The Alienist is a mystery with big characters and an evocative setting: New York City in the Gilded Age, perhaps one of the most luxurious places and times in history.

If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, The Alienist will scratch your every itch: psychological profiling, immaculate characterizations, and of course, a sick and twisted murderer at the heart of it all. The rich narration of three-time Audie award-winner George Guidall is paced and dramatic (without being over-the-top), ensuring listeners sink right into the plot and stay there without interruption. The chase takes them into NYC’s flashy criminal underground, replete with gin mills and sharp-dressed gangsters, toward a killer more sinister than any of them could have imagined. In an era when psychologists are greeted with derision, one such alienist is secretly enlisted by the police commissioner to work with a respected reporter and determined police secretary to investigate the brutal murder of a young male prostitute. Lula Landry, world-famous supermodel, plunged to her death months ago in what the police wrote off as a suicide.but what if there was something far more insidious at play? As Strike is thrown into the world of the rich and famous, listeners will be hanging on to every word, just as intrigued as the detective himself. To make matters worse, Strike is in debt, living out of his office, and hurting from a fresh breakup-when someone walks into his office with a new case. Detective Cormoran Strike is in a downward spiral after returning to London from Afghanistan, where he lost one of his legs to a land mine.

Narrated spectacularly by BBC regular Robert Glenister, this is a mystery that takes its time, allowing the listener to savor the details rather than rushing them through for a thrill. But don’t be skeptical of listening to an adult mystery from your favorite childhood author-Rowling’s knack for world-building and character creation aids in developing this mystery, which is at once fresh and modern while acting as a well-crafted love letter to classic mysteries.

Rowling, mastermind behind the Harry Potter universe. By now, most of the world knows that Robert Galbraith is actually the pseudonym of J.K.

The sweetness at the bottom of the pie