
The Moth Catcher
A Vera Stanhope 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 $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Janine Birkett
-
By:
-
Ann Cleeves
About this listen
Life seems perfect in the quiet community of Valley Farm. Then a shocking discovery shatters the silence. The owners of a big country house have employed a house sitter, a young ecologist, to look after the place while they're away. But his dead body is found by the side of the lane - a lonely place to die.
When DI Vera Stanhope arrives on the scene, she finds the body of a second man. What the two victims seem to have in common is a fascination with studying moths - and with catching these beautiful, intriguing creatures.
The others who live in Valley Farm have secrets, too: Lorraine's calm demeanor belies a more complex personality; Annie and Sam's daughter, Lizzie, is due to be released from prison; and Nigel watches silently, every day, from his window. As Vera is drawn into the claustrophobic world of this increasingly strange community, she realizes that there may be many deadly secrets trapped there.
©2015 Ann Cleeves (P)2016 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
An Accidental Death
- A DC Smith Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-DCI, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so.
-
-
Excellent British Mystery
- By Customer on 09-07-16
By: Peter Grainger
-
Raven Black
- Book One of the Shetland Island Quartet
- By: Ann Cleeves
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a cold January morning, and Shetland lies beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a splash of color on the frozen ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbor, Catherine Ross. The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man - loner and simpleton Magnus Tait.
-
-
Great start to series, no audio problems anymore
- By Mark on 03-28-17
By: Ann Cleeves
-
The Thursday Murder Club
- A Novel
- By: Richard Osman
- Narrated by: Lesley Manville
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together, they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
-
-
Loved the book but needed better audio production
- By Anne Rivers on 10-29-20
By: Richard Osman
-
The Dark Yorkshire Series: Books 1-3
- The DI Caslin Box Set
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Greg Patmore
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Dark Yorkshire Series - fast-paced crime fiction stories featuring DI Nathaniel Caslin. The first three full-length books in this best-selling series are brought together for the first time in this great value set.
-
-
Nothing spectacular. A good value with the first 3
- By K. Berg on 05-05-20
By: J M Dalgliesh
-
Still Life
- Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
-
A rare find
- By Alex on 01-16-15
By: Louise Penny
-
A Long Time Dead
- A D.I. Duncan McAdam Mystery (The Misty Isle, Book 1)
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
D.I. Duncan McAdam is dispatched home to the Misty Isle. A body has been found buried in a remote location on the Waternish peninsula. Well-preserved in the peat, Isla Matheson—missing for the better part of two decades—is revealed to a shocked island community. A teenage runaway is dead...and no one is talking.
-
-
totally enjoyed this
- By Owl8988 on 11-21-23
By: J M Dalgliesh
-
An Accidental Death
- A DC Smith Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-DCI, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so.
-
-
Excellent British Mystery
- By Customer on 09-07-16
By: Peter Grainger
-
Raven Black
- Book One of the Shetland Island Quartet
- By: Ann Cleeves
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a cold January morning, and Shetland lies beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a splash of color on the frozen ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbor, Catherine Ross. The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man - loner and simpleton Magnus Tait.
-
-
Great start to series, no audio problems anymore
- By Mark on 03-28-17
By: Ann Cleeves
-
The Thursday Murder Club
- A Novel
- By: Richard Osman
- Narrated by: Lesley Manville
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together, they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
-
-
Loved the book but needed better audio production
- By Anne Rivers on 10-29-20
By: Richard Osman
-
The Dark Yorkshire Series: Books 1-3
- The DI Caslin Box Set
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Greg Patmore
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Dark Yorkshire Series - fast-paced crime fiction stories featuring DI Nathaniel Caslin. The first three full-length books in this best-selling series are brought together for the first time in this great value set.
