C. J. Critt has narrated 52 audiobooks on Listento.it by 22 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.3★ across 479 ratings. The most-rated is One for the Money.
Outlaw Mountain
Summary
Alice Rogers, an elderly widow, is dead, found murdered in the Arizona desert. It's easy enough to pin the killing on the teens caught driving her car across the Mexican border, but Sheriff Brady isn't about to let it go at that. Alice was something of a free spirit, with a penchant for Scotch, the glitter of Las Vegas, and a romance with a man 20 years her junior. Her hot-tempered daughter Susan suspects Mom's boyfriend—her former handyman who moved in instead of moving on when he finished his handy work. Now Susan's furious at her brother Clete, the do-nothing mayor of Tombstone, blaming him for not protecting their inheritance by breaking up their mother's winter romance. Yet all is not as it appears to be, and Joanna is forced to put her personal life on hold to dig deeper into Alice's death, the lives of her greedy offspring, and the identity of her mysterious gentleman friend. And as the investigation gets sidetracked by ugly local land disputes, it takes some troublesome twists and turns, until Sheriff Brady finds herself wading through a murky morass of graft and corruption that may have given someone reason to kill—and kill again.
©1999 J.A. Jance (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers
Outer Banks
Summary
Elegant Kate, walking a tightrope over an abyss of lies...sensitive, sensible, self-contained Cecie...Ginger, the heiress, sexy, vibrant, richer than sin...and poor, hopeless, brilliant Fig. They came together as sorority sisters on a Southern campus in the '60s. Four young women bound by rare, blinding early friendship, they spent two idyllic spring breaks at Nags Head, North Carolina, the isolated strip of barrier islands where grand old weather-beaten houses perch defiantly on the edge of a storm-tossed sea. Now, 30 years later, they are coming back. They are coming back to recapture the exquisite magic of those early years...to experience again the love, the enthusiasm, the passion, the pain, and the cruel betrayal that shaped the four young girls into women and set them all adrift on the Outer Banks.
©1991 Anne Rivers Siddons (P)1994 Recorded Books, LLC
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Summary
The latest blockbuster from the number one best-selling author of Remember Me and I'll Be Seeing You Beauty has its price.... Kerry McGrath had only begun to work in the county prosecutor's office at the time of the infamous "Sweetheart Murder Case" - the bizarre slaying years ago of strikingly beautiful Suzanne Reardon. Now, 10 years later, Kerry has gained a reputation as a smart and relentless prosecutor - so much so that her name has been given to the governor as a candidate for a new judgeship - and her new life and career are in full swing. But Kerry's plans are turned upside down when her daughter Robin is injured in a car accident, requiring treatment from a well-known plastic surgeon. It is in his office that Kerry first encounters a beautiful face she remembers from her past but can't quite place - until she realizes that this angelic face is a troubling link to the "Sweetheart" case. When she starts asking questions, she soon discovers that everyone involved wants the case to remain closed...and will stop at nothing to keep it that way. A terrifying look into a mind obsessed with beauty, Let Me Call You Sweetheart is America's Queen of Suspense at the very top of her form.
©2012 Mary Higgins Clack (P)2012 Simon & Schuster, Inc
Anastasia Krupnik
Summary
Children and adults alike will delight in this heart-warming tale of a precocious girl who discovers, to her dismay, that her parents are about to have a baby. Anastasia's hilarious lists of her likes and dislikes - sprinkled throughout the story - offer a lighthearted counterpoint to poignant moments that reveal the worries and fears of a fourth grader.
