The Last Voice You Hear

The Oxford Investigations #2

by Mick Herron

Oxford private investigator Zoë Boehm struggles with the aftereffects of her violent past as she hunts for a killer—or has she become the hunted?

Zoë Boehm has harbored a distinct aversion to death ever since she shot the man intent on killing her. So when Caroline Daniels takes a deadly fall in front of a train and her lover fails to turn up at the funeral, Zoë wants nothing to do with the case. But Caroline’s boss is persistent, and as Zoë attempts to unlock the secrets of a woman she’s never met while in search of a man who could be anywhere, she starts to wonder if he’s found her first. And if he has, will that make her the next victim, or prove to be her salvation from a paralyzing fear?

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook, British Literature, Mystery Thriller

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2004

About the author

Mick Herron was born in Newcastle and has a degree in English from Balliol College, Oxford. He is the author of six books in the Slough House series as well as a mystery series set in Oxford featuring Sarah Tucker and/or P.I. Zoë Boehm. He now lives in Oxford and works in London.

Reviews

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number two in this series featuring private investigator Zoe Boehm. There was just a little bit too much angst from Zoe in this one which led me to skim some pages. So only four stars, not five, even though the rest of it was great!

The last few chapters in fact were totally edge of the seat stuff. I loved the roles played by the ostriches ( I don't often get to write that) and Zoe and Sarah excelled themselves in disposing of four large men in very painful ways.

It was all typical Mick Herron fare but lacking the magic which makes his Slow Horses series so brilliant. Still an excellent read and I will look forward to the next one.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm on a roll with Mick Herron. Currently unsure whether I prefer this older series or his newer, more popular one. A rare author whose work I soundly resonate with, not just well or well enough, but delightfully, and pretty much through and through. Unpredictable, thoughtful, smart, no nonsense, no posturing, no sentimentality or gratuitous anything. Feels effortlessly authentic, while also providing plenty of think, of atmosphere, of full character to engage with. It's a blissful state to still have 2 more unread in this series.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Voice You Hear is the second book in the Oxford Investigations series by British author, Mick Herron. When Amory Grayling’s PA dies under a train at Paddington Station on the way to work, he engages Oxford Investigations. He wants Zoë Boehm to locate Caroline Daniels’s recently acquired boyfriend, Alan Talmadge, out of concern for his psychological well-being after this tragic loss. But Talmadge hasn’t left a trace, and Zoë’s enquiries set her foul-play radar twitching.

But Zoë’s mind isn’t entirely on her task. There are a few distractions: a lump in her breast; and the recent death of a boy she rudely dismissed three years earlier; not to mention the mental upheaval caused by her (justified) killing of an assailant, which seems to have left her devoid of feelings. Her investigative skills remain undiminished, however, and it seems her questions have upset some people.

In this excellent sequel, Zoë gives away her TV, changes a lightbulb, is chatted up by a considerably younger man, hotwires a car, and loses her favourite black leather jacket. Ostriches play a significant role, there is vigilante action and a witness is murdered. A range of ordinary items is wielded to ward off assault and effect escape: a coin, a penknife, a car, and cookware, disregarding the multiple firearms used.

Not in her wildest imagination had Zoë ever seen herself pushing someone from a train, breaking into and stealing from a charity shop or robbing a homeless man at (pen)knifepoint. Nor would she have drawn Sarah Tucker and her man into the action if she’d had a choice.

This is a series best read in order as there are spoilers for the first book in this one. As always, Herron gives the reader red herrings, some guesswork that turns out to be close to the mark and not a few deaths. This second book has more of Herron’s literary traits in evidence, and fans will doubtless eagerly anticipate the third in the series, Why We Die.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Yes I know its an old book and Herron has mastered his craft in the past 10 years but I'm amazed a third book got published after this dross.

So much introspection, so little action, an even more convoluted and unbelievable plot. Zoe Boehm has to be the singularly most useless private detective in print.

Instead of investigating the whereabouts of a bereaved swain to give him the bad news that his girlfriend has died, she decides to sit around, navel-gazing, pontificating, procrastinating and generally irritating the life out of any reader. This book, by rights, should be a novella for the amount of actual worthwhile prose in it. There was so much repetition I felt like I could write a whole chapter myself simply be rearranging the previous one.

