Listen free for 30 days
-
A Load of Old Bones
- Narrated by: Leslie Phillips, Simon Hurst, Grant Russell
- Series: Francis Oughterard, Book 1
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £8.49
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Bone Idle
- By: Suzette A Hill
- Narrated by: Simon Hurst, Suzette A Hill, John Beresford Frye
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the third novel featuring the Rev Oughterard, vicar of St Botolph's and genteel murderer of parishioner Mrs Elizabeth Fotherington. So far eluding arrest (but with fears of imminent exposure), he is in the grasp of his blackmailing pal, the shady Nicholas Ingaza, who forces him to steal a valuable figurine of a prancing pig from collector Claude Blenkinsop. Naturally the project backfires and the hapless vicar is plunged into further skulduggery during which someone is murdered.
-
-
More laughs with Francis, Maurice and Bouncer.
- By Mrs on 22-01-12
-
City Heat
- Mydworth Mysteries - A Cosy Historical Mystery Series 10
- By: Matthew Costello, Neil Richards
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Parker
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kat brings Harry across the Atlantic to New York for a planned whirlwind time in her home town - complete with a lavish suite at the Plaza. But when Teddy Crowther - grandson of a wealthy City magnate - is snatched by the mob, the pair is asked to help. As Prohibition New York swelters in a heatwave, the Mortimers soon find themselves playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse, not just with the kidnappers, but also the rest of the Crowther family, all of whom have everything to gain - and maybe lose - if Teddy is found ...
-
-
one of the favourite so far
- By Stephen M Maxwell-Scott on 21-03-22
-
Cold Case
- Cherringham. A Cosy Crime Series - Mystery Shorts 40
- By: Matthew Costello, Neil Richards
- Narrated by: Neil Dudgeon
- Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's winter in Cherringham, and petty thief Charlie Topper's life is in danger. Desperate, he reaches out to Jack and Sarah for help: last summer - during a robbery - he witnessed a cold-blooded murder, and now he fears the killer is after him. Can Jack and Sarah solve this very cold case - before the desperate murderer comes for them too? Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo: English web designer Sarah and American ex-cop Jack.
-
-
Great as always
- By Anonymous User on 03-05-22
-
Heathcliff Lennox - France 1918
- By: Karen Baugh Menuhin
- Narrated by: Sam Dewhurst -Phillips
- Length: 1 hr
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spring, 1918. The Great War is at a crucial stage, the Germans are making one last push into France, and the Allies are struggling to hold them back. Battle lines are shifting, and men, and their machines, are being sent up and down the front to shore up defenses. Major Heathcliff Lennox, and his batman Greggs, are told to report to their new HQ. They set off on a sunlit day to fly the distance, but the enemy is never far away, and disaster strikes. They're sent crashing to the ground behind enemy lines, where life, death, and love await.
-
-
Beautiful
- By PJD on 12-11-21
-
Monsieur Pamplemousse Hits the Headlines
- By: Michael Bond
- Narrated by: Bill Wallis
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During his time as an inspector with the Paris Sûreté, Monsieur Pamplemousse had been 'in at the death' on more than one occasion, but even he had to admit that the phrase took on an entirely new meaning when he was present at the spectacular ending to Cuisine de Chavignol, France's premier television cookery programme.
-
-
Nice story well told.
- By alanMC on 30-11-17
-
Murder at the Ritz
- By: Jim Eldridge
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
August, 1940. On the streets of London, locals watch with growing concern as German fighter planes plague the city’s skyline. But inside the famous Ritz Hotel, the cream of society continues to enjoy all the glamour and comfort that money can buy during wartime - until an anonymous man is discovered with his throat slashed open. Detective Chief Inspector Coburg is called in to investigate, ably assisted by his trusty colleague, Sergeant Lampson.
-
-
Rather predictable and in places twee
- By ColinJS on 01-01-22
-
Bone Idle
- By: Suzette A Hill
- Narrated by: Simon Hurst, Suzette A Hill, John Beresford Frye
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the third novel featuring the Rev Oughterard, vicar of St Botolph's and genteel murderer of parishioner Mrs Elizabeth Fotherington. So far eluding arrest (but with fears of imminent exposure), he is in the grasp of his blackmailing pal, the shady Nicholas Ingaza, who forces him to steal a valuable figurine of a prancing pig from collector Claude Blenkinsop. Naturally the project backfires and the hapless vicar is plunged into further skulduggery during which someone is murdered.