©1979 Lois Lowry (P)1993 Recorded Books, LLC
Rattlesnake Crossing
Summary
Sheriff Joanna Brady is the law in Cochise County, and she will never allow her personal trials to interfere with the job she was elected to do - especially now that death has invaded Bisbee, Arizona, and has shattered the small desert town's fragile peace. A gun dealer has died violently, and his stock of high-powered weapons has been cleaned out. Suspicion falls upon rancher Alton Hosfield, an armed separatist at war with the federal government and the local law -- with everyone, in fact, whom he perceives as a threat to his independent way of life. Joanna Brady suspects the solution is not so cut-and-dried - especially when the cold-blooded slaying is followed by a series of others, equally horrific and perplexing. At best, an incendiary "Ruby Ridge" situation is brewing. At worst, a maniacal serial killer has come to feed on her unsuspecting community. But Joanna's preoccupation with bringing a murderer to justice could take a terrible toll on her private life...and unravel threads of family, love, and responsibility that might never again be retied.
©1998 J. A. Jance (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers
Devil's Claw
Summary
In the night-still canyons of the Arizona desert, a girl is on the run. Alone but for her beloved red-tailed hawk, she flees from the dark shadows of her young life, the horror she has witnessed…and the terror that now stalks her. New York Times best-selling author J. A. Jance returns with her eighth novel in the highly acclaimed Joanna Brady mystery series. Set against the backdrop of the modern west, this gripping tale finds Sheriff Brady juggling a precarious overload in both her personal and professional lives. About to be married, Joanna's facing a daughter turning 12 and going on 20, a meddlesome mother micro-managing her wedding, and new in-laws arriving any day. The sudden death of her much-loved neighbor and handyman, Clayton Rhodes, creates further turmoil, leaving Joanna shocked, saddened, and the target of Clayton's irate and irrational daughter, who accuses the Sheriff's Department of covering up a possible murder. But amidst the uproar, the report of a homicide at Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains quickly captures Joanna's full attention. An Indian woman has been found shot to death - a woman recently released from prision after serving time for the manslaughter killing of her husband. She is the mother of a missing 15-year-old, Lucy Ridder. The death at first appears to be a case of domestic rage finally exploding - and a troubled teen runaway may be a victim, or a cold-blooded killer. Yet as Joanna deals with the long-standing troubles of Clayton Rhodes' family and digs deeper into the mysterious life of Lucy and her family, she discovers that investigating family hostilities is leading her down a twisted trail of hatred, greed, and far-reaching consequences - and into a dangerous world where violence is the first response and long buried secrets are a reason to kill…or die. Once again, J. A. Jance delivers a gritty, deftly written thriller that unfolds on a vivid landscape of raw beauty and unrelenting danger. And, as always, Sheriff Joanna Brady brings the setting to life with the sensitivity, spirit, and intense passion for justice that makes Jance novels ring with authenticity.
©2000 J. A. Jance (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Summary
Christmas in Twilight, Texas, is all merriment and mistletoe. The Cookie Club is whipping up their most festive sweets, the townspeople are scrambling to get their holiday shopping done, and Joe - a hometown guy with a restless heart - is dreaming about the woman he wants to kiss most.... ...And who happens to be staying at his sister's place over the holidays while Joe's sister is away. But Joe isn't quite sure he wants to be a living Christmas present to runaway law student Gabi Preston. Joe thinks the sassy sweetheart he nicknames "Trouble" won't inconvenience anything but his healthy sex drive. But when he discovers the reasons Gabi escaped from her life, he aches to give her everything she's never had. As the magic of the season draws them together, the gift of love is the only one worth giving....
©2015 Laurie Vanzura (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers
Misery Loves Maggody
Summary
Joan Hess, highly acclaimed author, is known for her wonderful sense of the bizarre and talent for spinning a web of intrigue. She perpetually packs her unique mystery series with murder and mayhem in the not-so-sleepy town of Maggody, Arkansas. Maggody Police Chief Arly Hanks is all shook up when she hears that her mother collapsed during a pilgrimage to Graceland and is in a Memphis hospital. Another member of the tour is pushed to her death from a hotel balcony. A prominent Maggody citizen stands accused of the murder. Arly's suspicious mind tells her to snap into action--it's now or never--before the touring residents of Maggody are returned to sender ... in a hearse. Voicing the perfect amount of wit and satire along with the fast-paced dialog, narrator C.J. Critt gives listeners a real treat, as this mystery spins out of control and back again.
