
Too Close to Breathe
A Novel
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 $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Brona C. Titley
-
By:
-
Olivia Kiernan
About this listen
Olivia Kiernan's tautly written debut novel immerses listeners in a chilling murder case...and the tantalizing, enigmatic victim at the center of it all.
In a quiet Dublin suburb, within her pristine home, Eleanor Costello is found hanging from a rope.
Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan would be more than happy to declare it a suicide. Four months ago, Frankie's pursuit of a killer almost ended her life and she isn't keen on investigating another homicide. But the autopsy reveals poorly healed bones and old stab wounds, absent from medical records. A new cut is carefully, deliberately covered in paint. Eleanor's husband, Peter, is unreachable, missing. A search of the couple's home reveals only two signs of personality: a much-loved book on art and a laptop with access to the Dark Web.
With the suspect pool growing, the carefully crafted profile of the victim crumbling with each new lead, and mysterious calls to Frankie's phone implying that the killer is closer than anyone would like, all Frankie knows is that Eleanor guarded her secrets as closely in life as she does in death.
As the investigation grows more challenging, Frankie can't help but feel that something doesn't fit. And when another woman is found murdered, the same paint on her corpse, Frankie knows that unraveling Eleanor's life is the only way to find the murderer before he claims another victim...or finishes the fate Frankie only just managed to escape.
Engrossing, complex, and atmospheric, Olivia Kiernan’s debut novel will leave you breathless.
©2018 Olivia Kiernan (P)2018 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
One Step Behind
- By: Lauren North
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenna is a wife, a mother, a doctor. She’s also the victim of a stalker. Frightening "gifts" are left on her doorstep, her home is broken in to, and when she leaves her house to take her children to school, he’s waiting. She feels powerless, and the police are unable to help. Then her stalker is brought into the emergency room after a terrible accident, and Jenna has to treat the man who’s been tormenting her for months. When she finds startling images on his phone, she is consumed by her need for answers.
-
-
Likeable until the end
- By F. Keith Coston on 07-26-21
By: Lauren North
-
The Last Woman in the Forest
- By: Diane Les Becquets
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, Robert Fass, full cast
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marian Engström has found her true calling: working with rescue dogs to help protect endangered wildlife. Her first assignment takes her to Northern Alberta, where she falls in love with her mentor, the daring and brilliant Tate. When they’re separated on another assignment, she’s shattered to learn of his tragic death. Before long, Marian discovers disturbing inconsistencies about Tate’s life and begins to wonder if the man she loved could have been responsible for the unsolved murders of at least four women.
-
-
She touched upon the mindset of women
- By Seattle blues on 03-09-19
-
Who Did You Tell?
- A Novel
- By: Lesley Kara
- Narrated by: Georgia Maguire, Sian Brooke
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Astrid is newly sober and trying to turn her life around. Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and darkness of her previous life, she is focusing on her recovery. She’s going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she’s wronged. If she fills her days, maybe she can outrun the ghosts that haunt her. Maybe she can start anew. Someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won’t stop until she learns that some mistakes can’t be corrected. Some mistakes, you have to pay for....
-
-
Baskerville Book Reviews
- By Korra II Baskerville on 11-22-21
By: Lesley Kara
-
Out of the Blues
- By: Trudy Nan Boyce
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On her first day as a newly minted homicide detective, Sarah "Salt" Alt is given the cold-case murder of a blues musician whose death was originally ruled an accidental drug overdose. Now new evidence has come to light that he may have been given a hot dose intentionally. And this evidence comes from a convicted felon hoping to trade his knowledge for shortened prison time...a man who Salt herself put behind bars.
-
-
Slooooow
- By Chris on 03-15-17
By: Trudy Nan Boyce
-
The Inmate
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison: 1) Treat all prisoners with respect. 2) Never reveal any personal information. 3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates. But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates.
-
-
Boring and obvious
- By HailtoTheVictors on 07-29-22
By: Freida McFadden
-
The Break Line
- Max McLean, Book 1
- By: James Brabazon
- Narrated by: Jason O'Mara
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it comes to killing terrorists, British intelligence has always had one man they could rely on: Max McLean. As an assassin, he's never missed, but Max has made one miscalculation, and now, he has to pay the price. His handlers send him to Sierra Leone on a seemingly one-way mission. What he finds is a horror from beyond his nightmares. Rebel forces are loose in the jungle, and someone or something is slaughtering innocent villagers. It's his job to root out the monster behind these abominations, but he soon discovers he may be the most disposable piece in this operation.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Bobbi Kilbarger on 03-14-19
By: James Brabazon
-
One Step Behind
- By: Lauren North
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenna is a wife, a mother, a doctor. She’s also the victim of a stalker. Frightening "gifts" are left on her doorstep, her home is broken in to, and when she leaves her house to take her children to school, he’s waiting. She feels powerless, and the police are unable to help. Then her stalker is brought into the emergency room after a terrible accident, and Jenna has to treat the man who’s been tormenting her for months. When she finds startling images on his phone, she is consumed by her need for answers.