-
-
More laughs with Francis, Maurice and Bouncer.
- By Mrs on 22-01-12
-
City Heat
- Mydworth Mysteries - A Cosy Historical Mystery Series 10
- By: Matthew Costello, Neil Richards
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Parker
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kat brings Harry across the Atlantic to New York for a planned whirlwind time in her home town - complete with a lavish suite at the Plaza. But when Teddy Crowther - grandson of a wealthy City magnate - is snatched by the mob, the pair is asked to help. As Prohibition New York swelters in a heatwave, the Mortimers soon find themselves playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse, not just with the kidnappers, but also the rest of the Crowther family, all of whom have everything to gain - and maybe lose - if Teddy is found ...
-
-
one of the favourite so far
- By Stephen M Maxwell-Scott on 21-03-22
-
Cold Case
- Cherringham. A Cosy Crime Series - Mystery Shorts 40
- By: Matthew Costello, Neil Richards
- Narrated by: Neil Dudgeon
- Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's winter in Cherringham, and petty thief Charlie Topper's life is in danger. Desperate, he reaches out to Jack and Sarah for help: last summer - during a robbery - he witnessed a cold-blooded murder, and now he fears the killer is after him. Can Jack and Sarah solve this very cold case - before the desperate murderer comes for them too? Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo: English web designer Sarah and American ex-cop Jack.
-
-
Great as always
- By Anonymous User on 03-05-22
-
Heathcliff Lennox - France 1918
- By: Karen Baugh Menuhin
- Narrated by: Sam Dewhurst -Phillips
- Length: 1 hr
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spring, 1918. The Great War is at a crucial stage, the Germans are making one last push into France, and the Allies are struggling to hold them back. Battle lines are shifting, and men, and their machines, are being sent up and down the front to shore up defenses. Major Heathcliff Lennox, and his batman Greggs, are told to report to their new HQ. They set off on a sunlit day to fly the distance, but the enemy is never far away, and disaster strikes. They're sent crashing to the ground behind enemy lines, where life, death, and love await.
-
-
Beautiful
- By PJD on 12-11-21
-
Monsieur Pamplemousse Hits the Headlines
- By: Michael Bond
- Narrated by: Bill Wallis
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During his time as an inspector with the Paris Sûreté, Monsieur Pamplemousse had been 'in at the death' on more than one occasion, but even he had to admit that the phrase took on an entirely new meaning when he was present at the spectacular ending to Cuisine de Chavignol, France's premier television cookery programme.
-
-
Nice story well told.
- By alanMC on 30-11-17
-
Murder at the Ritz
- By: Jim Eldridge
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
August, 1940. On the streets of London, locals watch with growing concern as German fighter planes plague the city’s skyline. But inside the famous Ritz Hotel, the cream of society continues to enjoy all the glamour and comfort that money can buy during wartime - until an anonymous man is discovered with his throat slashed open. Detective Chief Inspector Coburg is called in to investigate, ably assisted by his trusty colleague, Sergeant Lampson.
-
-
Rather predictable and in places twee
- By ColinJS on 01-01-22
-
Murder at the Mayfair Hotel
- Cleopatra Fox Mysteries, Book 1
- By: C. J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
December 1899. After the death of her beloved grandmother, Cleopatra Fox moves into the luxury hotel owned by her estranged uncle in the hopes of putting hardship and loneliness behind her. But the poisoning of a guest throws her new life, and the hotel, into chaos. Cleo quickly realizes no one can be trusted, not Scotland Yard and especially not the hotel’s charming assistant manager. With the New Year’s Eve ball approaching fast and the hotel’s reputation hanging by a thread, Cleo must find the killer before the ball, and the hotel itself, are ruined.