©1998 Joan Hess (P)2001 Recorded Books,LLC
The Buzzard Table
Summary
Margaret Maron's mysteries starring Judge Deborah Knott have built a loyal following since debuting with the Edgar Award-winning The Bootlegger's Daughter. The series' 18th entry finds Deborah and her husband, Deputy Sheriff Bryant, teaming up with Lt. Sigrid Herald to track down a killer on the loose in their small North Carolina town. But as the hunt for the culprit gets more intense, they uncover long-hidden secrets that cast their investigation in a whole new light.
©2012 Margaret Maron (P)2012 Recorded Books
Damsels in Distress
Summary
A renaissance fair is coming to the relatively quiet college town of Farberville, Arkansas. Though resistant to getting involved, Claire Malloy, local bookseller and mother of the perpetually petulant teen Caron, finds herself drawn into the strange inner workings of the group putting on the fair. But a dark mood falls over the festivities when one of the organizers is a victim of arson, and her body is found in the burned wreckage of her rented house. Someone is definitely dead - but is it murder?
©2007 Joan Hess (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America
The Merry Wives of Maggody
Summary
Maggody, Arkansas (pop. 755) is regarded by most as a two-bit hick town, filled with one-bit hicks. But Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon seeks to change that with her latest scheme - a charity golf tournament! This presents a bit of a challenge, since no one in Maggody plays golf, and there is no course. But when the prize for the first hole-in-one is announced - a top of the line bass boat - nearly everyone in town quickly develops a profound interest in the sport. Sheriff Arly Hanks, who has better things to worry about, just wishes it would all go away. When Tommy Ridner beats the odds and sinks a hole-in-one to win the boat on the first day of the tournament, it looks like it's all over...until the next morning, when he's found dead, his head caved in by a golf club. Now, according to the rules, the prize is once again up for grabs. Arly Hanks is faced with a complicated investigation - and darned near everyone in town is a suspect.
©2009 Joan Hess. All rights reserved. (P)2009 BBC Audiobooks America
Sand Sharks
Summary
Margaret Maron continues her best-selling Deborah Knott series with Sand Sharks - an "outstanding ... neat mystery that [is] highly recommended" ( Library Journal, starred review). Judge Deborah's hopes for relaxation at a seaside judicial conference are dashed when she stumbles upon the murdered body of a colleague. And when more judges turn up dead, Deborah fears she could be next.
©2009 Margaret Maron (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC
Mummy Dearest
Summary
Claire Malloy - Arkansas bookseller and widowed mother - after a long courtship has finally said "I do" to her swain, Lieutenant Peter Rosen. Now they are on their honeymoon in Luxor, Egypt. That is, Claire is on her honeymoon - accompanied by Caron, her teenaged daughter, and Inez, Caron's best friend and frequent partner in adventure. Peter is mostly away on various mysterious consultations with equally mysterious government agencies for his new mysterious job. Claire is intent on a quiet, uneventful honeymoon, but things go from bucolic to creepy, when Caron and Inez are chased through darkened deserted alleys, by persons unknown, and a student of their acquaintance is kidnapped by two young men on horseback in a scene reminiscent of a Valentino film. Something is clearly afoot in this tourist paradise, and Claire will stop at nothing to find out what it is. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.
©2008 Joan Hess (P)2008 AudioGO
The Cookcamp
Summary
In 1944, a little boy travels to Minnesota to live with his grandma, a Norwegian-American woman who cooks for the men who are building a road to Canada. Award-winning storyteller Gary Paulsen reveals the boy’s adventures with poignant honesty and adventurous spirit.
