Murder Upstream: A Detective Mystery

Harding Boys, Book 1

By: Mark Hazard

Narrated by: Andrew Tell

Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

While the town of Harding grapples with a catastrophic and unexpected flood, a young businesswoman is found dead, beaten to death on the steps of her father's mansion.

Detective Kyle Villante gets his first call after coming off a two-year undercover stint that ended in a bloodbath and marred his reputation with the brass. But he doesn't get to work the case alone. Detective Solomon Aduwo of the State Police has arrived in Harding to assist with the investigation. Villante bristles at the perceived leash around his neck, but he and Aduwo set out to work the case, all while Villante struggles to keep secrets and ghosts of the past from coming back to haunt him. Meanwhile, Aduwo has come to Harding with secrets of his own and an agenda that could doom Villante's future.

Murder Upstream is a thrilling mystery, full of vivid characters, puzzling questions, action, and suspense.

©2016 John Oakes (P)2016 John Oakes

I loved this listen so much!

Any additional comments?

I didn't know what to expect with this listen but it was like opening a present and receiving something very special indeed.

The tone of the story, though a murder mystery, is more light than dark and there are several attempts at mirth that balance out the efforts to find the 'whodunnit.'

I found the main character, Villante, an interesting take on a lead (more anti-hero) and his relationship with Aduwo is one that I look forward to seeing again.

The book alludes to things happening to Villante prior to he and Aduwo getting together so I was surprised that this was the first book in the series. That storyline was intriguing unto its own self. Still, even without the pre-novella, this listen was captivating right down to the very last chapter.

If there was any negative to the listen it was with the lack of accents for some of the characters. A few were identified as being from Nigeria and there was barely a hint of said with their spoken word. It was only a minor hiccup though because the narrator was elseways very easy to listen to.

Murder Upstream

Any additional comments?

Enjoyable and entertaining. It took me a bit to really get interested in the story. There were times the story moved a little to slowly. Full of mystery, suspense, humor and secrets with plenty of twists and turns. The humor balances out the story so even though it's a murder mystery it's not a dark story. .

Interesting characters. Detective Villante a somewhat flawed officer is on his first case after coming back from 2 years of undercover work that didn't end well. State Police Detective Aduwo is in town "helping" and doing an investigation of his own. What exactly he is investigating is the question.

Had no idea who the culprit was until it was revealed.

Andrew Tell did a good job with the narration. Pleasant voice. Good character voices. Clearly spoken. Nice pace with the narration. Really liked the way he portrayed Villante's sarcasm and humor. He was able to bring the character's to life. His narration kept me listening through the slow parts of the story.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher.

This book was not for me

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Sure just because it wasn't my kind of story doesn't mean it's. or for everyone. I just had a hard time staying focused on the story.

Which scene was your favorite?

The closing when one of the characters chose opposite of what he was being asked. Trying not to reveal a spoiler.

Any additional comments?

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

Great Mystery

Great mystery! Truly inspired narration plus a great story makes this a fantastic listen! Can't wait to download the next in series! --

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Murder Upstream

Murder Upstream: A Detective Mystery
: Mark Hazard

A police detective returns after undercover work, investigates murders. The mayor wishes to fire him so brings in a state investigator to "help" with the case. There is a hidden agenda though. Many secrets, several suspects, and possibly more than one motive. There is a lot of action, twists and turns and some quiet humor to keep the listener engaged.


I look forward to the next book in this series.



The narration was well done.The characters were well portrayed. Andrew Tell gives good voice to this book.



"I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator."

Excellent listen!

law-enforcement, murder-investigation, relationships, geology, Whispersync

Political interference and mixed loyalties could have crippled the imperfect lead detective on the investigation into the brutal murder of a rich young contractor, and it came close to doing so.
Tasked with a hidden agenda, the Nigerian state cop became the partner in the investigation and also learned some things about himself.
A very busy investigation with frequent plot twists, this proved to be a good mystery with the opportunity for several learning experiences for the reader. Neither a standard procedural nor a cozy, I really enjoyed following these cops, and especially the ending. I was so engrossed that I finished it in one day.
Andrew Tell did excellent work in voice interpreting the rather large group of characters who are primarily male.
I requested and received this book at no cost from the publisher, author, or narrator courtesy of AudioBookBOOM.

Slow to get any where

I found this book on the slow side. I thought at first it would pick up but no I had a hard time slogging through but I did. The narrator was wonderful. He was the main reason I was able to finish the story.

I wanted to love this so much

What disappointed you about Murder Upstream: A Detective Mystery?

Slow, unclear and hard to get into.

Did Andrew Tell do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

It was easy to know he was doing a girl voice, and a guy voice, but aside from that it got harder to know for sure. Some people really stood out, sadly the two main characters were not a part of that small group

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was sad I didn't like it, but I loved the parts I could get into.

Any additional comments?

The narration was really good, and the plot outline was interesting, but for some reason I just wasn’t taken in by the story.

I loved the first chapter a lot, the quirky cop, the music and the energy that was shown was really fun to read, but after that I had to push thru each chapter, and I felt I almost had to take notes just so I would know what was going on. The speed of the reading was a bit slower then I am used to, and if I was able to speed it up a bit on my computer I would have.

I really liked the plot having elements that are not often shown in this kind of light. and the mystery was fun to try and piece together.

I was given this book for free, in return for an unbiased review.