Listen free for 30 days
-
The Seeker
- Damian Seeker 1
- Narrated by: Nicholas Camm
- Series: Damian Seeker, Book 1
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Redemption of Alexander Seaton
- By: S. G. MacLean
- Narrated by: Crawford Logan
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Banff in the 1620s. A man staggering down the street. He appears drunk, but he's been poisoned. The victim, and apothecary's apprentice, is discovered dead in Alexander Seaton's house, a fallen minister whose life lies in tatters after his affair with the Laird's daughter is discovered and he is cast out of the kirk in disgrace. When his friend is accused of the apprentice's murder, Alexander sets out to solve the crime and clear his friend's name.
-
-
Great book, well read
- By Rachel on 16-05-09
-
The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated, and his thumbs have been tied behind his back.
-
-
Mystery and murder in 'the dunnest smoke of hell'
- By Rachel Redford on 27-04-16
-
The Dead of Winter
- Three Giordano Bruno Novellas
- By: S. J. Parris
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three gripping tales from number one best seller S. J. Parris. The Secret Dead: during the summer of 1566, a girl’s body is found within the walls of a Neapolitan monastery. Novice monk Giordano Bruno has a habit of asking difficult questions, but this time his investigations may lose him his place in the Dominican Order - or deliver him into the hands of the Inquisition. Also includes The Academy of Secrets and The Dead of Winter.
-
-
Evocative and a good story
- By Jonathan Coore on 16-01-21
-
Heresy
- By: S. J. Parris
- Narrated by: Laurence Kennedy
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oxford, 1583. Giordano Bruno, a radical thinker fleeing the Inquisition, is sent undercover to Oxford to expose a Catholic conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth. But he has his own secret mission at the University, which must remain hidden at all costs. When a series of hideous murders are committed, Bruno is compelled to investigate. What he finds makes it brutally clear that the Tudor throne itself is at stake....
-
-
Good enjoyable lightweight read
- By S Price Sinclair on 08-02-15
-
A Plague on Both Your Houses
- The First Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew
- By: Susanna Gregory
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Matthew Bartholomew, unorthodox but effective physician to Michaelhouse college in medieval Cambridge, is as worried as anyone about the pestilence that is ravaging Europe and seems to be approaching England. But he is distracted by the sudden and inexplicable death of the Master of Michaelhouse - a death the University authorities do not want investigated.
-
-
Just brilliant
- By Heidi Harper on 27-08-18
-
The Last Protector
- James Marwood & Cat Lovett, Book 4
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brother against brother. Father against son. Friends turned into enemies. No one in England wants a return to the bloody days of the Civil War. But Oliver Cromwell’s son, Richard, has abandoned his exile and slipped back into England. The consequences could be catastrophic. James Marwood, a traitor’s son turned government agent, is tasked with uncovering Cromwell’s motives. But his assignment is complicated by his friend - the regicide’s daughter, Cat Lovett - who knew the Cromwells as a child and who now seems to be hiding a secret of her own about the family.
-
-
Riveting historical fiction
- By Max on 07-04-20
-
The Redemption of Alexander Seaton
- By: S. G. MacLean
- Narrated by: Crawford Logan
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Banff in the 1620s. A man staggering down the street. He appears drunk, but he's been poisoned. The victim, and apothecary's apprentice, is discovered dead in Alexander Seaton's house, a fallen minister whose life lies in tatters after his affair with the Laird's daughter is discovered and he is cast out of the kirk in disgrace. When his friend is accused of the apprentice's murder, Alexander sets out to solve the crime and clear his friend's name.
-
-
Great book, well read
- By Rachel on 16-05-09
-
The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated, and his thumbs have been tied behind his back.
-
-
Mystery and murder in 'the dunnest smoke of hell'
- By Rachel Redford on 27-04-16
-
The Dead of Winter
- Three Giordano Bruno Novellas
- By: S. J. Parris
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three gripping tales from number one best seller S. J. Parris. The Secret Dead: during the summer of 1566, a girl’s body is found within the walls of a Neapolitan monastery. Novice monk Giordano Bruno has a habit of asking difficult questions, but this time his investigations may lose him his place in the Dominican Order - or deliver him into the hands of the Inquisition. Also includes The Academy of Secrets and The Dead of Winter.