-
-
Very enjoyable listen
- By Charlotte on 20-01-21
-
Sweet Revenge
- Bunburry - A Cosy Mystery Series 7
- By: Helena Marchmont
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Parker
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Sweet Revenge, the seventh Bunburry book, Alfie is back in London, trying to pick up his old life there. But even a wild social whirl with his best friend Oscar can't disguise the fact that he misses Bunburry. And then a cry for help reaches him - Liz and Marge are in trouble, and Alfie races back. But as he and Police Constable Emma Hollis join forces to clear the ladies' names, he has to confront a growing suspicion. Has Liz made a mistake while making her celebrated fudge, or have the ladies been up to something more sinister?
-
-
Excellent, as always.
- By BrownDog on 25-12-20
-
The Stray Sod Country
- By: Patrick McCabe
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1958, and as Laika, the Sputnik dog, is launched into space, Golly Murray, the Cullymore barber's wife, finds herself oddly obsessing about the canine cosmonaut. Meanwhile, Fonsey "Teddy" O'Neill is returning, like the prodigal son, from overseas, with Brylcreem in his hair and a Cuban-heeled swagger to his step, having experienced his coming-of-age in Skegness, England. Father Augustus Hand is working on a bold new theatrical production for Easter, which he, for one, knows will put Cullymore on the map.
-
-
Eerie & hilarious with a tangible sense of madness
- By Richie on 16-02-14
-
Murder at the Natural History Museum
- By: Jim Eldridge
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1895. Daniel Wilson and Abigail Fenton have been hired by the Natural History Museum to find out who deliberately smashed the fossilised skeleton of a small dinosaur. At first Daniel is reluctant to take the case, pointing out that they deal in murders, not vandalism. But then one of the attendants in the dinosaur room is murdered, his body found tied to a dinosaur skeleton and a note pinned to him saying 'The price of betrayal'. As Daniel and Abigail investigate, they must negotiate a web of legal and professional tensions.
-
-
wonderful
- By Greg Day on 07-12-20
-
Confessions of a Gentleman Arachnid
- By: Michael Coolwood
- Narrated by: Thom Tuck
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Milligan Clodthorpe, a gentleman arachnid of exceptional lineage who finds himself involuntarily inhabiting the body of a human female. Bainbridge, the cad who now inhabits Milligan's arachnid form, is known throughout the galaxy as thoroughly selfish and uncivilized.
-
-
Really fun!
- By Alex on 20-10-16
-
Murder by the Minster
- Discover the most gripping cozy mystery series of 2020
- By: Helen Cox
- Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's a perfectly normal day for Kitt Hartley at her job at the University of the Vale of York library, until Detective Inspector Halloran arrives at her desk to tell her that her best friend, Evie Bowes, is under suspicion of murder. Evie's ex-boyfriend Owen has been found dead - with a fountain pen stabbed through his heart - and all the evidence points to her. Kitt knows there is no way Evie could murder anyone - let alone Owen, whom she adored.
-
-
Poor narrator
- By Anon on 30-10-19
-
The Bagthorpe Saga: Absolute Zero (Collins Modern Classics)
- By: Helen Cresswell
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bad, mad and brilliant to know - the Bagthorpes are back! Something even stranger than normal is happening in the Bagthorpe house. Ever since Uncle Parker won a luxury cruise in a competition, the family's gone competition crazy. Only Jack and his trusty dog, Zero, are staying out of it. So just how does the mixed-up mutt become the most famous dog in Britain?
-
-
one of the best children's series ever.
- By Clare campbell on 20-08-18
-
Gracious Lies
- Stories by Hilda Lolly
- By: Hilda Lolly
- Narrated by: Anne Reid, Joanna David
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gracious Lies, is a collection of five delightfully unsettling short stories that take a lingering peep behind the net curtains of everyday life, love and marriage. In Hand, Foot & Finger, imperious Leonard and his pale wife Audrey head once again to Aunty Lynne’s West Country guesthouse. Can Audrey endure another week of toil on the beautiful beaches of Weston-super-Mare?