I listened to the audio version and have to say the storytelling really got on my nerves too. Julia Franklin seems to have 2 female voices - Zoe sounds like the woman off the Win A House ads - this awful slow Joanna Lumley drawl. The other is a dead ringer for Janine Duvitski - if you've never heard her try looking up Abigail's Party. I don't want to be mean but when all you're listening to is AQI it tends to get on your nerves after a while.

I'm sorry to sound so negative but I'm now going to have to listen to Why We Die because I got this and that on a 2 for 1 deal.

I miss Jackson Lamb, taut plots, clever twists and Sean Barrett.

[Marty Fried · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this series. Zoe Boehm is a private detective who specializes in finding people. But in this story, she gets sidetracked by a second crime that may or may not be related to her main case, and it proves to be a big one. She almost gets people killed, including herself. Being a woman, uses brains over brawn and weapons, and does a good job although she doesn't usually come out unscathed.

The book continues somewhat from the previous book, so reading it first will make it more enjoyable, but it's not necessary, as everything you need to know is explained.

I'm a big fan of this author. I read all his Slough House series. This series is older, so not as good, but still very enjoyable.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good-but-not-great follow-up to Herron's impressive debut, Down Cemetery Road. Whereas that earlier book was seriously over-plotted, this one comes in a little under-cooked, with Herron then fully hitting his "Oxford" stride in the third book, Why We Die.*

Herron has created a great character in Zoë Boehm (if slightly less so with her friend Sarah Tucker). However, while he's done a nice job filling out this strong female lead, as always in such cases I have concerns about a male author's handling of those "sensitive" (i.e., largely emotional/psychological) issues his main or other female characters are dealing with. Here, we have a main plot focusing on the mentality of lonely middle-aged women who are victimized by younger men; we also have Zoe's concerns about discovering a lump in her breast. I give Herron credit for taking on such issues…but would love to hear from female readers how well he handled them.

Separately, I have to call bullshit (both here and in countless other novels) on how Zoë realizes she's being followed in crowded London: "It was nothing solid. It wasn't as if she'd looked back to see the same stranger twice. It was just a pricking between her shoulder blades, like this morning back home…" Yeah, that's not how "surveillance detection" works. It's a trained tradecraft skill that takes hard work and long practice, not just some "I could feel his eyes on the back of my head" nonsense.

But on the other hand, I also learned a new word here — diaeresis — which are those two little dots over a vowel indicating that it creates a new syllable like, well, "Zoë."

Interesting structure to the overall Oxford series. The first book is mainly a Sarah Tucker story with a lot of Zoë figuring into the second half, and this second one is just the reverse. The third book is then strictly Zoë Boehm with just a few peripheral mentions of (and no appearances by) Sarah; and then the final book (which I have yet to read) sounds like it's almost all Sarah. So additional kudos to Herron for just keeping things interesting.
_________________________________

* Can't yet comment on where the final book comes in on the over/under scale, as I haven't read that one yet. I have been reading these books way out of order; I read Why We Die first before going back to the beginning and catching up; so now have to at least skim that one again to better understand the nuances of the seemingly odd overall relationship between our two main characters before finally going on to the last book…

[Kath B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really pacey thriller with a well written female PI, Zoe Boehm, and a raft of bad boys who try her patience and fighting skills. The plot twists into two different storylines which merge together as they move on and keep the reader guessing about what is happening.

Set in Oxford and London, the book also highlights how some single women and some children, can become vulnerable when they take a chance on a prospect for a different future. A very sobering and realistic premise.

The author already has a massive following for his excellent Slow Horses spy series but this is different - more about the very present dangers lurking in full sight rather than in the shadows. There is some really good writing too; my two favourite paragraphs being these:

'But the main reason she didn't believe in ghosts was that Joe wasn't one, and he'd never been a man for a clean exit. If there'd been an obvious route back he'd have found it, if only to doublecheck he'd turned the heating off and cancelled the milk'.

'He wasn't especially broad, but wasn't weedy either. Thickening round the middle, possibly, but that was life: it plumped you up, ready for the market.