-
-
Nothing spectacular. A good value with the first 3
- By K. Berg on 05-05-20
By: J M Dalgliesh
-
Still Life
- Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
-
A rare find
- By Alex on 01-16-15
By: Louise Penny
-
A Long Time Dead
- A D.I. Duncan McAdam Mystery (The Misty Isle, Book 1)
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
D.I. Duncan McAdam is dispatched home to the Misty Isle. A body has been found buried in a remote location on the Waternish peninsula. Well-preserved in the peat, Isla Matheson—missing for the better part of two decades—is revealed to a shocked island community. A teenage runaway is dead...and no one is talking.
-
-
totally enjoyed this
- By Owl8988 on 11-21-23
By: J M Dalgliesh
-
Songbird
- Kings Lake Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Detective Sergeant Chris Waters got the call at 05.29 that July morning. This is it, said DCI Reeve, you'll be first there, it's all yours, you're the crime scene manager. Suddenly, after months of waiting and wondering, Waters finds himself in at the deep end, and alone at the scene of a puzzling murder. As the investigation proceeds, the detectives at Kings Lake Central find themselves visiting familiar places and talking to some familiar faces, while old enmities reappear in the incident room. Before this is over, Chris Waters will need to make a career-changing decision.
-
-
Loved it...
- By Kelly on 09-20-19
By: Peter Grainger
-
A Litter of Bones: A Scottish Crime Thriller
- DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, Book 1
- By: JD Kirk
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Was the biggest case of his career the worst mistake he ever made? Ten years ago, DCI Jack Logan stopped the serial child-killer dubbed "Mister Whisper", earning himself a commendation, a drinking problem, and a broken marriage in the process...When another child disappears a hundred miles north in the Highlands, Jack is sent to lead the investigation and bring the boy home. But as similarities between the two cases grow, could it be that Jack caught the wrong man all those years ago?
-
-
High hopes dashed: not just a little bit of child and animal torture
- By greyhound on 07-01-20
By: JD Kirk
-
The Killings at Badger’s Drift
- Midsomer Murders Mystery, Book 1
- By: Caroline Graham
- Narrated by: John Hopkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The village of Badger's Drift is the essence of tranquillity. But when resident and well-loved spinster Miss Simpson takes a stroll in the nearby woods, she stumbles across something she was never meant to see, and there's only one way to keep her quiet. Miss Simpson's death is not suspicious, say the villagers. But Miss Lucy Bellringer refuses to rest: her friend has been murdered. She is sure of it.
-
-
I wanted to love this series but I just don't
- By Lynch on 11-09-22
By: Caroline Graham
-
Detective Tom Janssen Hidden Norfolk, Books 1-3
- The Hidden Norfolk Murder Mystery Collections, Volume 1
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Greg Patmore
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Get three absolutely gripping crime thrillers set on the UK's atmospheric north Norfolk coast from number one best-selling British author J M Dalgliesh in this great value collection.
-
-
Good story with a great performance.
- By Roxane E. on 08-22-23
By: J M Dalgliesh
-
Lane
- A Case For Willows And Lane, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"So I thought I might take up paragliding. You know, buy one on eBay and just jump off the cliff one morning." Emily Willows is middle-aged, widowed, wealthy, and bored. When she makes those flippant remarks to her son over coffee one Friday, she has no inkling that within a few hours she will be facing the most terrifying situation of her life.
-
-
Good, and hopefully the series will improve
- By Jonathan Berger on 08-06-18
By: Peter Grainger
-
The Turning of Our Bones
- DI Rob Marshall Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Ed James
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Met cop DI Rob Marshall is hot on the trail of the serial killer known as the Chameleon, who has abducted, tortured and killed a series of young women in Northwest London. As they close in, the Chameleon—who switches identity to get close to his victims—shoots Marshall’s partner and escapes.