-
-
Evocative and a good story
- By Jonathan Coore on 16-01-21
-
Heresy
- By: S. J. Parris
- Narrated by: Laurence Kennedy
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oxford, 1583. Giordano Bruno, a radical thinker fleeing the Inquisition, is sent undercover to Oxford to expose a Catholic conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth. But he has his own secret mission at the University, which must remain hidden at all costs. When a series of hideous murders are committed, Bruno is compelled to investigate. What he finds makes it brutally clear that the Tudor throne itself is at stake....
-
-
Good enjoyable lightweight read
- By S Price Sinclair on 08-02-15
-
A Plague on Both Your Houses
- The First Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew
- By: Susanna Gregory
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Matthew Bartholomew, unorthodox but effective physician to Michaelhouse college in medieval Cambridge, is as worried as anyone about the pestilence that is ravaging Europe and seems to be approaching England. But he is distracted by the sudden and inexplicable death of the Master of Michaelhouse - a death the University authorities do not want investigated.
-
-
Just brilliant
- By Heidi Harper on 27-08-18
-
The Last Protector
- James Marwood & Cat Lovett, Book 4
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brother against brother. Father against son. Friends turned into enemies. No one in England wants a return to the bloody days of the Civil War. But Oliver Cromwell’s son, Richard, has abandoned his exile and slipped back into England. The consequences could be catastrophic. James Marwood, a traitor’s son turned government agent, is tasked with uncovering Cromwell’s motives. But his assignment is complicated by his friend - the regicide’s daughter, Cat Lovett - who knew the Cromwells as a child and who now seems to be hiding a secret of her own about the family.
-
-
Riveting historical fiction
- By Max on 07-04-20
-
The King's Justice
- A Stanton and Barling Mystery, Book 1
- By: E. M. Powell
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1176. Aelred Barling, esteemed clerk to the justices of King Henry II, is dispatched from the royal court with his young assistant, Hugo Stanton, to investigate a brutal murder in a village outside York. The case appears straightforward. A suspect is under lock and key in the local prison, and the angry villagers are demanding swift justice. But when more bodies are discovered, certainty turns to doubt - and amid the chaos it becomes clear that nobody is above suspicion.
-
-
Great murder mystery
- By KAH on 04-10-18
-
War at the Edge of the World
- Twilight of Empire, Book 1
- By: Ian Ross
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once a soldier in an elite legion from the Danube, Aurelius Castus believes his glory days are over, stuck in Britain's provincial backwater. But history is about to take a hand and when the king of the Picts, the savage people beyond Hadrian's Wall, dies in mysterious circumstances, Castus is selected to command the bodyguard of a Roman envoy sent to negotiate with the barbarians. But the diplomatic mission ends in bloody tragedy…
-
-
Rivals the best in this genre
- By Anonymous User on 22-11-18
-
The Devil in the Marshalsea
- By: Antonia Hodgson
- Narrated by: Joseph Kloska
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1727 - and Tom Hawkins is about to fall from his heaven of card games, brothels, and coffeehouses to the hell of a debtors' prison. The Marshalsea is a savage world of its own, with simple rules: those with family or friends who can lend them a little money may survive in relative comfort. Those with none will starve in squalor and disease. And those who try to escape will suffer a gruesome fate at the hands of the gaol's rutheless governor and his cronies.
-
-
One of the best audio books I've chosen recently
- By D on 28-10-14
-
The Unquiet Bones
- By: Mel Starr
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugh of Singleton, fourth son of a minor knight, has been educated as a clerk, usually a prelude to taking holy orders. However, feeling no certain calling despite a lively faith, he turns to the profession of surgeon, training in Paris and then hanging out his sign in Oxford. A local lord asks him to track the killer of a young woman whose bones have been found in the castle cesspit. She is identified as the impetuous missing daughter of a local blacksmith, and her young man, whom she had provoked very publicly, is in due course arrested and sentenced at the Oxford assizes.
-
-
Shardlake's Younger Brother, the surgeon
- By Mr. Stephen Gould on 20-09-20
-
The Angel's Mark
- By: S. W. Perry
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
LONDON, 1590. Queen Elizabeth I's control over her kingdom is wavering. Amidst a tumultuous backdrop of Spanish plotters, Catholic heretics and foreign wars threatening the country's fragile stability, the body of a small boy is found in the City of London, with strange marks that no one can explain. When idealistic physician Nicholas Shelby finds another body displaying the same marks only days later, he becomes convinced that a killer is at work, preying on the weak and destitute of London.
