
The Second Midnight
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
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $26.13
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Leighton Pugh
-
By:
-
Andrew Taylor
About this listen
A secret mission…
1939. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, Alfred Kendall is tasked with carrying out a minor mission for the British Intelligence Service. Travelling to Prague, he takes his troubled young son, Hugh, as cover.
A terrible choice…
When Hitler invades Czechoslovakia, Alfred is given an ultimatum by the Czech Resistance. They will arrange for him to return to England, but only if he leaves his son Hugh behind as collateral.
A young boy stranded in Nazi terrain…
Hugh is soon taken under the wing of a Nazi colonel – Helmuth Scholl. But even though Scholl treats Hugh well, his son, Heinz, is suspicious of this foreigner. And as the war across the continent intensifies, they are set on a path that will ultimately lead towards destruction…
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated, and his thumbs have been tied behind his back.
-
-
Entertaining Historical Fiction
- By Simone on 05-01-17
By: Andrew Taylor
-
Bleeding Heart Square
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nineteen thirty-four, London. Into the decaying cul-de-sac of Bleeding Heart Square steps aristocratic Lydia Langstone fleeing an abusive marriage. However, unknown to Lydia, a dark mystery haunts Bleeding Heart Square. What happened to Miss Penhow, the middle-aged spinster who owns the house and who vanished four years earlier? Why is a seedy plain-clothes policeman obsessively watching the square? What is making struggling journalist Rory Wentwood so desperate to contact Miss Penhow?
-
-
Characters are well developed
- By bmad on 11-19-22
By: Andrew Taylor
-
Fireside Gothic
- By: Andrew Taylor, Anna Bentinck
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh, Peter Noble
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the number one best-selling author of The American Boy and The Ashes of London comes a collection of three Gothic novellas - Broken Voices, The Leper House and The Scratch - perfect for fans of The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.
By: Andrew Taylor, and others
-
An Air That Kills
- Lydmouth, Book 1
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Philip Franks
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the number-one best-selling author of The Ashes of London and The Fire Court this is the first instalment in the acclaimed Lydmouth series. Workmen in the small market town of Lydmouth are demolishing an old cottage. A sledgehammer smashes into what looks like a solid wall. Instead, layers of wallpaper conceal the door of a locked cupboard which holds a box - and in the box is the skeleton of a young baby.
-
-
A good start to a new series from Andrew Taylor an
- By Mark on 05-12-20
By: Andrew Taylor
-
The American Boy
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1819. Two enigmatic Americans arrive in London and soon after, a bank collapses. A man is found dead on a building site; another goes missing in the teeming stews of Seven Dials. A deathbed vigil ends in an act of theft and a beautiful heiress flirts with her inferiors. A strange destiny links each of these events to the American boy Edgar Allen Poe, brought to England by his foster father and sent to the leafy village of Stoke Newington to be educated.
-
-
Repeat of
- By Vivian on 07-12-05
By: Andrew Taylor
-
The Ides of April
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Lucy Brown
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina. From her mother, she learned how to blend in at all levels of society; from her father, she learned the tricks of their mutual professional trade. But her wits and (frequently) sharp tongue are hers alone. Now, working as a private informer in Rome during the reign of Domitian, Flavia has taken over her father’s old ramshackle digs at Fountain Court in the Surbura district, where she plies her trade with energy, determination, and the usual Falco luck.
-
-
Prefer dead old dad
- By readqueen on 10-09-13
By: Lindsey Davis
-
The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated, and his thumbs have been tied behind his back.
-
-
Entertaining Historical Fiction
- By Simone on 05-01-17
By: Andrew Taylor
-
Bleeding Heart Square
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nineteen thirty-four, London. Into the decaying cul-de-sac of Bleeding Heart Square steps aristocratic Lydia Langstone fleeing an abusive marriage. However, unknown to Lydia, a dark mystery haunts Bleeding Heart Square. What happened to Miss Penhow, the middle-aged spinster who owns the house and who vanished four years earlier? Why is a seedy plain-clothes policeman obsessively watching the square? What is making struggling journalist Rory Wentwood so desperate to contact Miss Penhow?
