I really wanted to like Down Cemetery Road.. The plot twists were decent, but it left me wanting more from the characters. Narration was good.

Down Cemetery Road (Zoë Boehm #1)
By Mick Herron, narrated by Alix Dunmore

I now have another author I want to follow after I had the opportunity to download and listen to this audiobook, narrated by Alix Dunmore, and publishing in August 2025. Down Cemetery Road was first published in 2003 and since then Herron has written more books in this series, the Slough House series, and stand alone stories. This is one of those authors I've heard of but haven't tried before. Now, after listening to this book, I'm going to read the entire series and then will probably move on to The Slough House series.

For a book that shows that there are some entities and individuals that not only don't value human life but actually enjoy offing people as a career choice, this story has a lot of humor in it. Bored housewife, Sarah Tucker does a good job of carrying this story because she is smart, snarky, and gives as good as she gets. She wasn't always the businessman's wife who, on the surface, helps the household run smoothly so he can bring in the bucks for their little family of two. Back in college she was a different person, one who didn't hide her wild and crazy self all the time but she's paid a price for that wildness and now her wild side is pushed so far down she barely remembers it.

Her life literally "blows up" when there is an explosion nearby her house while she and her husband are hosting a small dinner party. When Sarah remembers that a little girl lived at that house and she becomes obsessed with finding out how the little girl is doing, Sarah pulls herself and those she comes into contact with, into one heck of a mess. The mess was always there, things were always going to happen without Sarah being involved, but now Sarah is drawing people into the mess as if they were toilet paper stuck on the heel of her shoe and things will not go well for those in Sarah's wake.

This series is really the Zoë Boehm series but in this book Sarah is the focus and I enjoy seeing things through her eyes and being in her head. Even the worse things can seem funny filtered through Sarah, terrible but still with a funny slant. Sarah might be fun to hang out with if we could do away with all the carnage, gore, psychopathic killers, and cruelty. Alix Dunmore narrates the story very well, handling all the voices well enough that there was no need for another narrator. I do wish that the ending wasn't so sudden because I'd have appreciated a bit more detail of the people still standing (or sitting) at the end of the book.

Thanks to RBmedia | Recorded Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

I was drawn to this story by the blurb, however the story went down a very different route. Unfortunately I didn't like the audiobook's narrator, which honestly can make or break your enjoyment of the book.

This was a clever, twisty mystery with a strong sense of atmosphere. I liked the writing style and the dark humor throughout. Sarah was an interesting lead, though her choices were a little frustrating at times. Some parts of the plot felt a bit messy, but overall it was a fun, fast paced read that kept me guessing.