Laura

By: Vera Caspary

Narrated by: Christian Rummel, Eileen Stevens, Oliver Wyman, L. J. Ganser

Laura Hunt was the ideal modern woman: beautiful, elegant, highly ambitious, and utterly mysterious. No man could resist her charms, not even the hardboiled NYPD detective sent to find out who turned her into a faceless corpse. As this tough cop probes the mystery of Laura's death, he becomes obsessed with her strange power.

Laura won lasting renown as an Academy Award-nominated 1944 film, the greatest noir romance of all time. Vera Caspary's equally haunting novel is remarkable for its stylish, hardboiled writing, its electrifying plot twists, and its darkly complex characters - including a woman who stands as the ultimate femme fatale.

©1942, 1943 Vera Caspary (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

Top 100 Mysteries of All Time (Mystery Writers of America)

100 Must-Read Thrillers (International Thriller Writers)

Diverse Personality’s

The first third of the story had my attention and was eager to hear more. But after that I was lost in the phycological bantering.

I like this a lot.

I have always loved the 1940's movie of Laura with Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews and several years ago it prompted me to read the original novel, which is a bit dated but still quite a good read. This is a very creditable audio version. The novel is told from several different points of view and it works well with the multiple readers. My only small criticisms are that Laura's voice is a bit more girlish than the one I hear in my head when I read the novel and Shelby didn't have any trace of a Southern accent. But Waldo Lydecker and Mark McPherson are perfect. I recommend this. I'm already on my second listen.

Great

Not as good as the movie, but still OK.
(I doesn’t have Gene Tierney…)
The end.
🥃👮🏼‍♂️

Wonderful Classic Mystery!

I love the movie, but the book is so much better! A deep psychological crime novel, and, despite its age, neither its plot nor its language is outdated. Terrific read.

Loved the movie, enjoyed the book even more

If you could sum up Laura in three words, what would they be?

Beautiful, trusting, intelligent

Which scene was your favorite?

Dinner scene between Mark and Waldo.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes it was. However, I used it as an incentive to take my morning walk while listening. For that reason, I keprt my listen to about an hour each day.

Any additional comments?

I purchased the book because I always enjoyed the movie and thought I would just relive that experience. It was, however, much more with twists and turns not in the movie.It kept my interest, even though I knew the basic story plot.