Let me cut to the chase: this is a one-hour mystery that does exactly what it says on the tin - no more, no less. I knocked this out during a quick run to a client site in San Antonio, and honestly? It was the right length for the drive.
So here's the setup. Kid named Ryan James is sitting in a car with a hose pipe running exhaust into the cabin. He's deciding whether to close that last window. Then he gets a text, and that's it - he makes his choice. Detective Inspector Martin shows up the next day thinking it's a straightforward suicide, but something doesn't sit right with her.
Look, I've seen enough death notifications and investigations in my time to know that the simple cases are rarely simple. The author, Alice Clark-Platts, clearly gets this. She was a human rights lawyer at the UN tribunal for the Rwandan genocide, so she's not just making stuff up about how investigators think. That credibility shows in how DI Martin approaches the scene - methodical, skeptical, not jumping to conclusions. The author did her homework on the procedural side.
Rachel Bavidge handles the narration with a solid English accent that's crisp and professional. She nails the detective's voice - that kind of measured intensity you get from someone who's seen too much but still cares enough to dig deeper. The young woman in the story (won't spoil who) comes across as appropriately self-absorbed, and Bavidge captures that too. Her pacing works well for the format - this isn't a story that needs dramatic pauses or theatrical flourishes. It's a quick, tight mystery.
Here's where it lost me, though. The murderer gets revealed pretty early. I mean, I get it - at 69 minutes, you don't have time for a complex whodunit with red herrings and misdirection. But for someone who's read a lot of thrillers, the lack of suspense was noticeable. Good Girl had the same issue with telegraphing its reveal, though that one at least gave me more character depth to chew on. It's less "who did it" and more "watching DI Martin figure out what we already know." That's a valid approach, but it takes some of the punch out.
The characters don't get much room to breathe either. Ryan James is more of a catalyst than a person - we don't really know him beyond his final moments. The supporting cast is functional but thin. Again, constraints of the format. Clark-Platts is working with limited real estate here.
(And honestly, I couldn't find much about Bavidge's other work online, but based on this performance, she's competent. Not spectacular, not bad. Gets the job done.)
Production quality is clean. No weird audio issues, no background noise. Penguin knows what they're doing on the technical side. I listened at 1.25x as usual, and it held up fine - Bavidge's delivery doesn't get muddy at speed.
Worth your time? Here's the debrief. If you need something short for a gym session or a quick commute, this fills that slot. It's not going to blow your mind. It's not going to keep you up at night wondering how it ends. But it's a professional piece of work from someone who knows crime fiction.
Ranger slept through this one, which tells you something. He usually perks up during the tense parts. There weren't many tense parts.
The suicide content is handled respectfully enough - not exploitative, not gratuitous. But if that subject matter is a trigger for you, maybe skip this one. The opening scene doesn't pull punches about what Ryan is doing.
Who Should Listen (And Who Should Skip): Grab this if you want a quick, well-narrated procedural for a short commute or gym session. Skip it if you need complex twists, deep character work, or if suicide content is a trigger.
My recommendation: sample first. Listen to the opening chapter and see if the pacing works for you. Mission accomplished, but a limited mission.
Three stars. Solid craft, limited scope. Bavidge does good work with what she's given. The story itself just needed more runway to really take off.
