Murder Outside the Back Door

The true story of the murder of a popular Salem, NH school teacher by her husband. The murder was labeled as a Charles Stuart copycat .

By: John Tommasi

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Greed, arrogance and lust led Robert Anderson to kill his wife of nearly twenty years. He was a pillar of the community. He owned four Service Master franchises, he was a Kiwanis member and former President, and a former teacher and Athletic Director at Salem High School. The combination of his love for money and infatuation with a younger girl led him to the brutal beating of his wife and subsequent attempt to frame an employee and former student. The death of his wife in Lawrence Mass, was considered an extreme act of rage and was initially attributed to the violence that was pervasive in the city at the time. The homicide was subsequently compared to the murder of Carol Stuart by her husband Charles Stuart, five years earlier in Boston. That Stuart murder was also initially attributed to the violence of the city.
Follow investigators from three agencies as they follow the evidence and track their quarry. In the end, justice reigned.

Poorly written

It was hard to listen to. I couldn’t get through the whole book. A lot of repetition.

Terrible narration.

The story was very interesting and moved smoothly. It kept me engaged despite the AI narration. Please have a real person read these stories, Audible!

Interesting story lessened by virtual voice

I was given this through my membership and enjoyed the story. The author gives a good account and I especially liked the epilogue where you find out what happened to the players after the trial. The author’s notes on police procedures is also interesting. The virtual voice with the mispronounced words, the NH for New Hampshire and the lack of emotion detract from the book. But hey - it was free and and an easy way to spend a few hours.

Probably a better read than listen

Very intriguing story, but as my title says, I think I would’ve enjoyed it as an actual book, verse an AI voice reading it to me. I love true crime, and can’t believe how often his behaviors/ charges were dismissed.

Interesting As Free Book worth a recreational listen

First virtual voice book I’ve listened to. You can tell for example reading “Nine Eleven” as “Nine One One”. Even so it was listenable though it lacked the extra emotion, emphasis etc. a good live reader would have provided. While interesting, the investigation lacked anything unusual, difficult or surprising. It was simply a logical investigation which one hopes the police would always do. There was nothing at the trial that raised any question of guilt and thus there was a quick guilty verdict.

Excellent story. Well told.

Strangely, I grew quite used to the virtual narrator and thought Audible did a pretty good job on that AI!

Sorry Husband

What a story about a sorry husband. He obviously had no conscience. No telling what all she put up with in their marriage. Well written. The AI voice is a little distracting, although much better than a female version on a different book. I had to stop that book after about 7-8 minutes.

The long pauses

I disliked the author reference to Oj Simpson's jury makeup. He didn't detail Mr. Anderson's jury. For that reason I will likely not race to get a book by this author again.

AI voice doesn't replace real human, disservice to book

While AI voice undoubtedly more cost effective, the pronunciation of "yeah" as "ya-A" instead of "yah" and inappropriate or lack thereof conversational voice inflection *almost* precluded finishing the book.

This robot narration is terrible

The narration made me not want to continue to listen and detracted from the story writing and the audio book overall.

Whose idea was this?
I will not listen to another one like this
Awful