these enigmatic animals came from and what their future may hold. She begins her search with the fossils of ancient giant koalas, delving into why the modern koala has become the lone survivor of a once-diverse family of uniquely Australian marsupials.
Koala investigates the remarkable physiology of these charismatic creatures. Clode explores the complex relationship and unexpected connections between this endearing species and humans. She explains how koalas are simultaneously threatened with extinction in some areas due to disease, climate change, and increasing wildfires, while overpopulating forests in other parts of the country.
Deeply researched and filled with wonder, Koala is both a tender and inquisitive paean to a species unlike any other and a call to ensure its survival."
"‘They should do something,’ I groaned. Then a frightening prospect — they might be me! What the hell could I do?
In July 2016, inner-city resident Judy Ryan found a young man — one of ‘her regulars’ — slumped and quiet at her gate. He had overdosed from heroin. Fortunately, that man lived. But Judy had reached breaking point. After four years in a ‘war zone’, where children might encounter a body on the streets, enough was enough.
Knowing little about what she was getting into, but fired with resolve, Judy launched a grassroots campaign against apathy and prejudice. While the residents fought for their neighbourhood and for the right of those suffering from addiction to be treated with the needed care and respect, they would see three coroners’ reports, two elections, a private member’s bill, the police finally acknowledging that arresting their way out of the problem didn’t work, and more unnecessary deaths before the trial of a safe injecting facility was agreed to.
A story of drugs, addiction, and a health crisis that touches people from all walks of life, You Talk, We Die is also a highly personal yet practical account of how an authentic local voice and an inclusive campaign can change the minds of business and political leaders to improve the lives of everyone in a community.
‘Anyone who cares about humanity should read this inspiring story.’ JOHANN HARI"
"Three scary monsters – racism, misogyny and ageism – roam through this mesmerising audiobook. The dual nature of Scary Monsters is reflected in the fact that this audiobook can be listened to in two different ways – either Lyle or Lili can be heard first, the choice is yours.
Lyle works for a sinister government department in near-future Australia. An Asian migrant, he fears repatriation and embraces ‘Australian values’. Islam has been banned in the country, the air is smoky from a Permanent Fire Zone, and one pandemic has already run its course. Lili’s family migrated to Australia from Asia when she was a teenager. Now, in the 1980s, she’s teaching in the south of France. She makes friends, observes the treatment handed out to North African immigrants and is creeped out by her downstairs neighbour. All the while, Lili is striving to be A Bold, Intelligent Woman like Simone de Beauvoir.
Michelle de Kretser's electrifying take on scary monsters turns the novel upside down - just as migration has upended her characters' lives.
“Written with incandescent moral energy, boundless compassion, and astonishing precision and beauty, Michelle de Kretser's SCARY MONSTERS extends the very possibilities of the novel form. On the contemporary international scene, there are very, very few writers who can match her style, her intelligence, her vision. To read her is to be changed.” NEEL MUKHERJEE"
"Ren lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading - and forgetting. But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a legendary creature, Ren is inexorably drawn into an impossible mission. As their lives entwine, unravel and erupt - as myth merges with reality - both Ren and the soldier are forced to confront what they regret, what they love, and what they fear.
A vibrant homage to the natural world, bursting with beautiful landscapes and memorable characters, The Rain Heron is a beautifully told eco-fable about our fragile and dysfunctional relationships with the planet and with each other, the havoc we wreak and the price we pay."
"Scottish-born Robert Wales sailed into Sydney Harbour during WWII, but in 1953 he was choking in the city and doctors prescribed fresh country air. With no experience and only knowledge he'd picked up from a few books, he uproots his family and sets out to establish a sheep farm in the bush. When they arrive on a lonely hill in northern New South Wales, they have no electricity, no running water, no telephone and no choice but to make this their home. From Angela Wales, eldest of the five kids, comes this extraordinarily vivid and evocative account of the next ten years as they try to tame six thousand acres of bush and navigate the challenges of country life.
Filled with drama and hilarity, joy and back-breaking toil, Barefoot in the Bindis portrays a childhood spent in the outback, and is a sensational picture of Australia's past."
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