
A Matter of Policy
An Amy Brewster Mystery
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $11.66
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Janelle Bigham
-
By:
-
Sam Merwin Jr.
About this listen
A Matter of Policy is an enthralling listen that begins when a young friend of Amy Brewster finds his life in jeopardy when an unknown mastermind insures it for one million dollars. When a private detective hired to protect the young man is the first victim, Amy Brewster must think fast and act faster if she is to learn who is behind the plot on the young man’s life in time to save him.
Is it Tosta Kaaren, aka the Canarsie Swede, a platinum-blonde nightclub singer whose real name is Toots Carlin? Or Paulie Paulec, the local crime boss who has a finger in every racket in town? Or playboy Lance Torrey, whose sources of income are suspect at best?
This is one of three suspenseful Amy Brewster mystery reprints by the legendary Golden Age mystery writer/editor Sam Merwin, Jr., available for the first time in more than 50 years!
©2001 Page Turner (P)2018 Page TurnerListeners also enjoyed...
-
Wild Cards I
- Wild Cards, Book 1
- By: George R. R. Martin - editor
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the aftermath of WWII, an alien virus struck the Earth, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Originally published in 1987, the newly expanded saga contains additional original stories by eminent writers.
-
-
Dry Politics
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-24-13
-
Meet the Tiger
- A Simon “The Saint” Templar Novel
- By: Leslie Charteris
- Narrated by: John Rayburn
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fiction world of today needs a “Saint” more than it ever did. For years now that scene has been dominated by the “anti-heroes"—those grim gray operators in a sunless sub-culture where global issues are worked out with totally unemotional pragmatism, those hapless uninspired puppets manipulated and expended by ruthlessly dedicated little brothers of Big Brother. It made morbidly fascinating narrative, but it never gave anyone a lift until it climaxed in the hyper-gadgeted parodies of 007 extravaganzas.
-
-
droning
- By Kindle Customer on 04-27-24
By: Leslie Charteris
-
Her Forbidden Knight
- By: Rex Stout
- Narrated by: Jonah Cummings
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, the Lamartine Hotel was a quiet refuge for New York’s stuffy fashionable set. But by the 1890s, fashion has moved uptown, and the lobby of the Lamartine has been overtaken by natty young sports, who pass their afternoons with billiards or shows of noisy derring-do. Their preferred damsel is Lila Williams, a delicate young telegraph operator whose shyness so charms them that they resolve to defend her against any ill-behaved characters. They are about to face their fiercest challenger, who rides in the gleaming armor of a millionaire.
-
-
a slow starter but...
- By Steven on 05-06-21
By: Rex Stout
-
The Singapore Wink
- Mysterious Press - HighBridge Audio Classics
- By: Ross Thomas
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two pirates do battle on an old junk ship in Singapore Harbor. They leap nimbly from deck to rigging, crossing swords like fencing masters. And then one surprises the other, slicing a rope and sending the unfortunate pirate tumbling into the bay. This is how stuntman Angelo Sacchetti dies. Edward Cauthorne was his opponent, a fellow stuntman whose career died along with Sacchetti. He’s selling used cars when two thugs approach him.
By: Ross Thomas
-
Face to Face
- By: Ellery Queen
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gloria Guild is the singing "glory" of the thirties and the millionairess wife of Count Carlos Armando, renowned only for his succession of wealthy wives. When she is murdered, her husband is the obvious suspect, but he has a perfect alibi. So who could he have got to do it for him? The only clue is the word "face," penned in her dying scrawl. But whose face? And why? Ellery Queen pursues the glory riddle from the Bowery to a way-out wedding - and a surprise climax that will jolt you into cold shock. Anyone whonails this killer before Queen is either a genius or a cheat.
-
-
One of the best queens stories
- By peter on 09-21-20
By: Ellery Queen
-
No Game for a Dame
- Maggie Sullivan Mystery, Book 1
- By: M. Ruth Myers
- Narrated by: Mary Ann Jacobs
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A .38, a nip of gin, and sensational legs get Depression-era private investigator Maggie Sullivan out of most scrapes - until a stranger threatens to bust her nose, she's hauled in on suspicion of his murder and she finds herself in the cross-hairs of a crime boss with connections at City Hall.