©1991 Gary Paulsen (P)1995 Recorded Books
Murder@Maggody.com
Summary
Award-winning author Joan Hess packs mayhem, outrageous characters, and hijinks into this rollicking mystery set in rural Arkansas. Beleaguered chief of police Arly Hanks has her hands full when modern technology moves into small town Maggody, bringing with it controversy and murder. Maggody's high school has a new computer lab. Folks are calling the internet the Devil's workshop, but the adult computer class is filling up. Soon friends are exchanging E-mail, and the preacher is posting sermon notes. But when some mighty unusual images flash across monitors--and a pretty computer student is found dead in an abandoned shack--the town demands Arly find the answers. With tempers flaring and rumors raging, it will take all of Arly's low-tech resourcefulness to find the cold-blooded killer. Narrator C.J. Critt's sense of timing hones the hilarity and keeps you guessing throughout.
©2000 Joan Hess (P)2001 Recorded Books,LLC
Love at First Sight
Summary
In the first in a dazzling new series, Lori Wilde welcomes us to Cupid, Texas, where every wish for love comes true.... "When it hits, you just know..." Natalie McCleary couldn't believe her eyes - a lean-muscled, darkly tanned, nearly naked man stood in her path...and then it hit her: love. Everyone always told her it would hit like a thunderbolt, and she never believed them. But now she knew: practical, sensible Natalie was head over heels in love - with a stranger. But ex-Navy SEAL Dade Vega wasn't about to be a stranger for long. He'd ridden into Cupid on his motorcycle, vowing to keep a promise he'd made to a military buddy. But a single glimpse of Natalie - soaking wet and unexpectedly tempting - changed his life forever. But how can he offer her his love, when he can't even promise to stay in one place for longer than a week?
©2013 Laurie Vanzura (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers
Snapshot
Summary
The photograph - of a raisin-faced baby wearing something pastel - arrives in a blue envelope. There’s no identification or return address, just an unfamiliar postmark. But something in the baby’s face makes Carlotta keep the snapshot. Three weeks later, she finds out why.
©1993 Linda Barnes (P)1994 Recorded Books
Love with a Perfect Cowboy
Summary
Melody Spencer had long ago wiped the dust of Cupid, Texas, off her cute shoes…and done her best to forget the chiseled jaw and strong arms of cowboy Luke Spencer. Their families might be part of a long-time feud, but he was her very first love, even if it turned out they never wanted the same things. But now Luke's come striding back into her life, tempting her with the memories of long, lazy evenings and hot, passionate kisses. And he has an ulterior motive - as Mayor of Cupid, he knows Melody's business savvy can help save their beloved hometown. His smooth talking might get her to Texas, but that doesn't mean he'll get her in his bed. Still, people do say love can be more perfect the second time around.…
©2014 Laurie Vanzura (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers
All Out of Love
Summary
The newest Cupid, Texas romance, from the author of The First Love Cookie Club and the Jubilee, Texas novels... Football star Pierce Hollister has fame, fortune, and beautiful women who'll do anything for him... whether he asks them to or not. But when it all comes crashing down, Pierce finds himself back home, running the ranch in Cupid, Texas, wondering how it all went wrong. But one thing is right: Lace Bettingfield. The former plain-Jane has turned into a luscious knockout - trouble is, she won't even give him the time of day no matter how many passes he makes. Being in love with your older brother's best friend is awkward enough, and Pierce was the cause of Lace's most embarrassing high school moment ever when her secret letter to him declaring her love landed right on the front page of the school newspaper! Pierce is still as stubborn, sexy, and arrogant as ever... but Lace is about to see that things aren't always as they seem... especially when it comes to love.
©2013 Laurie Vanzura (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers
The Snake Tattoo
Summary
Carlotta is eating pizza when two cases are dumped into her denimclad lap. One will take her into a combat zone of hookers and pimps, the other onto the campus of a wealthy prep school.
©1989 Linda Appleblatt Barnes (P)1993 Recorded Books, LLC