-
-
Excellent book
- By Kate on 28-10-18
-
The Silver Collar
- By: Antonia Hodgson
- Narrated by: Joseph Kloska
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Autumn, 1728. Life is good for Thomas Hawkins and Kitty Sparks. The Cocked Pistol, Kitty's wickedly disreputable bookshop, is a roaring success. Tom's celebrity as 'Half-Hanged Hawkins', the man who survived the gallows, is also proving useful. Their happiness proves short-lived. When Tom is set upon by a street gang, he discovers there's a price on his head. Who on earth could want him dead - and why?
-
-
Silver Collar
- By Val on 17-09-20
-
Triple
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Raza Jaffrey
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Triple is the story of the most successful espionage coup - and best-kept secret - of this century. This taut espionage thriller comes from master of the genre, Ken Follett. It is 1968. Israeli intelligence has learned that Egypt, with Soviet help, will develop atomic bombs within months - an untimely end for the young nation unless a source of uranium for Israeli bombs can be had in complete secrecy. Impossible, of course, unless someone as improbable as the plan can be found to steal it.
-
-
worth a tead
- By squiffy on 23-12-20
-
The King's Spy
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Summer, 1643: England is at war with itself. King Charles I has fled London, his negotiations with Parliament in tatters. The country is consumed by bloodshed. For Thomas Hill, a man of letters quietly running a bookshop in the rural town of Romsey, knowledge of the war is limited to the rumours that reach the local inn. When a stranger knocks on his door one night and informs him that the king's cryptographer has died, everything changes.
-
-
excellent spy story
- By Millie on 08-11-17
-
Martyr
- By: Rory Clements
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drake: Shakespeare is ordered to protect him. With Drake on land fitting out his ships, he is frighteningly vulnerable. If he dies, England will be open to invasion. In a London rife with rumour, Shakespeare must decide which leads to follow, which to ignore. When a high-born young woman is found mutilated and murdered at an illicit printing house, it is political gunpowder - and he has no option but to investigate.
-
-
Great story
- By lovetoread on 18-06-15
-
The King's Return
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The king's coronation brings hope. Until a murderer strikes. Spring 1661: After years of civil war followed by Oliver Cromwell's joyless rule as Lord Protector, England awaits the coronation of King Charles II. The mood in London is one of relief and hope for a better future. But when two respectable gentlemen are found in a foul lane with their throats cut, it becomes apparent that England's enemies are using the newly re-established post office for their own ends.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By KPMG on 17-06-19
-
The Owl Killers
- By: Karen Maitland
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England 1321: Deep in the countryside lies an isolate village governed by a sinister regime of Owl Masters. But their dark status quo is disturbed by the arrival of a house of religious women. Why do their crops succeed when village crops fail, their cattle survive despite the plague? Accusations of witchcraft and heresy run rife, while the Owl Masters rain down hellfire and torment on the women, who must look to their faith to save them from the lengthening shadow of evil... a shadow with predatory, terrifying talons.
-
-
Don't be put off by mixed reviews
- By sally on 28-03-12
-
Rotherweird
- Rotherweird, Book 1
- By: Andrew Caldecott
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rotherweird is a twisted, arcane murder-mystery with shades of Deborah Harkness, Hope Mirrlees and Ben Aaronovitch, Mervyn Peake and Edward Gorey at their disturbing best. The town of Rotherweird stands alone - there are no guidebooks, despite the fascinating and diverse architectural styles cramming the narrow streets, the avant-garde science and offbeat customs. Cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I, Rotherweird's independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history.
-
-
Good story bit hard to follow
- By kate on 05-11-17
Summary
Winner of the 2015 CWA Endeavour Dagger for Historical Fiction.
London, 1654. Oliver Cromwell is at the height of his power and has declared himself Lord Protector. Yet he has many enemies at home and abroad. London is a complex web of spies and merchants, priests and soldiers, exiles and assassins.
One of the web's most fearsome spiders is Damian Seeker, agent of the Lord Protector. No one knows where Seeker comes from, who his family is, or even his real name. All that is known of him for certain is that he is utterly loyal to Cromwell and that nothing can be long hidden from him. In the city, coffeehouses are springing up, fashionable places where men may meet to plot and gossip. Suddenly they are ringing with news of a murder.
