The Fourth Friend

A Jackman and Evans Thriller

By: Joy Ellis

Narrated by: Richard Armitage

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Crimebusting duo DI Jackman and DS Evans are back, solving another crime that will make your skin crawl.

Police detective Carter McLean is the only survivor of a plane crash that kills his four best friends. He returns to work, but he is left full of guilt and terrible flashbacks. So for each of his four friends, he decides to complete something that they left unfinished.

Eighteen months before the crash, Suzanne Holland disappeared, leaving a room with traces of blood but no other leads. Suzanne was the wife of one of Carter’s four best friends. Adding to the pressure, the boss’ niece has a stalker. Due to the sensitivity of the Holland case, Carter is put on this investigation.

DS Marie Evans is the only person Carter can confide in. But even she begins to doubt whether he can really cope and whether he is actually losing his mind. DI Jackman and DS Evans of the Fenland police face a battle to untangle three mysteries, and can they really believe their friend and colleague Carter?

©2017 Joy Ellis (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

There’s a reason Richard Armitage says “performed by” and not “read by”!

Listening to Richard Armitage narrate these Joy Ellis books is like having him do a one-man show in your living room. You get so engrossed in his performance - the male and female voices, the various dialects - that you forget it’s him. And as a huge fan of his, that’s not easy to do!

I’ve been an Audible listener for a few years now and he is, hands down, my favorite! I will buy anything he does. Heck, I would pay to listen to him read the phone book!

And, of course, it’s a great story. Ellis’ characters are believable and likable and interesting. Love the series!

Fantastic, Flawless

I gave this audiobook top ratings, first because the story was so well laid out with details that brought the characters and situations to life. For example, I remember one scene where I felt like a fly on the wall listening in on the officers’ meeting and then hearing their chairs scraping on the floor when the meeting was finished.

Second and equally awesome was the narrator’s performance. He didn’t try to fake the female voices, and the different characters’ speech and conversations were unbelievably natural and authentic.

In fact, his performance was so enjoyable, I looked him up to learn about his work and found he was primarily an actor. Then I understood how it was that his narration made me feel I was watching a movie. And now he’s on my “must see” list.

It’s the special writers, poets, composers and actors that speak to us and for us. That’s been my feeling after listening to Joy Ellis’ great stories and Richard Armitage’s brilliant performance.

I thank them both.

Do not listen in the order Audible tells you to!!

Love this whole series! She does an excellent job portraying men and women working closely together - bonding - without the silly romance a lot of writers feel they need to include. Get this book and the others in the series!

My review is to tell you to read/listen to them in the order the author wrote them and NOT the order Audible tells you to.

DI Jackman and DS Marie Evans Series
Book 1: The Murderer's Son
Book 2: Their Lost Daughters
Book 3: The Fourth Friend
Book 4: The Guilty Ones
Book 5: The Stolen Boys (not yet on Audible)

Reading the entire series

Excellent stories and the narrative is fantastic. Once I start difficult to stop. The endings are surprising

Excellent!

Am on to the next book in this series. It's my kind of thriller/mystery! Very well written in all aspects, and excellent narration.

Intriguing and heartbreaking

I very much enjoyed this book. I have loved listening to the series. I have preordered the next book as well. the story was interesting, it kept me wanting to keep listening long after my bedtime. I love listening to #RichardArmitage . He is wonderful with his voice work. I can't wait for the next one! 💗💗😋😋

Outstanding!!

I've listened to it 4 times now. If this was in physical form, it'd be a real page turner. 😇

Highly Recommended

A bit different from the previous titles in the series, so open your miiiind... The plot was not what I expected. Once I stopped trying to make the story fit my expectations, I was immersed in Joy Ellis' wonderful writing. The characters are very human so it was easy to connect with them. Richard Armitage paints the story with expert narration in a sinfully talented voice. Overall, a five star listen.

Not my favorite Joy Ellis

There was a last minute plot twist that essentially erased my main complaint about the story. I don’t want to give it away. So I can only say vaguely that I was uncomfortable with some of the elements of the story.

Highly recommended!

The characters are likeable and the story is good. The reader really make the characters come alive. I'd definitely recommend any of the Jackman and Evans series.