Bob Mortimer's The Long Shoe: quirky, well-narrated cosy crime audiobook

Bob Mortimer’s third mystery novel, The Long Shoe, follows thirtysomething protagonist Matt Giles as his life unravels: he loses his job as a bathroom salesman, faces eviction with his girlfriend Harriet, finds a note saying she has left him, then receives a call offering a job that includes a luxury apartment.

The audiobook carries Mortimer’s trademark quirkiness, including a talking cat, Goodmonson, and whimsical metaphors such as trying to place a face being “like trying to find a mouse’s handbag in a builder’s skip”. The story is told through alternating viewpoints of Matt, Harriet and their neighbour Carol, a sharp-tongued divorcee whose liking for a younger man often lands her in trouble.

Mortimer narrates Matt’s chapters, Arabella Weir voices Carol and Diane Morgan reads Harriet; the review notes Harriet has not left Matt but has been the victim of a crime. Though the plot sometimes strains under contrivances, the surreal humour and the performers’ sharp deliveries are said to keep listeners engaged. The audiobook is available via Simon & Schuster, running 7hr 25min.

Further listening mentioned includes Every Kind of People by Kathryn Faulke (Penguin Audio, 9hr 48min), narrated by Ayesha Antoine, and The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich (Little, Brown Audio, 11hr 27min), read by Marin Ireland.

Key Topics

Culture, Bob Mortimer, Goodmonson, Arabella Weir, Diane Morgan, Audiobook