I highly recommend this book to thriller fans and to fans of the author. Clever, twisty and believable. Well worth a read.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setting: Oxford & London, UK. This is the second book in the Oxford Investigations series and again features private investigator Zoe Boehm, with the main character from the first book, Sarah Turner, being a somewhat lesser character this time. A company director employs Zoe to find the boyfriend of his former P.A., who tragically died falling in front of a train. When she starts looking for the mysterious man, who hadn't attended the woman's funeral, she finds that he is virtually a ghost. At the same time, a young tearaway that Zoe had had dealings with in the past is found dead, having plunged off the roof of a tower block near where he lives. Local opinion veers between suicide and accident but Zoe has darker thoughts that eventually puts her and her best friend, Sarah, in mortal danger....
I really enjoyed the first book in this series but found this one a bit slower to get going and was not totally convinced by main character, Zoe, and some of her decision-making at first. However, the action really kicks off after Zoe attends the autopsy of the young boy and the storyline then is totally gripping until the bitter end - 9/10.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I think it's important to start by saying that the first book I read by Mick Herron was Slow Horses (conveniently the first in the Slough House series). It was the kind of book I couldn't put down but didn't want to finish.
Having read all of the Slough House books, and loved them all, I thought I'd give the Oxford series a go. Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. I know that the Oxford series predates Slough House and I think it shows - the writing isn't as accomplished, and whilst the plot was ok, it wasn't up there with thrillers I've read by other writers. I also missed the humour that the Slough House novels have.
Don't get me wrong, the book wasn't that bad, it just didn't measure up to my expectations.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

My husband and I listened to this on a long car trip. We love the Slow Horses series as well as the Apple+ TV adaptation and soon there will also be a TV series from Herron’s first book series that started with Down Cemetery Road. This book is the second in that series. I hate to round down to 3 stars but it is definitely not as polished and brilliant as the Slow Horses series. I probably should also have read Down Cemetery Road first to get a better feel for these characters. (Still waiting for it on Libby - I guess it got popular after the announcement of the new TV series.)

We found ourselves having to rewind the audio several times due to confusion and a convoluted complex plot. The ending was particularly muddled and we had to listen to it 3 times to accept/get the final twist. Maybe reading the print version would have been more clear.

Still great writing, though. I’ll read all his stuff eventually.

[Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Voice You Hear primarily features Zoe Boehm, now solo, working through some difficult personal issues and smoking non-stop while flicking little paper balls at random objects.
Zoe is waiting for an ‘appointment’ and this sets up an angst filled inner dialogue and a tendency to lurch towards things then change direction seemingly on a whim. While riding a train (non-smoking) to London, she intermittently listens to the news through her ear buds and hears that a twelve year old has been found dead on a London housing estate. This random snatch of news eventually throws up a memory of a brief encounter Zoe had with two young robbers three years ago in which she basically told one of them to f off! And the plot is off and running.
Mick Herron serves up another delicious slow burn of a read turning up the heat as the plot races to the end. I really enjoyed this intense second serving of The Oxford Investigations and will read on!

[Michael Martz · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Last Voice You Hear' by Mick Herron stars a character who's rapidly becoming a favorite, Zoe Boehm. Zoe's a private dick like none you've ever seen: female, early 40s, frizzy hair, fiercely armed tongue-wise, fighting a cancer diagnosis, and unable to let go.

In this installment of what I understand is now called the 'Oxford Investigations' series, Zoe is hired to look into the death of a lady who had been accidentally pushed in front of a train in a busy station. The woman's boss, who hired Zoe, thinks it's odd that her boyfriend, who he'd never met, hadn't shown up for the funeral. As she begins her review of the case, Zoe's attention is drawn to the death of a young thug who supposedly committed suicide by leaping from the top of an apartment building. Zoe, who had a background with the lad, thinks things just don't add up and begins poking around. She ends up investigating both, getting herself beaten up by dirty cops and becoming the romantic interest of a serial killer whose work is threaded through the story in the process. Just when you think it's all over for Zoe, she somehow extricates herself and lives to investigate another day. The conclusion is a fairly satisfying one that leaves us with the mystery explained but with a thread loose of a serial killer that extends into subsequent books in the series.

