Review: The Cuckoo’s Cry by Caroline Overington (audio)

Title: The Cuckoo’s Cry

Author: Caroline Overington

Narrator: Aimee Horne

Published: July 2020, Audible Original

Length: 4 hours 43 minutes

Source: Personal copy

Summary:

On the eve of the
global lockdown, Don Barlow opens the door of his old beachside cottage
to find a pretty girl with pink-tipped hair, claiming to have nowhere to
go.

He allows her entry, and so begins a mystery set in
unprecedented times: with the virus raging outside their home, the girl
cannot be asked to leave, but what does he risk by having her stay?

My thoughts:  As an audible member, every once in a while I take advantage of the free Audible Original stories that they offer each month and this one just jumped out at me. I wondered how long it would take for authors to start writing about COVID 19 and clearly the answer to that is not long.

As someone who has experienced this pandemic in the US, where let’s be honest, things have not really been handled all that well, it was interesting to see this story take place in another country – a country that from what I could tell, handled the pandemic rather well. Australia jumped on top on things and didn’t mess around…I only wish our leaders would take note, but that’s neither here or there.

I loved that this book features a main character that is older. As someone who is not young herself, I always love when authors choose to make their characters have more experience and having Don be almost 70 really makes this book stand out. Of course, there is still a younger character, but Don is really our central one. 

I loved the mystery of this book and having it set during the pandemic just upped the tension. I could relate to so many of this issues that these characters were going through – toilet paper run anyone? – and could see a long-lost relative showing up on your doorstep on the eve of a pandemic might make your other family members suspicious. Of course the characters have secrets and the book keeps you hooked as you try to uncover them before they are revealed.

This is the first time I’ve picked anything up by Caroline Overington but I definitely don’t think it will be the last. This story was engaging from start to finish and I found myself needing to know how it would all be resolved.

Audio thoughts: This was such a great audio book and I thought Aimee Horne did a great job with all the characters. She gave each character their own unique voices and their were some great sound effects, too – the phone calls had a great echo effect, which is the first time I ever really remember hearing that on an audio book. It made the differentiation between phone calls and in-person conversations very clear. Aimee’s intonation and pacing were spot on and I really enjoyed this audio book.