John Winter, hero of Cromwell's all-powerful army, is dead, and lawyer Elias Ellingworth is found standing over the bleeding body, clutching a knife. Yet despite the damning evidence, Seeker is not convinced of Ellingworth's guilt. He will stop at nothing to bring the killer to justice - and Seeker knows better than any man where to search.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Seeker
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Simon
- 10-12-16
A Dark-Cloaked Figure
The Seeker begins with Nicholas Camm's narration setting the perfect tone as Shona MacLean's grim and tense 1650s London and its inhabitants are brought to life by the text. He gives our lead, Damian Seeker just the right sense of underlying calm and omnipresent threat. Taken with the text the experience of this audiobook is one of well-researched authenticity and complex plotting. The slight downside is that with a plot that isn't the fastest paced you'll ever read and the quietly deliberate narration I did find a slightly languid feel to the production at times.
The setting is a fairly unusual one; Cromwell's Commonwealth was a strange and brief period in our history. This story shows maturity in that we don't get the usual approach of making one of the sides the "good" side. In MacLean's telling we see a terribly divided land with a populace that are scared, confused and angry. Neither Parliament nor King deserving of any great plaudits. Given that my personal younger history involved some very enjoyable time in the Sealed Knot's Eastern Association within the Middlesex Trayned Bandes I'm delighted she has avoided the usual cliches of glorified Royalists and nasty dull Roundheads.
Attention is required at the start as the various characters are introduced. It did feel a little disjointed early on but once Damian Seeker gets into his considerable stride in the atmospheric London surroundings things pick up and a very satisfying mystery thriller unfolds even if it does rely a little on coincidence. Seeker proves to be a character of significant nuance and depth while retaining an aura of mystery. Taken as a whole this is a very enjoyable first book to the series with plenty of scope for further development.
38 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christine
- 06-11-17
Listen at 1.25 speed
This is an excellent story, but the narrator is very soporific. Rather than not listening though, I listened at 1.25 speed (on my iphone) and found it perfectly OK. I'm glad I persevered as it really was an excellent story
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Osmund
- 01-08-17
Probably a good book, but hard to tell
I loved the Alexander Seton series, but the monotonous mumble of this reading made the story very hard to follow. The reader can only do one accent, his own, and what should have been an exciting tale constantly lost my attention.
24 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marilyn
- 15-03-20
dry,dull and boring
Nothing positive to say about this slow and tedious book, it’s just utter garbage , it’s the sort of thing to use to torture someone
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hamburgerpatty
- 09-03-17
First we form our buildings....
What did you like most about The Seeker?
The buildings, the rooms, the houses, the churches, the spaces, the alley ways, the printer's shop, the shoemaker's workshop. And most of all the coffee houses. The coffee house in the setting of 1650s London was to my mind an inspired choice to provide a catalyst to much of the action. Obviously primarily a male preserve.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Damian Seeker who had strong locus of control and was values-led though perhaps not quite at the Jeanie Deans level. Would he have walked from Edinburgh to London to save his brother from a hanging as Jeanie Deans did for her sister? Possibly. The Seeker often made decisions based on what was right rather than who was right.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
Any scene in which 'High Highness' Oliver Cromwell was present.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes
Any additional comments?
I liked the narrator. Bit of a shock at first. Mr Camm was not Crawford Logan who read Maclean's first historical novel. But once I got into the timbre of his voice, I thought Mr Camm an apt choice. The main character, Damian Seeker is not a flag waving, arm circling animated character. Steady, deliberate, decisive. I think the narrator did a good job.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Miss Joanne M Rogers
- 11-10-18
Terrible narration.
This might be a decent book but I will never know as the narration so apalling that I gave up after 2 chapters. It was like listening to a very boring sermon. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and listen to and read a lot of historical fiction. This was the worst I have come across .
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mr
- 25-10-17
DON'T DON'T DON'T
The narration is so bad, a drawling monotone that is just someone saying the words not reading them.
Dull as ditchwater
Whoever commissioned this guy as narrator needs publicly flogging.
If you feel you just absolutely must have this book - listen to the sample then imagine 9 odd hours of that dreary rambling.
27 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephanie Hodgson
- 29-09-17
Fabulous
I loved it! Brilliantly written with many twists and turns it kept me guessing until the end. Nicholas Camm voice is hypnotic and draws you into the story. At no point did I have to guess who was speaking. I can't wait for the next one.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- bill ottaway
- 28-05-17
A gread story
it took me a little while to warm to the main character and the narrator but i am so pleased i didnt give up.. An excellent tale bringing to life the times of Oliver Cromwell. Another thoroughly enjoyable book by SG Maclean
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Clare
- 15-07-18
Narration not as bad as some would have you believe
A good tale, well told and also very well narrated. To be fair, it takes a little while to settle in, but the characterisation suits the story well and the voices of each character are easy to differentiate. Well worth a listen.
4 people found this helpful