-
-
Likeable until the end
- By F. Keith Coston on 07-26-21
By: Lauren North
-
The Last Woman in the Forest
- By: Diane Les Becquets
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, Robert Fass, full cast
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marian Engström has found her true calling: working with rescue dogs to help protect endangered wildlife. Her first assignment takes her to Northern Alberta, where she falls in love with her mentor, the daring and brilliant Tate. When they’re separated on another assignment, she’s shattered to learn of his tragic death. Before long, Marian discovers disturbing inconsistencies about Tate’s life and begins to wonder if the man she loved could have been responsible for the unsolved murders of at least four women.
-
-
She touched upon the mindset of women
- By Seattle blues on 03-09-19
-
Who Did You Tell?
- A Novel
- By: Lesley Kara
- Narrated by: Georgia Maguire, Sian Brooke
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Astrid is newly sober and trying to turn her life around. Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and darkness of her previous life, she is focusing on her recovery. She’s going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she’s wronged. If she fills her days, maybe she can outrun the ghosts that haunt her. Maybe she can start anew. Someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won’t stop until she learns that some mistakes can’t be corrected. Some mistakes, you have to pay for....
-
-
Baskerville Book Reviews
- By Korra II Baskerville on 11-22-21
By: Lesley Kara
-
Out of the Blues
- By: Trudy Nan Boyce
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On her first day as a newly minted homicide detective, Sarah "Salt" Alt is given the cold-case murder of a blues musician whose death was originally ruled an accidental drug overdose. Now new evidence has come to light that he may have been given a hot dose intentionally. And this evidence comes from a convicted felon hoping to trade his knowledge for shortened prison time...a man who Salt herself put behind bars.
-
-
Slooooow
- By Chris on 03-15-17
By: Trudy Nan Boyce
-
The Inmate
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison: 1) Treat all prisoners with respect. 2) Never reveal any personal information. 3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates. But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates.
-
-
Boring and obvious
- By HailtoTheVictors on 07-29-22
By: Freida McFadden
-
The Break Line
- Max McLean, Book 1
- By: James Brabazon
- Narrated by: Jason O'Mara
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it comes to killing terrorists, British intelligence has always had one man they could rely on: Max McLean. As an assassin, he's never missed, but Max has made one miscalculation, and now, he has to pay the price. His handlers send him to Sierra Leone on a seemingly one-way mission. What he finds is a horror from beyond his nightmares. Rebel forces are loose in the jungle, and someone or something is slaughtering innocent villagers. It's his job to root out the monster behind these abominations, but he soon discovers he may be the most disposable piece in this operation.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Bobbi Kilbarger on 03-14-19
By: James Brabazon
-
The Fireground
- By: Dervla McTiernan
- Narrated by: Ben Chapple, Harriet Gordon-Anderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flynn was only a teenager when her parents were killed in a terrible accident. Too young to lose her parents, too young to take on responsibility for her younger sister Kaiya, too young to protect Kaiya from the harshness of their new lives in the following years. Desperate to help her sister, Flynn reaches out to Willa Tomlinson, a grief counsellor renowned for helping her patients cope with profound loss. Under Willa’s influence and care, Kaiya finally seems to turn a corner, joining the climate action collective that Willa leads.
-
-
Just what I needed
- By Grape_Ape on 12-11-23
By: Dervla McTiernan
-
First Blood
- By: Angela Marsons
- Narrated by: Jan Cramer
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She’s about to meet her team for the first time. When the body of a young man is found beheaded and staked to the ground in a secluded area of the Clent Hills, Kim and her new squad rush to the crime scene. This audio edition includes exclusive bonus content.
-
-
Detective Kim Stone Book 12
- By Wayne on 12-10-19
By: Angela Marsons
-
The Missing Ones
- Detective Lottie Parker, Book 1
- By: Patricia Gibney
- Narrated by: Michele Moran
- Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a woman's body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It's clear the pair are connected, but how? The trail leads Lottie to St Angela's, a former children's home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal.
-
-
Tangled, strange murder mystery a disappointment
- By Cassandra on 05-22-17
By: Patricia Gibney
-
The Cold, Cold Ground
- Detective Sean Duffy, Book 1
- By: Adrian McKinty
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force.
-
-
Listen to this book. You won't be disappointed.
- By Christopher on 01-21-12
By: Adrian McKinty
-
Rosarito Beach
- By: M. A. Lawson
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The start of a big, commercial, crackling, suspense filled series featuring a sexy, tough-gal DEA agent, Kay Hamilton - perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Patricia Cornwell, and Sara Paretsky.
-
-
Ceylon mckinnis Hemet,ca
- By Ceylon mckinnis on 08-30-15
By: M. A. Lawson
-
Truth and Lies
- A DI Amy Winter Thriller, Book 1
- By: Caroline Mitchell
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
DI Amy Winter is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her highly respected police officer father. But when a letter arrives from the prison cell of Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious husband-and-wife serial-killer team, it contains a revelation that will tear her life apart. Responsible for a string of heinous killings decades ago, Lillian is pure evil. A psychopathic murderer. And Amy’s biological mother. Now, she is ready to reveal the location of three of her victims - but only if Amy plays along with her twisted game.
