Where the Bodies are Buried

By: Christopher Brookmyre

Narrated by: Hilary MacLean

When small-time heroin dealer Jai McDiarmid turns up dead one fine Glasgow morning, no one is that surprised - he'd been sleeping with a drug trafficker's girlfriend and had made himself a lot of enemies - so many, in fact, that Detective Superintendent Catherine McLeod doesn't know where to start when she is assigned to the case.

Meanwhile, out-of-work actress Jasmine Sharp is doing her best to be a private investigator, but her PI mentor Uncle Jim, who was meant to be showing her the ropes, has just disappeared in mysterious circumstances. She begins looking at the open cases that Jim was investigating - which sends her into trouble, fast. And when she soon finds out that Jim's disappearance has something to do with Jai's death, she teams up with Catherine - and together they stumble upon an old open case which throws everything into question. In Glasgow, nothing is quite what it seems.

©2011 Christopher Brookmyre. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

So-so story

The accent is pretty thick on this narrator, so be ready for that. I found the story interesting, tho not sprinkled with much humor. Good characters, but nothing remarkable.

Where the bodies are, indeed!

Mr. Brookmyre's story kept me riveted at every twist. And Ms. McLean's narration was spot on. I really enjoyed both.

A great ne series

I listened to the three available in as many days.

Publishers summary was accurate without giving anything away. I enjoyed the style of writing and the way he leads you to think the obvious may be true, but never lets you believe. The characters are so well written, flawed a litle cliché but then a cliché is what it is for a reason. Some violence mostly though its just alluded to or very much toned down. Very little in the way of graphic detail, but some.

My favorite element is that even though Jasmine starts out a little bit of the wee damsel in distress, , you can see she has more grit. This is very much in evidence in the second and third books. Knowing your limitations doesn't always mean you're weak.

A nice quality read, FINALLY.

Great Mystery; pleasant listen

Would you consider the audio edition of Where the Bodies are Buried to be better than the print version?

Never read the print edition.

What did you like best about this story?

MacLean was the best thing about this story. Her accent make you feel like you are on the scene. She is perfect for this book; perfect for a great many books.

Have you listened to any of Hilary MacLean’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time listener but it won't be the last. I would like to see her read many, many more books.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It turned out that way; not a feeling I had going in. But, MacLean makes you want to keep going.

Any additional comments?

Story starts slow. I was 4 hours in before I became caught up in the action. Stick with it and you will enjoy the listen.

Wanted to like it but

Has Where the Bodies are Buried turned you off from other books in this genre?

Love the Scots mysteries, but this is no Rankin or McIlvanney. Tedious, repetitive, and just a transparent plot.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I liked that Scots timbre.

Any additional comments?

Just a disappointment. Reload with a more complex, intellectually challenging one.

Couldn't drum up any interest

When drug-dealing killer thugs start murdering each other, I consider it a favor to society and wouldn't waste a millisecond of police time or resources tracking down the villains. So I just couldn't get into this book. Who cares? I ordered it because I liked the narrator's voice, it wasn't about a Super Smart serial killer, and the blurb made me think that we were going to be moving away from the boring hoodlum et al plot line, but we haven't yet, and alas, I'm over it. I'm never going to know the ending, and I'm not the slightest bit curious.