-
-
DI Marshall sanctimonious and stupid
- By Stephanie on 04-30-23
By: Ed James
-
Murder at Madingley Grange
- By: Caroline Graham
- Narrated by: John Hopkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a failed entrepreneur is temporarily left in charge of his aunt's huge gothic home, he knows he must be able to make a profit from it somehow. Murder, he decides, is the only way to do it. For Madingley Grange is the perfect venue for a 1930s murder-mystery weekend, and Simon Hannaford – with the reluctant help of his long-suffering sister – soon hatches a plan for money-spinning mayhem. From the conservatory to the claret cellar, the clues are carefully sprinkled. But when the guests arrive, it is obvious that the game won't be going as planned.
-
-
Charming criminal caper
- By Avalon on 10-01-23
By: Caroline Graham
-
The Cold Dish
- A Walt Longmire Mystery
- By: Craig Johnson
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Introducing Wyoming's Sheriff Walt Longmire in this riveting novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Dry Bones, the first in the Longmire series, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. Johnson draws on his deep attachment to the American West to produce a literary mystery of stunning authenticity, full of memorable characters.
-
-
Not Your Ordinary Western Novel (Series)
- By Dataman on 09-12-12
By: Craig Johnson
-
The Late Show
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Katherine Moennig
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Renée Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood, beginning many investigations but finishing none, as each morning she turns her cases over to day shift detectives. A once up-and-coming detective, she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor. But one night she catches two cases she doesn't want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn.
-
-
Audible and Amazon need to screen narrators better
- By MM on 07-19-17
By: Michael Connelly
-
Dust and Shadow
- An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson
- By: Lyndsay Faye
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Breathless and painstakingly researched, this is a stunning debut mystery in which Sherlock Holmes unmasks Jack the Ripper. Lyndsay Faye perfectly captures all the color and syntax of Conan Doyle’s distinctive nineteenth-century London.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Wadie on 01-07-11
By: Lyndsay Faye
-
First Blood
- By: Angela Marsons
- Narrated by: Jan Cramer
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She’s about to meet her team for the first time. When the body of a young man is found beheaded and staked to the ground in a secluded area of the Clent Hills, Kim and her new squad rush to the crime scene. This audio edition includes exclusive bonus content.
-
-
Detective Kim Stone Book 12
- By Wayne on 12-10-19
By: Angela Marsons
-
The Keeper of Lost Causes
- Department Q, Book 1
- By: Jussi Adler-Olsen
- Narrated by: Erik Davies
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carl Mørck used to be one of Denmark’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl - who didn’t draw his weapon - blames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of cold cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: A liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead...yet.
-
-
Dark, Cold, and Danish
- By Ted on 11-28-12
A Compelling Story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Would you listen to The Moth Catcher again? Why?
Yes, the twists and turns in the plot were very good. When I hunt through my library at a later date for a title to listen to again, I am sure I won't be able to recall the whole plot. So it will be worth another listen.Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Vera Stanhope isn't Jack Reacher, so on the edge of your seat doesn't typically describe the plot for one of Ann Cleeves/ Vera Stanhope books. But I was concerned about one of the main characters for a while.Have you listened to any of Janine Birkett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I listened to Charlie Hardwick's narration before Janine Birkett. Personally I liked Charlie Hardwick's narration better. I had difficulty at times distinguishing between characters during Janine Birkett's narration.Any additional comments?
Vera Stanhope may be an acquired taste, or listen. I enjoy the series.Kept me guessing up to the end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Always great and entertaining!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m trying to stay with it but it’s tough going with the audiobook. I concur with other reviewers and their criticism of the voices and how clunky the males sound.
Birkett reads likes it’s a Cozy Mystery
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My favorite in the series so far
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Completely engrossing story.
Pure delight
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Three Murders Connected?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it except one thing
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narrator, Janine Burkett does a decent job with the women’s voices, but there is mulch to be desired with her men’s voices. I cannot stand hear how she speaks for Joe in this book and the previous story, Harbor Street. Please bring back one of the previous narrators for Ann Cleeves first few stories!
Great story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Awful narration
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.