-
-
A Perfect LISTEN: Pithy Mystery + Spot-On Voice
- By JHague on 07-16-15
By: M. Ruth Myers
-
Wild Cards I
- Wild Cards, Book 1
- By: George R. R. Martin - editor
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the aftermath of WWII, an alien virus struck the Earth, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Originally published in 1987, the newly expanded saga contains additional original stories by eminent writers.
-
-
Dry Politics
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-24-13
-
Meet the Tiger
- A Simon “The Saint” Templar Novel
- By: Leslie Charteris
- Narrated by: John Rayburn
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fiction world of today needs a “Saint” more than it ever did. For years now that scene has been dominated by the “anti-heroes"—those grim gray operators in a sunless sub-culture where global issues are worked out with totally unemotional pragmatism, those hapless uninspired puppets manipulated and expended by ruthlessly dedicated little brothers of Big Brother. It made morbidly fascinating narrative, but it never gave anyone a lift until it climaxed in the hyper-gadgeted parodies of 007 extravaganzas.
-
-
droning
- By Kindle Customer on 04-27-24
By: Leslie Charteris
-
Her Forbidden Knight
- By: Rex Stout
- Narrated by: Jonah Cummings
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, the Lamartine Hotel was a quiet refuge for New York’s stuffy fashionable set. But by the 1890s, fashion has moved uptown, and the lobby of the Lamartine has been overtaken by natty young sports, who pass their afternoons with billiards or shows of noisy derring-do. Their preferred damsel is Lila Williams, a delicate young telegraph operator whose shyness so charms them that they resolve to defend her against any ill-behaved characters. They are about to face their fiercest challenger, who rides in the gleaming armor of a millionaire.
-
-
a slow starter but...
- By Steven on 05-06-21
By: Rex Stout
-
The Singapore Wink
- Mysterious Press - HighBridge Audio Classics
- By: Ross Thomas
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two pirates do battle on an old junk ship in Singapore Harbor. They leap nimbly from deck to rigging, crossing swords like fencing masters. And then one surprises the other, slicing a rope and sending the unfortunate pirate tumbling into the bay. This is how stuntman Angelo Sacchetti dies. Edward Cauthorne was his opponent, a fellow stuntman whose career died along with Sacchetti. He’s selling used cars when two thugs approach him.
By: Ross Thomas
-
Face to Face
- By: Ellery Queen
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gloria Guild is the singing "glory" of the thirties and the millionairess wife of Count Carlos Armando, renowned only for his succession of wealthy wives. When she is murdered, her husband is the obvious suspect, but he has a perfect alibi. So who could he have got to do it for him? The only clue is the word "face," penned in her dying scrawl. But whose face? And why? Ellery Queen pursues the glory riddle from the Bowery to a way-out wedding - and a surprise climax that will jolt you into cold shock. Anyone whonails this killer before Queen is either a genius or a cheat.
-
-
One of the best queens stories
- By peter on 09-21-20
By: Ellery Queen
-
No Game for a Dame
- Maggie Sullivan Mystery, Book 1
- By: M. Ruth Myers
- Narrated by: Mary Ann Jacobs
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A .38, a nip of gin, and sensational legs get Depression-era private investigator Maggie Sullivan out of most scrapes - until a stranger threatens to bust her nose, she's hauled in on suspicion of his murder and she finds herself in the cross-hairs of a crime boss with connections at City Hall.
-
-
A Perfect LISTEN: Pithy Mystery + Spot-On Voice
- By JHague on 07-16-15
By: M. Ruth Myers
-
The Roman Hat Mystery
- By: Ellery Queen
- Narrated by: Deaver Brown
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mystery set in a large occupied theater with an unexplained mystery.
By: Ellery Queen
-
This Rough Magic
- A Shot in the Dark
- By: Josh Lanyon
- Narrated by: Jordan Murphy
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealthy playboy Brett Sheridan thinks he knows the score when he hires tough guy private eye Neil Patrick Rafferty to find a priceless stolen folio of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Brett's convinced his partner-in-crime sister is behind the theft - a theft that's liable to bring more scandal to their eccentric family, and cost Brett his marriage to society heiress Juliet Lennox. What Brett doesn't count on is the instant and powerful attraction that flares between him and Rafferty.