After reading several of Herron's novels in a couple different series, I've come to a couple conclusions: he's a really good writer and storyteller, and he does a great job creating quirky characters capable of carrying entire plots. 'The Last Voice...' is a fine example of fine writing and storytelling driven by a great character. Worth checking out!

[Ivor Armistead · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK read, but not up to the standard of Herron's Slow Horses series.

[L.G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars

This is the 2nd of 4 (currently) main books plus several short stories. Apple+ TV is planning a miniseries based on Zoë Boehm (main character). The series is moody and complicated with a mixture of humor and darkness. I would suggest that new readers start with the first book (Down Cemetary Road) to understand the foundations of the relationship and behavior of both Zoë and Sarah.

SUMMARY: Oxford private investigator Zoë Boehm struggles with the aftereffects of her violent past as she hunts for a killer—or has she become the hunted? Zoë Boehm has harbored a distinct aversion to death ever since she shot the man intent on killing her. So, when Caroline Daniels takes a deadly fall in front of a train and her lover fails to turn up at the funeral, Zoë wants nothing to do with the case. But Caroline’s boss is persistent, and as Zoë attempts to unlock the secrets of a woman she’s never met while in search of a man who could be anywhere, she starts to wonder if he’s found her first. And if he has, will that make her the next victim, or prove to be her salvation from a paralyzing fear?

[Daniel Sevitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a little less skillful than later Herron and perhaps even the first Zoe Boehm book where she was mostly a peripheral character. Our dogged PI is charged with finding a missing person, but also grabs hold of a loose end from an earlier case. Divvying up her time between the two investigations, any reader of thrillers knows they are going to overlap at some point... and they do, but in a more surprising way than I might have expected. We follow Zoe as she travels from Oxford to London and back again a couple of times chasing down leads and the deliberate pacing was just starting to drag, when there was a sudden burst of violence. The last third of the book accelerates and amplifies the sense of menace and it all gets terribly Straw Dogs. The speed of the ending tended to obscure some of its silliness, I believe there is at least one ostrich-related death, but, as usual, Herron's character work has been strong enough to carry the plot.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank goodness Mick Herron was able to hone his craft before writing Slow Horses because this was rubbish.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the authors ‘Slow Horses’ series ( book and on screen ) and decided to start this, Zoë Boehm series and compare the writing ( also as read it was also coming to the small screen )

I would say so far they have been a labour of love, no immediate connection to the character of Zoë nor of the writing but still there is enough there for me to ‘carry on’

Zoë is extremely introspective, painfully so and a lot of the book focuses on this, she has a thought about everything and can get herself stuck down a real rabbit hole about anything, this can be frustrating for the reader ( well was me )

In beneath all of this musings and mind nattering there is a good story, a thriller, waiting to be had, you just have to be patient and accept Zoë will always go round the houses, twice, to get to it

There are ongoing themes and stories that are set to continue and I think the series needs to be read in order so you can follow these things

If you have time, and more honestly patience to invest in Zoë and her life then it is worth it, I look forward to the TV series tbh to see how they portray Zoë and her personality

[Arden Powell]

Pausing here at 50%. I'm actually enjoying it, but my library loan is up and this is leaning a bit too heavy on the bleak and depressing side for me to appreciate right now, and speed-reading the second half before I have to return it isn't happening. To be revisited in the future!

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 2 in the series involving Zoë Boehm. Cat and mouse with focus on a serial killer.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book certainly grabbed my attention at the very start, but then everything slowed down. But Herron knows how to build a story, and from about halfway, everything picked up delivering a nonstop action-packed thriller.
I got a bit fed-up with the continuing mention of a black leather jacket, but loved how the ostriches fitted so well. Zoe Boehm and her friend Sarah showed such friendship, and courage, and understanding. All I will say is don't give up before halfway, it fits together so well.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was mainly introspection by the protagonists, specifically Zoë Boehm, interspersed with violence.
But the writing was good and the introspection made interesting reading, so it was enjoyable and I will go on to read the third book in the series.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