-
-
Puttytat
- By Shots RN on 11-18-18
-
One Left Alive: A Heart-Stopping and Gripping Crime Thriller
- Detective Morgan Brookes, Book 1
- By: Helen Phifer
- Narrated by: Alison Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the body of a woman is found hanging from a tree in her front garden, rookie Detective Morgan Brookes is first on the scene. But Olivia Potter is past saving. And when her husband and daughters cannot be traced, Morgan knows there is more to this tragedy. And then she finds them. Lying huddled together in the dark basement, each of their faces covered with a small cotton cloth, their bodies cold to the touch. But as Morgan kneels beside the family, she realizes that one of the girls is still breathing.
-
-
Barbie solves her first murder case
- By Amazon Customer on 01-25-21
By: Helen Phifer
-
First Cut
- By: Judy Melinek, T.J. Mitchell
- Narrated by: Amanda Dolan
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For San Francisco’s newest medical examiner, Dr. Jessie Teska, it was supposed to be a fresh start. A new job in a new city. A way to escape her own dark past. Instead, she faces a chilling discovery when an opioid-overdose case contains hints of something more sinister. Jessie’s superiors urge her to close the case, but as more bodies land on her autopsy table, she uncovers a constellation of deaths that point to an elaborate plot involving drug dealers and Bitcoin brokers.
-
-
Why???
- By Blu on 02-20-20
By: Judy Melinek, and others
-
The Gone Dead Train
- A Mystery
- By: Lisa Turner
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After time away to recover from the aftermath of a horrible case that left his partner dead, Billy's back in Memphis, drawn into an ever-widening murder mystery that focuses on flawed heroes: a disgraced major league baseball player, two legendary blues musicians on the lam, a straight-arrow lady cop tortured by a guilty conscience, and two iconic civil rights warriors with secrets so dark they'll shock the nation.
By: Lisa Turner
-
Those Empty Eyes
- By: Charlie Donlea
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alex Armstrong has changed everything about herself—her name, her appearance, her backstory. She’s no longer the terrified teenager a rapt audience saw on television, emerging in handcuffs from the quiet suburban home the night her family was massacred. That girl, Alexandra Quinlan, nicknamed Empty Eyes, was accused of the killings, fought to clear her name, and later took the stand during her highly publicized defamation lawsuit that captured the attention of the nation. It’s been ten years since, and Alex hasn’t stopped searching for answers about the night her family was killed.
-
-
SPELLBINDING!!!!
- By shelley on 03-31-23
By: Charlie Donlea
-
Bluebird, Bluebird
- By: Attica Locke
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it comes to law and order, East Texas plays by its own rules - a fact that Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, knows all too well. Deeply ambivalent about growing up black in the Lone Star State, he was the first in his family to get as far away from Texas as he could. Until duty called him home. When his allegiance to his roots puts his job in jeopardy, he travels up Highway 59 to the small town of Lark, where two murders - a black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman - have stirred up a hornet's nest of resentment.
-
-
Good but very irritating
- By Tunde on 01-15-18
By: Attica Locke
-
UNSUB
- A Novel
- By: Meg Gardiner
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Caitlin Hendrix has been a narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB - what the FBI calls an unknown subject - the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case. The Prophet's cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness.
-
-
Once you start, you can't stop
- By stuartjash on 06-28-17
By: Meg Gardiner
Critic reviews
“Dublin makes a formidable background for a tense police procedural that introduces a strong heroine in Too Close to Breathe. Irish author Olivia Kiernan imbues Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan with intelligence and unusual sleuthing skills in the exciting debut.... Kiernan's insights into Frankie's emotional and physical recovery are skillfully woven into the plot.... While the serial killer is often overused, Kiernan finds a unique twist to this trope, where Dublin's streets and neighborhoods receive a fresh view. Too Close to Breathe excels with realistic characters, from Frankie and her police colleagues to the surprising villain.” (Associated Press)
“Olivia Kiernan pulls no punches in the tense, atmospheric Too Close to Breathe.... In a setup that’s equal parts Fiona Barton and Gillian Flynn.... A crime thriller extraordinaire.” (Providence Journal)
“As much a procedural as a character study of coming to terms with one's own capacity for perseverance in the face of tragedy, this will hopefully not be the last time readers encounter Kiernan's tough heroine.” (Kirkus Reviews)
What listeners say about Too Close to Breathe
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tj
- 11-14-23
A good listen.
The performance was done well. The story was pretty good overall, if not a bit frustratingly slow every so often. Overall, I’m happy with the time spent!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Beave
- 07-13-24
Unique storyline
An intriguing listen with a lot of twists and turns that never seemed contrived. The heroine was likeable without being perfect. Only in the final pages was the ending apparent. Well done
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- D. Christofferson
- 05-25-18
wish I'd never picked this one.
could not get past 4th chapter uninteresting to me. picked it based on a referral somewhere and wish I had not.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful