Adequately Entertaining. Noticeably Unbalanced.

Shannon Baker tries to find a "sweetspot" mix of mystery and character/setting development to feed her tale about a murder/attempted murder in rural Nebraska. Unfortunately, she can't manage it. To be sure, the crime & investigation in 'Stripped Bare' is well-plotted and keep-you-guessing interesting.. but the author chooses endless gossip amongst the community denizens as the means to explore 'Grand County' and present the suspects. Fully ⅔ of this book could have been set in a beauty parlor with the characters in curlers under giant hair dryers complaining about their philandering husbands and relating the latest antics of the town drunk. It results in a strikingly realistic impression of the community, but it's not my thing (I despise Reality TV, too, btw).

Fortuitously for audiobook afficianados, Megan Tusing turns in an absolute gem of a reading performance. Her impeccable diction, timbre, cadence, and voice-acting are matched with a near-psychic understanding of the author's intentions and a spot-on emotive tone. If you are given the choice between a text version of the book or this Podium Audio product.. take this one hands-down.

In toto, this audiobook rates 5 out of 10 stars. It really doesn't belong in the Mystery/Crime Thriller/Woman Sleuths categories (it's more like a Women's Fiction/Drama entry).. but, regardless, having it in the 'Plus' catalog is appropriate. It was a passable diversion for a couple of quiet afternoons - but not worth a Credit should they ask for one.

[Incidentally: instead of constantly reminding readers that she "might be pregnant", why doesn't Kate just pee on a stick? Pregnancy Tests are like 10 bucks on Amazon]

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