You really can’t go wrong with a Mick Herron book. While I wait for the next Slough House instalment to appear, I’m working my way through his back catalogue. The Last Voice You Hear is the second in his short series featuring the Oxford private investigator, Zoe Boehm. It almost goes without saying that it’s a cracking, fast-paced read, expertly plotted and packed with surprising plot twists. Zoe is a great central character: quick-thinking, clever, capable of sudden and extreme violence, but right-minded and with a range of all too human frailties. Mick Herron’s cool, laconic authorial voice is as witty and engaging as ever. Not all so-called ‘thrillers’ are thrilling, but you can be sure that a Mick Herron thriller will be.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complicated story with lots of characters and interwoven plot lines, so once in a while, when I couldn't continue reading for a day or so, I had to go back and remember who was who and what their part was in the story. Not finding myself as eager to follow Zoe in her adventures as I was with the wonderful Slough House gang (I think it was the interaction between them that I loved so much and she's more of a loner), but still great, because for me, I don't think Mick Herron can write a bad one and I feel I must read everything this guy writes! Still have two books to go tho, so perhaps Zoe will grow on me as I follow her further. Besides the always clever writing style, I loved and worried about the ostriches in this one! Yes, there were ostriches, and they were Mr. O, Nicole and Gwynneth, who was completely in love with a human man. Where else can you get stuff like that?

[Jorn Barger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bored to tears, I quit halfway. MH is a little too in love with the sound of his voice, and way too confident that readers will bother, even when he leaves the plot till last. Also, serial killers are a bore.

[derek lem-mon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dissapointing

I have read the "slow horse" series twice, exceptional. It is difficult to think the same person wrote those and this. Page after page of inane ramblings passing for thoughts and self analysis , a weak storyline and a virtually non existent plot. No more Zoë for me.

[Dr Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts slow, a tad too slow hence the 4 and not 5 usual *, but the finale is great.

[Ross Cumming · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suppose like most readers I came to Mick Herron via the popular Slough House/Jackson Lamb series of novels but I soon discovered that his previous novels, although different, are every bit as good.
This is the second in the Zoe Boehm series. In the first novel Zoe was very much a peripheral character until the climax of the novel, where she takes centre stage. In this novel Zoe is very much the main protagonist, as she investigates the death of a middle age woman who ‘fell’ in front of a train. The woman had very recently found love late in her life but Zoe finds that her apparent lover, Alan Talmadge is a ghost and she struggles to find any real evidence of his existence.
Zoe also takes an interest in the death of a 12 year old tearaway, whom she previously encountered while dealing with another case. The boy apparently fell from a London high rise but no one seems to care about the boys death except Zoe. As she delves deeper into both cases she gets the distinct feeling that her every move is being tracked.
A thoroughly gripping thriller which starts out quite mundanely but about half way through events take a sudden turn which results in quite a prolonged but nail biting climax. Zoe herself is a complex character, confident in her own skin but who has her own self doubts and also has to face up to her own mortality. There are some thrilling scenes but none more so than when Zoe senses she is being followed on the London Underground but is initially unaware of her stalker.
Thankfully there are still another two novels in this series to read and I can’t wait to find out where Zoe’s journey takes me and I also believe a new Slough House novel is due next year.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second in the series I've read. (If you care about this sort of thing, it's a good one to do in order, although it's probably not crucial. Stories are quite separate, but relationship between some of the characters and back story established in the first one.) I'm ambivalent. On the one hand, I like the strong female characters he places at the center. But on the other hand, I find that the brutality and violence that mark the endings of both are not to my taste at all. I'm sure many people wouldn't have that reaction--I have a low tolerance for this sort of thing. Indeed, it might be a mark of my liking that I finished the book at all or even picked up the second one.

[David C Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

An investigation into a seemingly accidental death leads Oxford investigator Zoe Boehm into the path of a serial killer - and then she’s sideswiped by a police murder and its coverup, including another murder of a delinquent boy she knows. Not as lean and driven as the other Herrons, and it’s over written with too much introspection and too many internal monologues - including those of the never caught serial killer. (Herron does a nice bit of misdirection there.) Also the rogue cops handle themselves remarkably stupidly. It can’t be said enough: let sleeping private eyes lie, don’t menace them.

[Peter Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

good but no cigar.

Mick Herron I suspect gets paid by the word hence the volume of introspection done by the characters and verbosity in many of the scenarios, but forgiving that , just let your eye skip this detritus and finish what is good story with false trails enough to keep you interested