Negative Girl

By: Libby Cudmore

Narrated by: Libby Cudmore, Jay Karnes

For fans of Cottonmouths by Kelly J. Ford comes Negative Girl: an evocative, moody, neo-noir thriller that explores obsession and people dying across America's forgotten spaces.

Martin Wade lived hard in his youth, but unlike many of his former bandmates and roadie friends, he didn’t die young. Instead he hit the recovery path, cleaned up his life, and became a private investigator in a dying city in upstate New York.

When his heavily tattooed and scarred assistant Valerie sets up an appointment with a young woman who needs help keeping her biological father away from her, none of the three realize that the father is Martin’s old bandmate, still using, and on a destructive path that will soon be headed straight for Martin’s clean life. As Martin struggles, Valerie becomes increasingly obsessed with their new client’s life.

©2024 Libby Cudmore (P)2024 Datura Books

Outstanding murder mystery

This book is a treat. Its characters are well drawn. Music is interwoven into the storyline in a way that enriches it. The author keeps us guessing. Addiction is introduced in a way that feels realistic and tragic. Recommended!

Best narration by the author I’ve ever heard.

Best first book I’ve listened to out of the 1000+ books I’ve bought on Audible.

Great Narration of Great Writing

My title tells all. Highly recommend this novel and will be looking for more from this author.

addiction

I thought a little bit off beat but enjoyable. Too many obscure musical references . Great narration.

The weak male character

Martin (male lead) and his band mates are selfish druggies absorbed with themselves and the past. They harm the people around them, often with no time to repair their damage. It gets old and irritating. There’s an element missing that would make this a 5 star listen. Perhaps it’s the monotone plane of the story. The few positive events are simply equal to the negative. The heart is missing.

A Standout Mystery

First Libby Cudmore book I’ve read/listened to & absolutely loved it. A great mystery superbly plotted with plenty of twists, but the characters are stellar. I approached it with apprehension because of the problems with addicts, but every aspect felt authentic, heartbreaking at times & uplifting at others. These aren’t characters but people I’d be proud to know.

Nice world. Want more

I really like this book. I think it was a really good start. I would love them to develop the mystery just a little bit more and have more adventures for these two. One thing that is a personal thing, but not a dealbreaker in this book is the narration. You can almost always tell when an author narrates their own book. There is a sense of timing that is off. Like they’re reading something rather than inviting in the characters. I think Libby did an incredible job but still a little offputting with the narration. I wish they had more professional actors next time. Definitely worth listening to. And I enjoyed it very much.

The female narrator was not good

It’s just not that great. I really just can’t get past the narration and there’s lots of confusion on sexuality and gender.

Good male narration

Unfortunately, the female reader has a “Valley Girl” gravelly voice that detracted from the story. When I realized it was the author I felt bad. She should have forgone that role and hired. The story was ok. Sorry to be a downer.

Gritty detective novel for fans of The Shield

"One of my favorite detective novels of the last few years." - S. A. Cosby

I was already eager to read this one as a fan of Libby Cudmore's podcast work. But when freakin' SA COSBY gave it a shout-out, it moved to the top of my list.

Libby Cudmore's second novel is a love letter to the noir detective genre. She already has her gritty private eye voice fully formed and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Also, I know she's a huge fan of TV show The Shield, and there are so many fun Easter eggs throughout this book! Martin's former bandmates are named Vic, Ron, and Kurt, and she even sneaks in a "You gotta be sh*tting me" for good measure.

She was even able to get the absolutely phenomenal voice of actor Jay Karnes to narrate the audiobook with her.

This story is filled with gritty dialogue, flawed but sympathetic characters, a genuinely intriguing whodunit mystery, and enough music references to fill a grungy dive bar. If you're looking for a great pulpy detective story with fantastic audiobook narration, look no further.