Hanging Softly in the Night: A Detective Nick Larson Novel AUDIO BOOK by Maria Elena Alonso-Sierra – Review by Alexandria Richard

4/5 Stars.

A true detective novel. I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book and the hunt for the truth that occurs. Nick is your quintessential NYPD detective, looking for the truth and connecting the dots of things that most others wouldn’t see. Here the hunt is on for someone who is either assisting in others’ suicides, or is making it look like others are committing it. It’s literally a race against the clock to save people.

I’m not one to try and guess the outcome of the mystery in books but the answer to the “whodunit” here shocked me; I did not see that one coming. I enjoyed the touches of romance and building of relationships for the NYPD people, depicting them as well rounded individuals, rather than one dimensional. I also enjoyed the “side story” of Sandra and Laura. I have not read any other novels or stories by this author but it sounded like it was a continuation from another book in this series and it makes me want to go hunt it down.

I did listen to the audiobook of this novel and the narrator was pretty good. I enjoyed his inflection and his pace, however I did notice there were issues with pauses and such during what seemed like readings of other things, like reading a suicide letter or something else someone wrote. I’m not sure if that’s from editing or the way it was written out for the narrator, but it made me withdraw from what I was hearing. Overall, good bordering on great performance.

Content warning for explicit descriptions of death and suicide.