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The Long Game

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The Long Game

By: Simon Rowell
Narrated by: Elle Mickel
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About this listen

A tightly wound debut crime novel set in Melbourne and surrounds, for fans of Sarah Bailey, Garry Disher and J. M. Green.

A summer of relentless heat. A local surfer named Ray Carlson is found dead in a house not far from Portsea back beach. There’s a silver-handled kitchen knife deep in his chest, and blood everywhere.

Detective Sergeant Zoe Mayer is scarcely back from extended leave and still wrestling with her demons, but she is assigned the case, alongside her new service dog, Harry, whose instincts help her in unexpected ways.

There’s an obvious suspect for the murder, and Zoe makes an arrest. But it’s all too neat, and none of Zoe’s colleagues believes her theory that the whole thing is a stitch-up.

Except now someone is trying to hunt Zoe down.

Superbly plotted, and vividly set in the beachside suburbs and hilly retreats around Melbourne, The Long Game is a mystery about a tough and clever investigator who won’t give up.

©2021 Simon Rowell (P)2021 W F Howes Crime Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Sports

Critic Reviews

"Beautifully written, this clever crime thriller kept me hooked till the end." (Sara Foster, best-selling author of You Don’t Know Me)

"A sharply written, vividly set page-turner, inhabited by memorable characters, including Harry the loyal service dog." (Tania Chandler, author of All That I Remember About Dean Cola)

"The Long Game is a nail-biting ride. Detective Sergeant Zoe Mayer and her service dog, Harry, kept me enthralled to the end." (Greg Woodland, author of The Night Whistler)
All stars
Most relevant  
You have to relax and allow yourself to be led along by the author.
The twists to the plot are mostly unexpected and the villain very believable in a modern context.

The narration has some words that are pronounced strangely and in my opinion some of the emphasis is exaggerated, unfortunately.

Appropriate Title

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I loved the characters and the story. Although I guessed the murderer - eventually. The narrator was excellent. 👍🏻

Great crime mystery

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Well written and well narrated. An enjoyable page turner with strong character engagement. A must read for fans of the Australian detective genre

Very good!

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Narration was excellent. Some elements of the story were a little far fetched but exciting nevertheless. Melbourne in February captured to a T.

loved it because I love Melbourne

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Found this story most enjoyable. Story line and characters were enjoyable. It’s twists and turns had me enthralled. Narration was good, I’ll certainly be looking forward to more of Simon Rowell’s books.

Great Aussie Drama

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Interesting story, fast paced with a few twists. Enjoyed looking listening to a story based in known localities

Captivating Narrative

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I really enjoyed this book with Zoe Mayer solving the "who done it" in true and believable style. I'll be reading the next book in this series and reckon it will be just as good as the first.

Great story with terrific "who done it" plot.

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Couldn’t really get into tithe story tried and listened to the whole thing but didn’t enjoy it and found it very forgetful.

Struggled

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I couldn’t put this book down! The strong female lead Zoe and her loveable service dog Harry, the gripping plot that had me guessing at every step, and the riveting pace of this crime novel was brilliant. I highly recommend!

A gripping read

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This was a reasonably straightforward police procedural. Being set in Australia made it nice, hot summery Februarys and all.
The narrator did a good job and I didn't need to look up the written version.
I might even read another about Detective Zoe Mayer and her dog Harry.

Australian police procedural

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