A site reader (Linda) wrote the other day with a question that I have actually gotten from other Cozy Mystery site readers. Since it involves audible.com and audio books, I decided to see what I could come up with for her, and thought that I would ask you all if you have any suggestions for Linda.
“I have a question for you and possibly an area to add to your site – cozy mysteries on audiobooks. There just aren’t very many of them that are recorded. My mother is legally blind and a lover of cozy mysteries. I subscribed her to Audible.com and use your site to look up possible cozy mysteries that she would like. It’s getting harder and harder to find any though – I look them up one by one, dozens and dozens and dozens before I find ONE that is available on audiobook.
I’m sure there are others who follow your website that have vision problems – any suggestion on where I might be able to find a better selection of cozy mystery audiobooks?”
Linda, my husband and I are members of audible.com, and have enjoyed listening to many different authors: Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ellis Peters, Ruth Rendell, Alexander McCall Smith, and I just discovered that they have Simon Brett and Sister Carol Anne O’Marie in their library. The good news is that they have just started adding Carola Dunn, Monica Ferris, and Dorothy Gilman.
My daughter came to my aid and sent me the following:
“Here’s that info on books for the blind:
http://www.loc.gov/nls/
To qualify, she has to show that she’s got vision that makes it so she can’t read.”
I went to the site, and under the “Search the Catalog” area they actually use Mary Higgins Clark for the example of an author. It looks like you’ll have to spend some time going through the site, but it does look promising.
It’s not enough that they make audio books of Cozy Mysteries, locating them is the difficult part of the equation. Do any of you have ideas for locating audio books of Cozy Mystery authors? Please post a comment…
Lisa says
I love audiobooks too and was deeply disappointed when my local library stopped offering NetLibrary. If you belong to your local library, you might see if they offer online services such as NetLibrary or Overdrive where you can borrow audiobooks for free.
As far as cozies on Audible…Joanne Fluke, M C Beaton, Lillian Jackson Braun (Audible seems to only have one of her’s but there are many available elsewhere), Rita Mae Brown. I’ve listened to books from all of these authors. They were well read and all delightful cozies.
Maria (BearMountainBooks) says
Danna,
I think you’ve posted the best resource there is! I know some people like the Text to Speech aspect of Kindle, but it is far from the “acting” that is done on most audio books. It might work well enough and it might not–depends on the tolerance of the person. Most people who use it seem to be able to put Kindle on the largest font and follow along to some degree. There is one lady in my reading group who actually uses the Text to Speech in the car on books and says it works fine.
Have you looked for any Donald Westlake books in audio? I listened to and LOVED, “Put a Lid on It.” I think your mom might enjoy it. It’s cozy enough to qualify, although it’s not your standard fare!
Good luck,
Maria
Pat says
Audible.com also now has all of Lorna Barrett’s books,Shirley Tallman’s, Deanna Raybourn’s and some of Diana Mott Davidson. I too find it frustrating looking for “cozy” type books on audible and find many by accident. I sent them a suggestion that they should make that one of their “categories” but did not hear anything from them. Maybe if there was a conserted effort from cozy fans, they might listen. 🙂
Vickie B says
I subscribe to RecordedBooks.com and have found many many cozy authors on there. I have always loved audiobooks for my long distance travel and now use them for my 50 miles roundtrip commute for work. They keep me mellow.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Vickie,
Is RecordedBooks.com a rental or purchase company? I know it used to be rental, but I don’t know about now…
Vickie B says
RecordedBooks.com is a rental place as well as supplying libraries with great audiobooks. The rental part is a lot like NetFlix, a fee a month and I have up to eight audiobooks at any given time.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you so much for the information, Vickie. I hope that Linda sees your comments about RecordedBooks.com!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Lisa AND Pat, for mentioning “new” authors on audible.com >>> I used to periodically search to see if they carried my favorite authors, but (clearly!) I haven’t done that in a while…
Years ago I wrote to them about their shortage of … (dare I say this without sounding terribly sexist?!?) … female authors. I found that they were very quick in getting the rights for male mystery authors and not too interested in keeping up with the females. I’m glad to see that is changing!
And, thanks for the recommendation, Maria!
Theresa says
Thank you all for info on audio books as I have been looking for them I like to listen to cozies while I crochet. Theresa
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Theresa, I sure hope that link helps you locate some audio books…
Martha says
I am blind. The national Library Service has an audio download program where subscribers can get digital cartridges or download the books on to certain machines. They have two of the Southern Sisters mysteries and all of the Joanne Fluke ones. There is also http://www.rfbd.org; it has textbooks, but there are other fictional books too. http://www.bookshare.org is another service for blind readers; these books are braille files that can be translated to text and read with speech software; they also have daisy books. Most of the Joanna Carl, as well as the rest of the Southern Sisters mysteries are on bookshare.
Also, thank you for not having a captcha, the enter the characters you see in the box thing!!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you so much, Martha, for sharing this information with us. These sites look terrific!
Betty Ann says
I was delighted to find this site addressing this issue. Although I have vision issues and limitations, I am not yet legally blind so cannot use the resources for the blind. Meanwhile, I’ve spent hours trying to track down cozy mysteries one at a time on Audible and RecordedBooks.com. I did want to say, however, that while RecordedBooks.com does rent audiobooks and does sell to libraries, they do also sell to individuals. I have bought at least twenty auidobooks from them for personal use. Still have to know what you’re looking for, but a good resource.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Betty Ann, I have spent hours and hours on the Audible site trying to see what they have. I remember when the site wasn’t as good as it is now… Amazon taking it over has helped it alot…
Roni says
I stumbled on this page when also looking for a way to locate cozies on Audible, also for my mum who is legally blind. Thank you to all for the info in the replies, they will be very helpful.
Unfortunately as we are in Australia, even some of the books that Audible does have for sale they are not allowed to sell to me as the publishers have not given them the rights for this region. UNBELIEVABLY frustrating to know that a book has been recorded but we aren’t allowed to buy it from the only source that seems to be able to sell it! Or we are only offered abridged versions (even though they also have unabridged) which are infinitely worse than not having them at all! Not Audible’s fault, but trying to even find who has the rights to ask them to consider making them available is almost impossible for many audiobooks.
I had seen RecordedBooks and thought they were rental only but I will give them a try now for purchasing. Can only hope that they are allowed to sell to Australia!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Roni, I hope you are able to find some books for your mom. I hope you’re able to get all of Agatha Christie’s, and I think that audible has a lot of the Needlecraft Mystery Series (by Monica Ferris). Also, I hope you are able to get the Ngaio Marsh books in Australia. Oh, and Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery Series. What a shame there are some books Audible isn’t allowed to let you download.
(I agree, I never listen to an unabridged book.)
RANG says
I have found Rakuten Kobo to have the best selection of books. You have to join, and it can get expensive, but it is the best selection. I also use the LIBBY app from my library and listen for free, but the selection is not very full.