The Shape of Water
by Andrea Camilleri (Sellerio, 1994); trans. Stephen Sartarelli
audiobook read by Mark Meadows (Macmillan, 2017)
Camilleri plunges the reader into a murder mystery predicated on the intricacies of Sicilian politics and social power dynamics. While the protagonist (Inspector Montalbano) and setting prove ripe for TV adaptation, the investigation in written form rather pales in comparison, retrospectively judged.
The Edinburgh Mystery and Other Tales of Scottish Crime
ed. Martin Edwards (British Library Crime Classics, 2022)
audiobook read by Sarah Barron, Mark Meadows, David Monteath & John Telfer (Soundings, 2023)
A readable but unremarkable collection of historically overlooked short stories. Though often possessed of comely prose, few are satisfying as mysteries—tending to some combination of character vignette without detection, token framework for clever ‘shock’ ending, or revelation based on withheld information.
How to Stop Time
by Matt Haig (Canongate, 2017); audiobook read by Mark Meadows (Clipper, 2017)
The jumping about throughout history is all fine and dandy—Haig does setting well—but the protagonist verges on insipid and so the journey, though pleasant enough, becomes an unremarkable trundle towards an underwhelming destination (despite the female characters offering some spark).