-
-
Characters are well developed
- By bmad on 11-19-22
By: Andrew Taylor
-
Fireside Gothic
- By: Andrew Taylor, Anna Bentinck
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh, Peter Noble
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the number one best-selling author of The American Boy and The Ashes of London comes a collection of three Gothic novellas - Broken Voices, The Leper House and The Scratch - perfect for fans of The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.
By: Andrew Taylor, and others
-
An Air That Kills
- Lydmouth, Book 1
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Philip Franks
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the number-one best-selling author of The Ashes of London and The Fire Court this is the first instalment in the acclaimed Lydmouth series. Workmen in the small market town of Lydmouth are demolishing an old cottage. A sledgehammer smashes into what looks like a solid wall. Instead, layers of wallpaper conceal the door of a locked cupboard which holds a box - and in the box is the skeleton of a young baby.
-
-
A good start to a new series from Andrew Taylor an
- By Mark on 05-12-20
By: Andrew Taylor
-
The American Boy
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1819. Two enigmatic Americans arrive in London and soon after, a bank collapses. A man is found dead on a building site; another goes missing in the teeming stews of Seven Dials. A deathbed vigil ends in an act of theft and a beautiful heiress flirts with her inferiors. A strange destiny links each of these events to the American boy Edgar Allen Poe, brought to England by his foster father and sent to the leafy village of Stoke Newington to be educated.
-
-
Repeat of
- By Vivian on 07-12-05
By: Andrew Taylor
-
The Ides of April
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Lucy Brown
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina. From her mother, she learned how to blend in at all levels of society; from her father, she learned the tricks of their mutual professional trade. But her wits and (frequently) sharp tongue are hers alone. Now, working as a private informer in Rome during the reign of Domitian, Flavia has taken over her father’s old ramshackle digs at Fountain Court in the Surbura district, where she plies her trade with energy, determination, and the usual Falco luck.
-
-
Prefer dead old dad
- By readqueen on 10-09-13
By: Lindsey Davis
-
The Seeker
- Damian Seeker 1
- By: S. G. MacLean
- Narrated by: Nicholas Camm
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1654. Oliver Cromwell is at the height of his power and has declared himself Lord Protector. Yet he has many enemies at home and abroad. London is a complex web of spies and merchants, priests and soldiers, exiles and assassins. One of the web's most fearsome spiders is Damian Seeker, agent of the Lord Protector. No one knows where Seeker comes from, who his family is, or even his real name. All that is known of him for certain is that he is utterly loyal to Cromwell and that nothing can be long hidden from him.
-
-
fascinating
- By Kindle Customer on 06-20-23
By: S. G. MacLean
-
Case Histories
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Susan Jameson
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Case One: A little girl goes missing in the night. Case Two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack. Case Three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.
-
-
Trippy book
- By mary on 01-20-09
By: Kate Atkinson
-
Bruno, Chief of Police
- By: Martin Walker
- Narrated by: Robert Ian MacKenzie
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bruno is a former soldier who has embraced the pleasures and slow rhythms of country life - living in his restored shepherd's cottage; patronizing the weekly market; sparring with, and basically ignoring, the European Union bureaucrats from Brussels. He has a gun but never wears it; he has the power to arrest but never uses it. But then the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army changes everything and galvanizes Bruno's attention.
-
-
Amazing!
- By J. Lindsey on 06-11-16
By: Martin Walker
-
Servant of Death
- Bradecote and Catchpoll
- By: Sarah Hawkswood
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The much-feared and hated Eudo - the Lord Bishop of Winchester's clerk - is bludgeoned to death in Pershore Abbey and laid before the altar in the attitude of a penitent. Everyone who had contact with him had reason to dislike him, but who had reason to kill him? The Sheriff of Worcestershire's thief taker, wily Serjeant Catchpoll, and his new and unwanted superior, Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, have to find the answer. And as the walls of the abbey close in on the suspects, the killer strikes again....
-
-
Medieval armchair mystery
- By Marie on 08-12-17
By: Sarah Hawkswood
-
Murder on Black Swan Lane
- By: Andrea Penrose
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London's most popular satirical cartoonist, A. J. Quill, skewers them both.
-
-
Tedious
- By Kathi on 10-02-17
By: Andrea Penrose
-
The White Lady
- A Novel
- By: Jacqueline Winspear
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government. The private, quiet “Miss White" as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, England, and to her fellow villagers seems something of an enigma. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a "grace and favor" property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation.