-
-
Amusingly tales with a twist
- By Jill Besterman on 11-09-13
-
The Golden Age
- By: Kenneth Grahame
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 3 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Golden Age is a collection of Kenneth Grahame's reminiscences of childhood, notable for their conception of a world where children are locked in perpetual warfare with the adult "Olympians" who have wholly forgotten how it feels to be young - a theme later explored by J. M. Barrie and other authors.
-
Sweet Thames
- By: Matthew Kneale
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1849. As a cholera epidemic draws nearer, Joshua Jeavons, engineer, is working on his great drain plan for the capital. When the deaths begin, he works even more furiously, driven by the vision of a reborn London freed of rotting sewers. Then his beautiful young wife, Isobella, disappears, and Joshua must turn his attention to even more perplexing matters. His search for the answers to the mysteries that surround him leads from glittering Haymarket cafes to London's murky underworld.
-
-
Cholera and mystery
- By The Curator on 04-10-20
-
Saving Agnes
- By: Rachel Cusk
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agnes Day - subeditor, suburbanite, failure extraordinaire - has discovered disconcerting gaps in her general understanding of the world. Terminally middle class and incurably romantic, Agnes finds herself chronically confused by the most basic interactions. Life and love go on without her, but with a little façade she can pass herself off as a success. Beneath the fiction, however, the burden of truth becomes harder to bear.
-
The Bagthorpe Saga: Ordinary Jack (Collins Modern Classics)
- By: Helen Cresswell
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First in the super-funny classic series The Bagthorpe Saga, starring the totally unforgettable Bagthorpe family - from best-loved author Helen Cresswell. Jack's fed up of living in the shadow of his brilliant siblings. He and his trusty dog Zero are completely ordinary while the rest of them are annoyingly gifted. So when Uncle Parker comes up with a plan to make Jack stand out, he's more than a little excited. =
-
-
A laugh out loud audio book
- By Bev on 15-04-17
Summary
More from the same
What listeners say about A Load of Old Bones
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Jill
- 16-11-09
Hugely entertaining
I've lost count of the number of times we've listened to this audiobook. The vocals are spot on with honours shared evenly. The story is delightful - Maurice and Bouncer are the sort of pets we all wish we had and FO so singular that in the end we've all ended up rooting for him. Add to that the vaguely incompetent police, the worldly-wise piano tuner, the pompous bishop, the satisfyingly oily Nicholas and the very strong evoked sense of the fifties and you have an absolute classics. It's about the right length for a return car-trip to my daughter at university too!
A much loved favourite and we all look forward to hearing the sequel - soon please?
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Kirstine
- 05-06-10
I can't get into this
I tried to listen to this several times, but I can't stand the way that Leslie Phillips reads his part. He's a lovely actor, but in this reading he drawls one minute and then races ahead in a most irritating and mannered way. So I've given up.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Suzanne
- 18-07-14
Hilarious!
This made me laugh. The supercilious cat, Maurice and his partner in crime, Bouncer, keeping their master in check and out of trouble, had me giggling to myself. Clever and funny, I highly recommend this.
A note, however, on the narration.
I initially found Leslie Phillips' narration of Maurice rather irritating - he has odd pauses, some strange pronunciations, and alternates between fast and slow in a rather inconsistent manner. I nearly stopped listening to the book as his part is the first part read, but I eventually got into his narration and thoroughly enjoyed the book.
I have to be honest and say that if he had narrated the whole book, I think I would have returned it and bought a hard copy rather than struggle through his reading, but fortunately, the reverend and the dog are narrated beautifully and this keeps Mr Phillips' part bearable.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Miss King
- 27-12-12
A Load of Old Bones
The wonderful story of a vicar, a cat, a dog and a (sort of accidental) murder. I loved the three narrators for each of the three parts. A comedy told in a diary form from the point of view of the vicar, the cat and the dog. I have also listened to book 3, which is also available on audible, and can highly recommend that one too. Fingers crossed that the other books in the series are recorded soon. They are just a joy to listen to.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Anonymous User
- 02-11-10
Waiting for Bones in the Belfry
Have now listened A Load of Old bones for the third time and it won?t be the last! Just love Maurice and Bouncer who make me look at cats and dogs in a different light. Am longing to listen to the sequels Suzette A. Hill has written! When will they be available?
