Audio Review: Come to Dust by J.S. Cook – Narrated by Joel Leslie

Author: J.S. Cook

Narrator:: Joel Leslie

Run Time: 7 hours and 53 minutes

At a Glance: Joel Leslie does a fantastically entertaining interpretation of J.S. Cook’s Come to Dust.

Reviewed By: Maryann

Blurb: In the frigid winter of 1891, with the nation still reeling from the Barings bank crisis, Inspector Philemon Raft returns from an involuntary sabbatical, tasked with solving the kidnapping of highly placed peer Alice Dewberry. Thrust into a sordid underworld where the upper classes indulge in disreputable overseas investments designed to fatten their pocketbooks, Raft finds himself at loose ends without his companion, Constable Freddie Crook. Far from offering their help, the ton use every asset at their disposal to keep Raft from discovering the truth about hapless kidnap victim Alice Dewberry—who may not even exist.
Soon Raft discovers that his old nemesis, the workhouse master John Gallant, has returned to London. Gallant doesn’t say what he wants—but he knows enough to ruin Raft’s career and even his life. Raft tries to solve the case with his usual strange insight, but there are other, darker forces at work. This is a frightened London: the London of Whitechapel, of Jack the Ripper, the London of poverty, dirt and despair, where a right turn down the wrong alley could earn Raft a swift trip to the morgue.

Review: Inspector Philemon Raft is back, but he’s without Constable Freddie Crook, his lover. Freddie has gone to Argentina for a year, and Raft is no longer sure if he’s coming back. Raft has to go on, though, and he’s grumpy and lonely and has been stuck with a new constable, Prentiss Cholmondely. As they work together to solve the kidnapping case of Miriam Dewberry, a great respect develops between them and Raft takes note of the talent Cholmondely has as a constable.

I really favored Prentiss, a young man who married at the age of seventeen to a thirty-year-old woman. Now divorced, he has a son he feels guilt for not fighting for. His working relationship becomes so much more with Raft—I loved him and could see him with a story of his own.

J.S. Cook is just amazing at making Scotland Yard and London come alive in the 1800s. Such a twisted murder plot woven with some of Raft’s nemesis and an evil sister. Because the first two books, Willing Flesh and Rag & Bone, are not easy to find, I had just a bit of trouble when I started. Some characters and bits of the previous stories carry over to Come to Dust, but this is still an extraordinary story from this author.

Joel Leslie does a fantastically entertaining interpretation of J.S. Cook’s Come to Dust, with so many different voices and dialects from London, France and South America. There was no issue at all distinguishing between the different characters, and I really liked the emotion Mr. Leslie brought to the story, especially in Prentiss Cholmondely. When he says good-bye to Raft, it’s just so emotional and really tugs at the heart.