An Honest Living
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Ari Fliakos
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By:
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Dwyer Murphy
About this listen
“Like the best noir practitioners, Murphy uses the mystery as scaffolding to assemble a world of fallen dreams and doom-bitten characters . . . Murphy’s hard-boiled rendering of the city is nothing short of exquisite . . . For anyone who wants a portrait of this New York, few recent books have conjured it so vividly.”—The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice
• A Best Book of the Year from The New Yorker, LitHub, CrimeReads, and more!
A sharp and stylish debut from the editor-in-chief of CrimeReads in which an unwitting private eye gets caught up in a crime of obsession between a reclusive literary superstar and her bookseller husband, paying homage to the noir genre just as smartly as it reinvents it
After leaving behind the comforts and the shackles of a prestigious law firm, a restless attorney makes ends meet in mid-2000s Brooklyn by picking up odd jobs from a colorful assortment of clients. When a mysterious woman named Anna Reddick turns up at his apartment with ten thousand dollars in cash and asks him to track down her missing husband Newton, an antiquarian bookseller who she believes has been pilfering rare true crime volumes from her collection, he trusts it will be a quick and easy case. But when the real Anna Reddick—a magnetic but unpredictable literary prodigy—lands on his doorstep with a few bones to pick, he finds himself out of his depth, drawn into a series of deceptions involving Joseph Conrad novels, unscrupulous booksellers, aspiring flâneurs, and seedy real estate developers.
Set against the backdrop of New York at the tail end of the analog era and immersed in the worlds of literature and bookselling, An Honest Living is a gripping story of artistic ambition, obsession, and the small crimes we commit against one another every day.
©2022 Dwyer Murphy (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“It is precisely style and atmosphere that give An Honest Living so much electricity and dimension. Like the best noir practitioners, Murphy uses the mystery as scaffolding to assemble a world of fallen dreams and doom bitten characters . . . Murphy’s hard-boiled rendering of the city is nothing short of exquisite . . . For anyone who wants a portrait of this New York, few recent books have conjured it so vividly. For those who demand a straightforward mystery without any humor, romance and ambience, well, forget it, Jake, it’s literature.”—The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice
“Set amid New York’s rare-book trade, this slow-burning début crime novel is also an atmospheric homage to the film Chinatown.”—The New Yorker
“Murphy’s engrossing debut is a book made for summer reading. It’s a smart, leisurely read, richly layered with movie references and philosophical reflections.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
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Unemployed at 29, Tess Monaghan is willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent—including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton. In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety—and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancée—make the case front page news...and point to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence could prove costly to Tess.
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I'm on #8 - This series is almost unique
- By connie on 02-19-12
By: Laura Lippman
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Bright Lights, Big City
- By: Jay McInerney
- Narrated by: Daniel Passer
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The tragicomedy of a young man in New York City, a writer, never named, who works as a fact-checker for a prestigious magazine. He struggles with the reality of his mother's death, alienation, and the seductive pull of drugs and a vibrant nightlife.
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Curiously, mundanely real
- By Amber on 01-07-12
By: Jay McInerney
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The Merlot Murders
- A Wine Country Mystery
- By: Ellen Crosby
- Narrated by: P. J. Davis-Oran
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Lucie Montgomery's semi-estranged brother, Eli, calls her in France to tell her that their father, Leland, has been killed in a hunting accident on the family's 500-acre Virginia vineyard. But the vineyard is now shabby and run-down and her siblings want to sell it. Then Lucie's godfather tells her Leland's death was no accident. With her greedy brother, hell-raising sister, and a seemingly cut-rate vintner hired by Leland just before he died, all the suspects are disturbingly close to home.
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Wine & history w/ your mystery!
- By Cracker1951 on 03-27-08
By: Ellen Crosby
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The Good Friday Murder
- A Christine Bennett Mystery, Book 1
- By: Lee Harris
- Narrated by: Dee Macaluso
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Christine Bennett has left the cloistered world of nuns for the profane world of New York State, where murder and madness are often linked. At a town meeting, Christine volunteers to investigate a 40-year-old murder case long since closed. Now she'll move heaven and earth to exonerate a pair of retarded savant twins, now senior citizens, of their mother's murder on Good Friday in 1950.