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Vanessa
- 30-01-11
Witty characterisations, splendidly read
Suzette Hill's first book with such clever and witty animal characterisations is made perfect by the brilliant portrayals by Leslie Phillips and Grant Russell. The perceptions of the two animals are an amusing foil for the vagaries of the Rev. Oughterard and parochial post-war village life. Beautifully-written, I had a smile on my face listening to every word of it!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Mme Josephine Lejard
- 14-11-10
Exactly that !
A load of Old Bones is a novel with a delightfully new angle!
A lot of us out there really do believe that animals communicate, but whether they actually go so far as to cover up for a murderer ......well.....!
Loved it....the narrators were well suited to their roles. Leslie Philips as a self-opinionated , egotistical cat, yep, I believed it !
Not a book to keep you gripping the arms of your chair but amusing and easy listening which keeps a smile on your face, and that has to be good, No ?
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pam Sheppard
- 20-03-15
Fun
A most entertaining listen. Enjoyed the narrators changing with the three main characters. To sum up in one word, fun.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Nicola
- 17-10-10
Enjoyable
Worth a listen
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Kathryn
- 25-09-10
lovely story
My husband and I listen to audio in the car (via our ipod), and loved this one!
It's absolutely delightful and full of twists and turns and delightful characterisations, and Leslie Phillips as a cat is superb!!!
We only pray that they do some more of these stories...!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 23-01-12
Silly, but not offensively so
Any additional comments?
This was a remarkably entertaining and relaxing read. Well read, and it did not overly tax my (admittedly high) tolerance of whimsy. Really, who can resist a murderous vicar?
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Christy
- 16-01-13
What a hoot!
The characterizations of the dog and cat are genius (as are the narrators of both) in this light story about a spur-of-the-moment murder by the local vicar in a 1950's English country town. And how the cat and dog come to stay, decide they have a good thing going, and take steps to see that their new human doesn't get caught.
Laughed a lot. Maurice the cat's accent is a bit thick, so I listened to it twice and laughed even harder the second time around.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- John
- 02-08-18
I LOVE THIS SERIES..!!.. AUDIBLE,..Please add the missing ones.
Droll,.. witty,.. laugh out loud antics in a medley of voices that are unique and satisfying.. I’m just upset that Audible only has the one left to purchase.. please get the rest Audible.. I’ll be waiting..!!
-
Overall

- Kindle Customer
- 11-11-16
Better than I expected
When I began this book I didn't think I was going to like it. Glad I continued to listen. It was amusing and I liked the characters. I am looking forward to book 2.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Karen K
- 24-09-13
A tough listen, not sure I get the humor
Any additional comments?
I only give 1 star for performance if something about the performance made it difficult for me to understand what was being said. Truthfully I almost gave up on this book, but I did manage to get used to it. The accents are very heavy, especially the character Maurice the Cat. Not only is his accent heavy but he has a very dramatic way of speaking (if anyone remembers how the Grinch talked in the old TV cartoon Christmas special that is what it reminded me of). The dog was easier to understand and the man was pretty good. Also the characters did use a lot of large words and a bunch of British slang. So not the easiest listen. Still I made it through and I was interested enough in what was happening to get through it pretty quickly. Having said that though, I am not sure I really "got" this book. It is not a mystery in the sense that a crime is committed at the beginning and there is no mystery about who has done it. The mystery is just whether or not they will get caught. When things are seen through the eyes of cat or dog character, you can expect a certain differing from the emotions you get with a human narrator, but here oddly our human FO displays the same lack of normal human emotion as his pets, if not more so. Since others have described this book as "hilarious" perhaps that is part of the humor? I'm not really sure. Maybe it is a British thing. I am not always tuned in to British humor. The plot (no spoilers here) revolves around FO murdering a woman who ruins his peace and quiet by being annoying and the efforts of his pets and himself to see he gets away with it to preserve all of their peace and quiet. I couldn't help but notice that FO is a sociopath. I guess this fact is just played for laughs but it made it hard for me to predict possible directions the book would take. Oddly I didn't dislike FO and I was interested enough in his story. But I think one book of it was enough.
1 person found this helpful