by Jack Trebly, narrated by Angela Dawe

An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin

I totally enjoyed The Red Zeppelin by Jack Trebly!  What an unusual cast of characters, and what an extraordinary setting!

It reminded me of Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” or her “Murder on the Orient Express” except this murder mystery did not take place on an isolated island in a storm, or a train speeding across Europe, but in the gondola on the underbelly of an airship, a blimp, a German Zeppelin flying over the Atlantic from Seville, Spain to New York City. In any case, there is no escape. Except by death.

The main character, an MI5 operative, is Ms. Hilary Manningham-Butler who is disguised as ‘a man of leisure’, a Mr. Reginald Bland, and is looked after by his/her valet, Maurice who obviously is in on the game and calls her/him, “Monsieur.”

The 1930’s mystery involves the theft of some top-secret documents from Scotland Yard involving the royal family. Their revelation to the press would become a horrendous national security breach. Mr. Bland is tasked with finding the evidence on one of the passengers aboard the Zeppelin and destroying it. But on which passenger?  No one is whom they seem to be (including herself/herself).

As people get murdered, and nothing makes sense, the risk gets higher until even Mr. Bland’s life is in danger. And then all this suspense is compounded when an immense electrical storm engulfs the Zeppelin and damages it. Whoa!

This is a wonderful mystery adventure in a very unique setting. You will be awed, surprised, stumped, and wowed as you listen to this book. You are “there” on that Zeppelin.

The narration is very good, but I did lower the speed a notch.

FIVE stars.

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