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Polite procedural cozy
- By connie on 12-29-12
By: Lee Harris
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Loot
- By: Aaron Elkins
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In April 1945, The Nazis, reeling and near defeat, frantically work to hide the huge store of art treasures that Hitler has looted from Europe. Truck convoys loaded with the cultural wealth of the Western world pour in an unending stream into the compound of the vast Altaussee salt mine high in the Austrian Alps. But with the Allies closing in, the vaunted efficiency of the Nazis has broken down. At Altaussee, all is tumult and confusion.
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This book was a wonderful example of why I normally avoid histfiction: too good, too gripping! Now I need to read Monuments Men!
- By Logophile on 08-01-24
By: Aaron Elkins
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The Eighth Commandment
- By: Lawrence Sanders
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Damaretion, the prized Greek coin from Archibald Havistock's collection, disappears and appraiser Mary Lou "Dunk" Bateson comes under suspicion, Bateson, a cop, and an insurance investigator set out to solve the crime.
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It was a nice listen
- By John on 10-01-12
By: Lawrence Sanders
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The Fallen
- By: T. Jefferson Parker
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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My life was ordinary until three years ago when I was thrown out of a downtown hotel window. My name is Robbie Brownlaw, and I am a homicide detective for the city of San Diego. I am 29 years old. I now have synesthesia, a neurological condition where your senses get mixed up. Sometimes when people talk to me, I see their voices as colored shapes provoked by the emotions of the speakers, not by the words themselves. I have what amounts to a primitive lie detector.
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OK, but...
- By Robert E. Orlando on 01-01-14
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The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
- By: Dinaw Mengestu
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Ethiopian émigré Dinaw Mengestu is a skilled observer of people who offers a colorful debut work of fiction. Insightful and swiftly paced, this novel evokes past and present in the course of its compelling narrative. It's the `70s, and one D.C. neighborhood is undergoing big changes. In the mix is Ethiopian grocery owner Sepha Stephanos - a man with a complex past who fled his homeland after seeing his father brutalized by themilitary. He hopes for new prospects in D.C.'s gentrification process.
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Great book, wonderful reader
- By Lisbeth on 11-22-11
By: Dinaw Mengestu
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Insomniac City
- New York, Oliver, and Me
- By: Bill Hayes
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Bill Hayes came to New York City in 2009 with a one-way ticket and only the vaguest idea of how he would get by. But, at 48 years old, having spent decades in San Francisco, he craved change. Grieving over the death of his partner, he quickly discovered the profound consolations of the city's incessant rhythms, the sight of the Empire State Building against the night sky, and New Yorkers themselves, kindred souls that Hayes, a lifelong insomniac, encountered on late-night strolls with his camera.
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Touching and Intimate Portrait
- By Amazon Customer on 01-18-19
By: Bill Hayes
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Crewel World
- By: Monica Ferris
- Narrated by: Susan Boyce
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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When Betsy Devonshire arrived in Excelsior, Minnesota, all she wanted was to visit her sister Margot and get her life in order. She never dreamed her sister would give her a place to stay and a job at her needlecraft shop. In fact, things had never looked so good - until Margot was murdered. In a town this friendly, it's hard to imagine who could have committed such a horrible act, but Betsy has a few ideas. There's an ex-employee who wants to start her own needlework store. And there's the landlord who wanted Margot out. Now Betsy's putting together a list of motives and suspects....
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British style mystery set in America
- By Sara on 01-13-14
By: Monica Ferris
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The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
- By: Sloan Wilson
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the story of Tom and Betsy Rath, a young couple with everything going for them: three healthy children, a nice home, a steady income. They have every reason to be happy, but for some reason they are not. Like so many young men of the day, Tom finds himself caught up in the corporate rat race - what he encounters there propels him on a voyage of self-discovery that will turn his world inside out.
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great read/listen
- By BBJ on 09-26-16
By: Sloan Wilson
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The Book of Air and Shadows
- A Novel
- By: Michael Gruber
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Jake Mishkin's seemingly innocent job as an intellectual property lawyer has put him at the center of a deadly conspiracy and a chase to find a priceless treasure involving William Shakespeare. As he awaits a killer (or killers) unknown, Jake writes an account of the events that led to this deadly endgame, a frantic chase that began when a fire in an antiquarian bookstore revealed the hiding place of letters containing a shocking secret, concealed for 400 years.
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Not your average story.