-
-
Disappointing work from a favourite author
- By Ben on 04-09-15
By: Josh Lanyon
-
The Holy
- By: Daniel Quinn
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They knew us before we began to walk upright. Shamans called them guardians, mythmakers called them tricksters, pagans called them gods, churchmen called them demons, folklorists called them shape-shifters. They've obligingly taken any role we've assigned them, and, while needing nothing from us, have accepted whatever we thought was their due?
-
-
immaculate
- By Samuel Castonguay on 06-14-19
By: Daniel Quinn
-
The Glass Key
- By: Dashiell Hammett
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paul Madvig was a cheerfully corrupt ward-heeler who aspired to something better: the daughter of Senator Ralph Bancroft Henry, the heiress to a dynasty of political purebreds. Did he want her badly enough to commit murder? And if Madvig was innocent, which of his dozens of enemies was doing an awfully good job of framing him? Dashiell Hammett’s tour de force of detective fiction combines an airtight plot, authentically venal characters, and writing of telegraphic crispness. A one-time detective and a master of deft understatement, Hammett invented the noir crime novel.
-
-
Pacing Quick & Plot was Goldilocks
- By Darwin8u on 05-16-12
By: Dashiell Hammett
-
'til Death
- Rockwell Return Files Series, Book 1
- By: Jason Anspach
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam Rockwell came home from the Second World War to work as a fledgling private investigator specializing in helping "Returns": recently deceased ghosts who've come back with unfinished business. Short on experience and long on the imitated swagger of the detectives found in his dog-eared collection of pulp fiction P.I. mysteries, the quick-witted Sam waits for his big break - and his chance to win the heart of Amelia, his Girl Friday. But when his no-nonsense father is murdered and becomes a Return himself, everything changes.
-
-
Fallible, loveable Cold War supernatural P.I.
- By John Spears on 11-10-18
By: Jason Anspach
-
QED
- Queen’s Experiments in Detection
- By: Ellery Queen
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Let Ellery Queen clue you in on his special brand of high tension, brain-teasing mystery! This collection consists of novelettes and short stories from Queen's many escapades.
-
-
A great series of short stories
- By Henry Maicki II on 07-31-17
By: Ellery Queen
-
Strangers on a Train
- By: Patricia Highsmith
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Patricia Highsmith's debut novel, we encounter Guy Haines and Charles Anthony Bruno, passengers on the same train. But while Guy is a successful architect in the midst of a divorce, Bruno turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who manipulates Guy into swapping murders with him. As Bruno carries out his twisted plan, Guy is trapped in Highsmith's perilous world - where, under the right circumstances, anybody is capable of murder.
-
-
Not my cup of tea
- By jesshway on 11-25-15
-
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A classic novel by John D. MacDonald with an exclusive introduction written and read by Dean Koontz. Once an ordinary math teacher, Omar Krepps developed a knack for gambling, amassed a fabulous fortune, and spent the rest of his life traveling the world and giving away his millions. Upon his death, however, Krepps bequeaths nothing to his nephew and only living blood relative, Kirby Winter - nothing, that is, except an antique watch and a sealed letter to be opened after one year. But Kirby has much more in his possession than he realizes. The watch has the power to manipulate time.
-
-
NOT Unabridged!
- By S. Scott on 01-05-15
-
The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Hoag has a curious problem. Every evening, he finds a mysterious reddish substance under his fingernails, with no memory what he was doing during the day to get it there. Jonathan hires the husband and wife detective team of Ted and Cynthia Randall to follow him during the day and find out. But Ted and Cynthia find themselves instantly out of their depth. Jonathan leaves no fingerprints. His few memories about his profession turn out to be false.
-
-
Brilliant Sci-Fi Detective Action!
- By Nils J. Rasmussen on 04-18-14
-
The Brass Cupcake: A Novel
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A classic novel by John D. MacDonald with an exclusive introduction written and read by Dean Koontz. Ex-cop Cliff Bartells might be the last honest man in Florence City, Florida. After quitting the force over a crisis of conscience, he takes a job at an insurance company buying back stolen jewelry. Cliff is focused on keeping the bottom line down and staying out of the spotlight.But when an affluent tourist from Boston is murdered over a hefty collection of jewelry, Cliff finds himself wrapped up in a case that’s making national headlines.
-
-
Good Social History ...
- By Montana on 05-14-17
-
I, the Jury
- By: Mickey Spillane
- Narrated by: Mike Dennis
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here's Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer in their roughest and readiest—a double-strength shot of sex, violence, and action that is vintage Spillane all the way. It's a tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans!