-
-
Mystery Maven
- By Mystery Maven on 03-24-23
-
Standing by the Wall
- The Collected Slough House Novellas
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Espionage. Blackmail. Revenge. Cunning. Slapstick. State secrets dating back to the fall of the Berlin Wall. All this and more in a tight package of five novellas by Mick Herron, CWA Gold Dagger-winning author of Slow Horses.
-
-
More Please
- By Katy on 01-27-23
By: Mick Herron
-
The King's Return
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The king's coronation brings hope. Until a murderer strikes. Spring 1661: After years of civil war followed by Oliver Cromwell's joyless rule as Lord Protector, England awaits the coronation of King Charles II. The mood in London is one of relief and hope for a better future. But when two respectable gentlemen are found in a foul lane with their throats cut, it becomes apparent that England's enemies are using the newly re-established post office for their own ends.
-
-
More please
- By tara souther on 12-22-22
By: Andrew Swanston
-
The Man from St. Petersburg
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
His name was Feliks. He came to London to commit a murder that would change history. A master manipulator, he had many weapons at his command, but against him were ranged the whole of the English police, a brilliant and powerful lord, and the young Winston Churchill himself. These odds would have stopped any man in the world - except the man from St. Petersburg.
-
-
Riveting historical fiction
- By Thomas P. O'Connor on 04-14-21
By: Ken Follett
-
The Face of a Stranger
- A William Monk Novel #1
- By: Anne Perry
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
His name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detective. But the accident that felled him has left him with only half a life; his memory and his entire past have vanished. As he tries to hide the truth, Monk returns to work and is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a Crimean War hero and man about town. Which makes Monk’s efforts doubly difficult, since he’s forgotten his professional skills along with everything else.
-
-
promising start to the series
- By connie on 01-09-10
By: Anne Perry
-
The King's Exile
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spring, 1648. When Thomas Hill, a bookseller living in rural Hampshire, publishes a political pamphlet, he has little idea of the trouble that will follow. He is quickly arrested, forced on a boat to Barbados and condemned to life as a slave to two of the island’s most notoriously violent brothers. In England war has erupted again, with London under threat of attack.
By: Andrew Swanston
-
The Key to Rebecca
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Tim Downie
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant and ruthless Nazi master agent is on the loose in Cairo. His mission is to send Rommel’s advancing army the secrets that will unlock the city’s doors. In all of Cairo, only two people can stop him. One is a down-on-his-luck English officer no one will listen to. The other is a vulnerable young Jewish girl....
-
-
Christ the Savior
- By camille hobbs on 03-23-21
By: Ken Follett
Critic reviews
‘An epic, punchy thriller from a fantastic storyteller’ The Times
Praise for Andrew Taylor:
‘If you like C. J. Sansom, or Hilary Mantel, you’ll love Andrew Taylor’ Peter James
‘Effortlessly authentic … gripping … moving and believable. An excellent work’ C. J. Sansom
'Taylor has long been the pre-eminent chronicler of beautifully atmospheric historical crime' The Times
‘A breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era’ Financial Times
‘This is how historical crime should be written, with rich authenticity underpinning a twisting plot’ The Times
‘One of the most reliably enjoyable of historical novelists’ The Sunday Times
‘An atmospheric pleasure, full of twists and memorable characters’ The Times
‘With a fast-moving, complex plot underpinned by solid but unobtrusive research and plenty of drama and intrigue, Taylor brings the 17th century to life so vividly that one can almost smell it’ Guardian
‘Once again, Taylor combines his detailed research with a deviously twist-laden storyline’ Observer
‘A most artful and delightful book, that will both amuse and chill, and it will have you desperate to search out a quiet corner to continue your acquaintance with it’ Daily Telegraph
'Taylor's mastery of plot and character show to great effect in a story that has a depth few other historical crime novels can match' Sunday Times
'A hugely engaging, atmospheric historical thriller with not one but two smart and lovable protagonists. Andrew Taylor is one of our finest storytellers' Antonia Hodgson
‘Andrew Taylor’s historical crime novels have proved a benchmark for the genre’ Mick Herron, bestselling author of Slow Horses
‘Taylor remains to my mind at the top of the list of historical novelists writing in English today’ Reviewing the Evidence