The best audiobooks for long drives & road trips
A long drive needs an audiobook that grips — propulsive plot, a narrator who holds you, hours of runtime. Below are the award-winning thrillers, mysteries and full-cast productions in the index: the kind of listen that keeps you in the driveway to hear the end.
| Audiobook | Author | Narrator(s) | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gone Before Goodbye | Reese Witherspoon & Harlan Coben | ensemble cast | Audie Mystery (2026) |
| Don't Let Him In | Lisa Jewell | Richard Armitage, Joanne Froggatt, Tamaryn Payne, Gemma Whelan, Louise Brealey, Patience Tomlinson | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2026) |
| Listen for the Lie | Amy Tintera | Will Damron, January LaVoy | Audie Mystery (2025) |
| Lone Wolf | Gregg Hurwitz | Scott Brick | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2025) |
| Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers | Jesse Q. Sutanto | Eunice Wong | Audie Mystery (2024) |
| All the Sinners Bleed | S. A. Cosby | Adam Lazarre-White | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2024) |
| The Heron | Don Winslow | Ed Harris | Audie Mystery (2023) |
| Greenwich Park | Katherine Faulkner | Laura Kirman | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2023) |
| Later | Stephen King | Seth Numrich | Audie Mystery (2022) |
| Local Woman Missing | Mary Kubica | Brittany Pressley, Jennifer Jill Araya, Gary Tiedemann, Jesse Vilinsky | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2022) |
| Fair Warning | Michael Connelly | Peter Giles, Zach Villa | Audie Mystery (2021) |
| When No One Is Watching | Alyssa Cole | Susan Dalian, Jay Aaseng | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2021) |
| The Chestnut Man | Søren Sveistrup | Peter Noble | Audie Mystery (2020) |
| The Institute | Stephen King | Santino Fontana | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2020) |
| The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 | Garrett M. Graff | Holter Graham, full cast | Audiobook of the Year (2020) |
| The Punishment She Deserves | Elizabeth George | Simon Vance | Audie Mystery (2019) |
| Crimson Lake | Candice Fox | Euan Morton | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2019) |
| The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye | David Lagercrantz | Simon Vance | Audie Mystery (2018) |
| The Fourth Monkey | J. D. Barker | Edoardo Ballerini, Graham Winton | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2018) |
| Lincoln in the Bardo | George Saunders | Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, George Saunders, full cast | Audiobook of the Year (2018) |
| The Crossing | Michael Connelly | Titus Welliver | Audie Mystery (2017) |
| Cross Justice | James Patterson | Ruben Santiago Hudson, Jefferson Mays | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2017) |
| Hamilton: The Revolution | Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter | Mariska Hargitay, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter | Audiobook of the Year (2017) |
| Career of Evil | Robert Galbraith | Robert Glenister | Audie Mystery (2016) |
| The Patriot Threat: Cotton Malone | Steve Berry | Scott Brick | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2016) |
| The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins | Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, India Fisher | Audiobook of the Year (2016) |
| The Silkworm | Robert Galbraith | Robert Glenister | Audie Mystery (2015) |
| Those Who Wish Me Dead | Michael Koryta | Robert Petkoff | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2015) |
| Mandela: An Audio History | Nelson Mandela (with Joe Richman) | Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Joe Richman | Audiobook of the Year (2015) |
| Unleashed | David Rosenfelt | Grover Gardner | Audie Mystery (2014) |
| The Hit | David Baldacci | Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2014) |
| The Beautiful Mystery | Louise Penny | Ralph Cosham | Audie Mystery (2013) |
| Red, White, and Blood: The President's Vampire | Christopher Farnsworth | Bronson Pinchot | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2013) |
| Feast Day of Fools | James Lee Burke | Will Patton | Audie Mystery (2012) |
| The Nightmare Thief | Meg Gardiner | Susan Ericksen | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2012) |
| The Reversal | Michael Connelly | Peter Giles | Audie Mystery (2011) |
| The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest | Stieg Larsson | Simon Vance | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2011) |
| Devil in a Blue Dress | Walter Mosley | Michael Boatman | Audie Mystery (2010) |
| Darling Jim | Christian Moerk | Stephen Hoye, Justine Eyre | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2010) |
| Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales | Nelson Mandela (ed.) | Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, full cast | Audiobook of the Year (2010) |
| The Voice of the Violin | Andrea Camilleri | Grover Gardner | Audie Mystery (2009) |
| Child 44 | Tom Rob Smith | Dennis Boutsikaris | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2009) |
| The Tin Roof Blowdown | James Lee Burke | Will Patton | Audie Mystery (2008) |
| Heart-Shaped Box | Joe Hill | Stephen Lang | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2008) |
| Echo Park | Michael Connelly | Len Cariou | Audie Mystery (2007) |
| The Dead Yard | Adrian McKinty | Gerard Doyle | Audie Thriller & Suspense (2007) |
| The Serpent on the Crown | Elizabeth Peters | Barbara Peters | Audie Mystery (2006) |
| Twisted | Jeffery Deaver | Boyd Gaines, Michele Pawk, Fredrick Weller | Audie Mystery (2005) |
| Lost Light | Michael Connelly | Len Cariou | Audie Mystery (2004) |
| Jolie Blon's Bounce | James Lee Burke | Will Patton | Audie Mystery (2003) |
| Tell No One | Harlan Coben | Steven Weber | Audie Mystery (2002) |
| The Naked Detective | Laurence Shames | Ron McLarty | Audie Mystery (2001) |
| The Breaker | Minette Walters | Robert Powell | Audie Mystery (2000) |
| The Third Man | Graham Greene | Martin Jarvis | Audie Mystery (1999) |
| Vintage Crime Stories | Charles Dickens et al. | Patrick Malahide | Audie Mystery (1998) |
| The Mysterious Affair at Styles | Agatha Christie | David Suchet | Audie Mystery (1997) |
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More guides: best audiobooks by award · Audiobook of the Year · best audiobooks for beginners: where to start · best full-cast & multi-voiced audiobooks · best author-narrated audiobooks & memoirs.