-
-
read this one for what it is
- By Midwestbonsai on 07-08-16
By: Mickey Spillane
-
The Grifters
- By: Jim Thompson
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim Thompson's classic The Grifters is one of the best novels ever written about the art of the con, an ingeniously crafted story of deception and betrayal that was the basis for the critically acclaimed film by Stephen Frears and Martin Scorcese. To his friends, to his coworkers, and even to his mistress Moira, Roy Dillon is an honest hardworking salesman. He lives in a cheap hotel just within his pay bracket. He goes to work every day. He has hundreds of friends and associates who could attest to his good character.
-
-
Thompson at his best.
- By Ron on 01-17-12
By: Jim Thompson
Listener received this title free
An enjoyable mystery
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Jim Leavitt is a milquetoast working for a financial company. After his father's suicide, Jim just tries to get by and go unnoticed. When his boss, Mr. Stuveysant, sees a newspaper article saying that Jim is one of the most insured men in the city, the intrigue begins.
This is a great book for the genre. You have thugs, a sultry nightclub singer, a love interest, a police detective, a playboy or two and a gumshoe detective, plus just enough action to keep the story moving at a fast pace.
The character of Amy Brewster is totally unique. Where else will do you find a 300 pound gin-drinking woman who is a PI? The vocabulary and style of writing are pure 1940's and it's fun to read a book without cell phones and computers!
The narrator, Janelle Bigham, does a wonderful job and adds a lot to the enjoyment of the story. She doesn't try to imitate male voices (which hardly ever works) but has enough difference in her inflections for the listener to know who is talking.
If you are fan of this genre, give this one a go. You won't be disappointed!
Noir Female Detective
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
With the death, the police detective takes Jim to the nightclub where the beneficiary stars. But Tosta Kaaren, known as the Canarsie Swede, indicates that the Jim Leavitt she knows is a different man. While waiting for Tosta to perform again, Jim spies Juliana Stuyvesant, his former love and "Old Batwing's" daughter, who has the great detective, Amy Brewster, with her. Together everyone works together to find the fraudster and murderer of the insurance detective.
What follows is a madcap series of events that lead to all manner of craziness. The characters encounter villain after villain, dealing with each one in a unique manner. However, for a book that purports to center on Amy Brewster, it devotes only a small portion of the book to her. Instead, it spends most of its time on Jim and secondarily on Tosta. Further, Amy does not show herself to be the great mind that solves the case, as Jim actually does more thinking than Amy.
The characters in <strong>A Matter of Policy</strong> also did not come across as very realistic to me, especially the women. At one point, Jim knocks out Juliana by hitting her, and that is what makes her decide that she truly does love Jim because he will stand up to her. Even though I recognize that in 1947 people had different standards about physical abuse, the book still thoroughly turned me off by such portrayals. On the other hand, Tosta and Amy show themselves to be strong women, and even though Tosta and Juliana initially express jealousy of each other, all three women come to admire each other by the end.
The very informative introduction talks about Amy Brewster as a "Proto-feminist figure" who would be seen as another Kinsey Milhone [Sue Grafton's detective] if she were written today. While Amy does show an independent spirit and clever mind, it is her disgusting habits that truly define her. Weighing over 300 pounds and described as waddling instead of walking, Amy outeats, out-smokes, and out-swears all the men. This to me does not serve as an exemplar of feminism, just someone with bad behavior and habits.
Janelle Bigham performs the audio edition of this book and proves to be a good choice of actresses to narrate this book. Bigham takes us back to the feel of mystery movies from the Golden Age of Detection (GAD) and uses strong voices in particular for the characters of Tosta and Amy, for example giving Tosta a Brooklyn accent that makes her feel like the tough woman of the 1940s' movies.
<strong>A Matter of Policy</strong> reminded me of a wild adventure book, maybe even comic book, rather than a true mystery, though there is indeed a mystery to the story. It uses a series of crazy adventures with wild encounters with villains that move from episode to episode. As a mystery, I give this only 2.5 stars, but as a historical example of a GAD adventure book, I give it four stars.
A GAD Adventure Book Rather Than Mystery
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fun Mystery
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Trust no one
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
Amy, once again rises to the top like the cream on milk. I enjoyed following along and was clueless as to whodunit. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a good job bringing it to life.
what the what??
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.