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Bluebeard  By  cover art

Bluebeard

By: Jim Clemente, Peter McDonnell
Narrated by: Joseph Fiennes, Karen David, Holt McCallany, Adrian Pasdar, full cast
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Publisher's summary

A new thriller based on the true story of LA’s first known serial killer.

In 1919, Kathryn Wombacher finds a lonely-hearts ad placed by one Walter Andrew:

"Would be pleased to correspond with a refined young lady or widow. Object, matrimony.”

Kathryn and Walter fall in love and marry within weeks.

What Kathryn doesn’t know...is that her new husband is really James “Bluebeard” Watson, a notorious West Coast serial killer who catfished and married 22 women, murdering 10.

Based on newly unearthed evidence, Bluebeard is the definitive story of a sociopath who wielded love as a deadly weapon.

And it’s the story of a woman who discovered the unthinkable about her husband...and dared to fight back.

©2023 XG Productions, LLC (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC

About the Writer and Executive Producer

Jim Clemente is a podcast host, writer, producer, and retired FBI agent and profiler. Jim is a host of the podcasts Real Crime Profile and Best Case Worst Case. For 15 seasons he was a technical adviser then writer and producer for the TV series Criminal Minds. Jim was the co-creator and co-writer of the TV limited series Manhunt: Unabomber. He was an executive producer of the reboot of America’s Most Wanted, a co-author of the Audible Original series Call Me God and Evil Has a Name, and the author of the novel Without Consent. Before his writing and producing career, Clemente was a prosecutor for the New York City Law Department and then a supervisory special agent and profiler for the FBI with a focus on serial killers, child abductions, and other violent and serial crimes. He has investigated some of the highest-profile criminal cases in US history, including the Unabomber, JonBenet Ramsey, Amanda Knox, the DC Snipers, and 9/11 attacks.

About the Writer, Producer, and Executive Producer

Peter is a New York Times bestselling author (Evil Has a Name, Audible), Emmy-nominated documentary producer (Pandemic, Netflix), and podcaster whose work has been honored by Audible with a "Best Listen of the Year" award four times. In addition to writing Bluebeard, Peter has written and/or produced 20 narrative podcasts covering sports, true crime, justice reform, history, and technology. His writing has also appeared in Outside and The Washington Post. He is the founder of Perfect Cadence Productions.

About the Performer

Joseph Fiennes is a renowned actor of stage and screen. He was a series regular on four seasons of the award-winning Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale opposite Elisabeth Moss. He was nominated for a 2019 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and a 2018 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Fiennes followed his critically praised performances in the Oscar-nominated films Elizabeth and John Madden's Shakespeare in Love with lead roles in Jean-Jacques Annaud's Enemy at the Gates, Eric Till's Luther, Rupert Wyatt's The Escapist, opposite Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons in The Merchant of Venice, and Ryan Murphy’s Running With Scissors. He also starred in Ryan Murphy’s FX pilot, Pretty Handsome, as a married man who realizes he is a transsexual and opts for gender reassignment surgery. The show never went to series but was highly regarded and considered ahead of its time. Fiennes continued his collaboration with Ryan Murphy, later starring as "Monsignor Timothy Howard" opposite Jessica Lange in the Emmy-nominated FX miniseries American Horror Story: Asylum.

About the Performer

Karen David moves effortlessly between dramatic and comedic TV series and films, having played recurring roles on the hit series Fear the Walking Dead and Barry. She co-stars in the critically acclaimed film Land of Gold, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. She plays a leading role in the NBC series The Irrational, and has appeared on Legacies, The Rookie, Once Upon a Time, Jack Ryan, Scorpion King 2, Tiger Hunter, and many other films and TV series. Her starring role in the musical comedy series Galavant also showcased her talent as a singer.

About the Performer

In a film career spanning over 30 years, Holt McCallany has appeared in well over 100 films and television shows, working with some of the world's most storied directors, including David Fincher, David O'Russell, William Friedkin, Lawrence Kasdan, Walter Hill, Clint Eastwood, Brian De Palma, and Michael Mann, among others. He starred in the acclaimed Netflix series Mindhunter, directed by David Fincher, as Bill Tench, a complex, real-life FBI agent researching serial killers in the late 1970s. Holt has appeared in many notable supporting roles in movies like Fight Club ("His name was Robert Paulson!"), Three Kings, Black Hat, Alien III, Justice League, and Sully. In 2011, he starred in the critically acclaimed and innovative television series Light's Out on FX, where he played an ex-world champion boxer with pugilistic dementia who works for the mob to support his family.
At 14, Holt ran away to Hollywood to become an actor, where he eventually ended up working in a screwdriver factory. His father Michael (Tony Award-winning Broadway producer of Borstal Boy) tracked him down and sent Holt to a boarding school in Ireland (Newbridge College, County Kildare), which he’d attended 40 years earlier. Holt went on to study and work in theater in France, England, and the US. He now lives in New York City.

About the Performer

Adrian Pasdar’s acting career spans over 30 years and nearly 100 projects. Most recently he played supporting roles in the films The Georgetown Project with Russell Crowe and The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu, as well as on the TV series East New York (CBS). Other notable film work includes starring roles in Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, Brian De Palma’s Carlito’s Way with Al Pacino, Secondhand Lions with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, Susan Seidelman’s Cookie, and his first film, Tony Scott’s Top Gun.
On television, Adrian starred on NBC’s Heroes, USA’s Colony, ABC’s Agents of Shield, USA’s miniseries Political Animals opposite Sigourney Weaver, and played the title role in the FOX drama Profit.
Off-Broadway, Adrian starred in Aven’u Boys and the Drama-Logue Award-winning The Secret Sits in the Middle.

What listeners say about Bluebeard

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I liked it all. Two thumbs up 👍🏼 👍🏼 nice mystery thriller. Creepy in a good way😏

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4 people found this helpful

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Excellent + riveting mystery/thriller

Excellent acting by Karen David, Joseph Fiennes, and Adrian Pasdar! This true crime story kept me intrigued, chilled, and riveted. Bravo! I binged it all on Memorial Day.

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1 person found this helpful

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Very believable

Story captured my total attention early on and kept it until the very last chapter.

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2 people found this helpful

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Listening to Joseph Fiennes and Karen David… = Amazing!

Joseph, Karen, Adrian and Holt were so convincing in their roles. It was such a pleasure working with them and all of the other actors! I am deeply indebted to them and Pete McDonnell and Greg Nelson and the recording crew at Invisible Studios!

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Performance was superb

Loved this audiobook, I was captivated and enthralled and the audio was *chefs kiss*. Gonna go binge more from the authors

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3 people found this helpful

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Commute Captivating Book

Loved the commentary. Definitely kept me engaged in the audiobook. Definitely loved the suspense and mystery of this book.

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2 people found this helpful

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Great thriller

I was sucked into the story that I did not want to turn off and go to bed. Finished this story in 24 hrs!

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Well played performance

The alternating perspectives made for good listening. The story revealed itself nicely that way. I came away with a feeling of real triumph for the heroine and a sense of genuine sadness for the murdered women.
Overall I liked it!

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Very well done!

Casting was great and loved to hear this story that I didn’t really know much about before. Well done! Binge/able too! I listened during a workout, dog walk, cooking and doing some laundry. Wonderful!

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Extraordinary writing and acting.

I felt transported to another time and place. I listened to a movie that I saw in my mind. It was unforgettable.

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