- By Nicholas Winn on 06-02-07
By: Michael Gruber
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Cop Hater
- 87th Precinct Series, Book 1
- By: Ed McBain
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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When a sniper begins gunning down cops from the 87th Precinct in cold blood, it’s up to Detective Steve Carella to solve the case. With three cops already dead, Carella delves into the city’s underworld to search for the killer.
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Dang, it's about time for the 87th Precinct
- By Eric J. Toll on 05-17-14
By: Ed McBain
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Big City, Bad Blood
- By: Sean Chercover
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Disillusioned newspaper reporter-turned-private detective Ray Dudgeon doesn't want to save the world; he just wants to do an honest job well. But when doing an honest job threatens society's most powerful and corrupt, Ray's odds of survival make for a sucker's bet.
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Quintessentially Chicago
- By Eva Gannon on 09-21-09
By: Sean Chercover
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Dead Irish
- Dismas Hardy, Book 1
- By: John Lescroart
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In his new life as a bartender at the Little Shamrock, Dismas Hardy is just hoping for a little peace. He's left both the police force and his law career behind. Unfortunately it's not as easy to leave behind the memory of a shattering personal loss - but for the time being, he can always take the edge off with a stiff drink and a round of darts.
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Soap-opera thrillers?
- By Snoodely on 01-27-10
By: John Lescroart
What listeners say about An Honest Living
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Nicole Hurtado Docati
- 02-04-24
The beginning of the story was very engaging and the reading had a great tone and pace.
The story has a very anticlimactic ending, however the reading was very good. Would recommend this reader maybe not the author.
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- SB
- 07-26-22
Promising start, failed to deliver
The narrator was the perfect choice for this novel. He did an excellent job. The story got off to a wonderful start, it was very well written with several interesting threads. The last third of the novel was a huge disappointment. All those threads were left dangling. Quite frankly, the ending baffled me. It made no sense, answered no questions, and generally insulted the listener who had hung in for the whole book. I feel cheated and that I wasted my time.
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3 people found this helpful
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- ZUrlocker
- 09-28-23
A noir homage. Or maybe pastiche. You decide.
I picked it up on a whim. I like noir. But this... it was something else. An homage. Or maybe a pastiche. To be honest, it was hard to say. I'm all for mystery, but it starts to get tedious. Maybe this was a book where nothing happens and people are just talking all the time going off into the woods. Is it Chinatown? Or maybe some Conrad story we're stuck in. Who knows? I wasn't sure I was following the story. Not sure I wanted to know. It was a long story that hung together pretty loosely. The man's confession was wrapped in his own skin. There was a great deal more to the story but I couldn't remember all the details. I needed a drink. Deserved one for finishing. Didn't we all?
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- peter walsh
- 08-19-24
Great writing!
modern noir! Full of city metaphor. Catch’s the smells and brings them to the readers nose.
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- Claire P.
- 08-30-22
A True Noir
There’s a disaffected narrator, a damsel in distress who may or may not have a secret, a crime (or two), enough dry observations to make you reach for a cool drink, and even a fat man. Beautifully read.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Faith
- 10-27-22
Dud
writing style great, performance great, story overall flat and lacking...just kept thinking there had to be more
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1 person found this helpful
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- Owlet
- 07-30-22
A thoroughly enjoyable listen
Mr. Murphy’s prose is nicely balanced and sharply executed. I found his attention to detail about the gritty beauty of life in NYC and Brooklyn so gratifyingly rendered. The overall tone is slightly sardonic without being embittered or dark, and i found the protagonist to be relatable and likable. The author takes us into the world of his characters while letting the characters develop in the slow and subtle unfolding of an old-fashioned crime story— no overdramatized hyperbole, just a keen eye for both the facts and ambiguities of life and human nature, with a dash of mystery thrown in.
The narration is excellent, nicely paced and moderated, with just the right combination of warmth and irony.
This is a great first venture into crime noir for the author, and i hope there will be sequels to come.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Katherine F.
- 08-01-22
Very enjoyable
Expertly read, well written. The book references and lightly mirrors Chinatown - I was eager to restart listening throughout. Not as tight as a standard whodunnit, but that somehow made it more likable, not less.
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1 person found this helpful
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- jaf
- 09-28-23
Great narrator no plot
If you like NYC you might like this gritty travelogue but that’s all it is. No big mystery or even plot
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-18-23
Disappointing
This story was lacking in any kind of finality as well as any real plot. Had I realized it was over when it was, I would have stopped listening, and gotten my money back. Read something else.
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1 person found this helpful