Tallgrass ~ Sandra Dallas

narrated by Lorelei King  (epukapuka audiobook) (5) 

I think Lorelei King's talented narration made this book - not sure I would have appreciated it this much in the written format - and I know this is one of those stories that is going to stay with me for a long time. Tallgrass covers a dark WWII era in American history - a US portion of history I haven't read much about  - our country had it's own WWII internment camps for German, Italian and Japanese civilians.   This story is about a family that live and farm near a Japanese internment camp.  I loved the character of the mum, dad, and, youngest daughter; and their interactions with the Japenese sent to their district.  
This is NOT a lite, fluffy read, Dallas covers really gritty, hard topics:  blatant racism, 3 accounts of rape, 2 murders - one of a young teen, spousal abuse.  The interview with Dallas at the end gives the story another layer.  
I  handed this to my husband to listen to, and he's appreciating it also.

In This Grave Hour ~ Jacqueline Winspear

Audiobook narrated by Orlagh Cassidy (2)   WWII, Mystery

I was not in the frame of mind to appreciate this book, so that tainted my review.  The narrator, Orlagh Cassidy, has a slightly depressive voice, which didn't help my lack of joie de vivre with the story, so I elected to skip the repeated references to (the years back) tragic death of her husband and a subsequent miscarriage.  The author includes this as a very lengthy explanation, almost word for word, in every single book.  IMO, it is unnecessary and repetitious detail at this point in the series. 

The main mystery, the murder of the Belgians, wore a bit thin. The secondary mystery, trying to work out who the evacuee Anna is, and where she is from, was much more interesting.