Smoke Signal Audiobook By Marie Benedict, Kate Quinn cover art

Smoke Signal

A Novella

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Smoke Signal

By: Marie Benedict, Kate Quinn
Narrated by: Nicola Barber, Saskia Maarleveld
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About this listen

Best-selling authors Marie Benedict (The Mystery of Mrs. Christie) and Kate Quinn (The Rose Code) join forces to tell the captivating story of how history's most famous mystery writer crossed paths with one of Britain's top-secret codebreakers in the throes of World War II.

Recruited as a codebreaker of enemy ciphers, ex-debutante Osla Kendall spends her days translating Axis military messages and her nights reading mystery novels. When Osla gets her hands on Agatha Christie's most recent work, N or M?, a mysterious signal within its pages catches her eye, and she and her eccentric book club get in touch with the famous but reclusive writer. Osla's outreach is a welcome distraction for Agatha, who feels restless and underestimated toiling away in a London pharmacy while men like her husband can contribute to the war effort from the frontlines.

So begins the story of an unlikely friendship and the secrets that bind two brave women embroiled in war. Based on true events and told by two beloved authors and champions of history's heroines, Smoke Signal is a breathtaking novella of espionage and the unforgettable women who risked everything to serve their country.

To learn more about Osla Kendall and Agatha Christie, see Marie Benedict's The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, a novel of Agatha Christie's disappearance in 1926, and Kate Quinn's forthcoming The Rose Code, a novel of the female codebreakers of Bletchley Park.

©2021 Marie Benedict and Kate Quinn (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.
Fiction World War II Mystery Feel-Good Funny
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Interview: Marie Benedict and Kate Quinn Champion History's Hidden Heroines

'I wanted to tell about the women... many of them who were brilliant and unseen...after they were gone.'
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  • Smoke Signal
  • 'I wanted to tell about the women... many of them who were brilliant and unseen...after they were gone.'

About the Creator

Kate Quinn is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She wrote four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, and The Rose Code. All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs.

About the Creator

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a commercial litigator. A graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law, she is also the author of the New York Times best seller The Only Woman in the Room, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and Lady Clementine, all of which have been translated into multiple languages. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

About the Performer

Narrator of over 400 audiobooks, Saskia Maarleveld is listed as one of AudioFile Magazine’s best voices of 2015, 2016, and 2018. Maarleveld is an Audie and SOVAS award-winning narrator, including a nomination for Best Female Narrator for her performance in The Alice Network. Raised in New Zealand and France, now living in New York, Maarleveld switches seamlessly between accents, often heard narrating in British, Australian, and countless others, in addition to her American accent.

About the Performer

Nicola Barber’s voice can be heard on television and radio commercials, popular video games such as World of Warcraft, and even in talking toys. Twice chosen as an AudioFile Magazine Best Voice, her work has garnered multiple Earphones Awards, four Audie Awards, a Library Journal starred review, and a SOVAS Award. Nicola voices the animation in each episode of Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas on HBO, and she dubbed the lead role on Netflix’s dystopian drama The Barrier. Raised in England and Scotland, Nicola immigrated to the US South and lived in the Midwest before finding her home in New York City. If you can’t find her in the recording studio, she’s probably dancing on roller skates in Central Park.

Featured Article: The Best Short Story Audiobooks to Immerse Yourself In Now


Short stories have had a huge impact on the canon of great literature. In fact, some of history's most revered novelists—Ernest Hemingway, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Louisa May Alcott among them—wrote short stories, which make excellent introductions to their work. Plus, these bite-size listens are the perfect way to get a big dose of literary inspiration even when you’re short on time. To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of listens.

What listeners say about Smoke Signal

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Rose Code reprise...

I guess Kate Quinn had lots more to say about Osla - after reading The Rose Code, this was just a continuation with a famous writer tossed in. Glad it was short (and free).

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Nice short story

I enjoyed the related longer books, so this was a great treat and a fast listen.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Osla needs her own story

I liked this story but it definitely was a novella. Please continue, I’d like to know more about Osla.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Agatha Christie novel used as premise

Great narration of a spy novel based on a novel by Agatha Christie. Did she really reveal war secrets in her detective fiction N or M? Listen to this original novella to decide.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Good quick listen tho too much for an hour

Great writing style and content but too much going on and too many characters for a short story. May be better in written form where can reference back and forth. Performance and style get kudos. Premise of story is great... overall as a short story just an ‘okay’.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fit in with Rose Code beautifully

I loved it. It was a lovely addition to the Rose Code and fit into the story beautifully.

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Read the Rose code for more on Osla

Great short story love the Twinings of Osla and Agatha. I listen to the Rose code twice like in the story, so well, so check that out for more on Osla and the other women at BP.

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Read The Rose Code first!

I listened to this once and thought it was just ok. Then I read The Rose Code and this all made far more sense. It cleverly doesn’t give away anything in RC but if you know the story and know essentially who the spy is it all fits together beautifully!!

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it was cute

The story was cute but it was hard to keep up with bouncing back and forth through time. But overall I enjoyed it

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Such fun following The Rose Code!

I recently completed The Rose Code and read Marie Benedict’s The Mystery of Mrs. Christie earlier this year. This novella was such a fun dance of fresh and slightly older memories to have characters and their vibrant personalities come back to life, and together! I thought this tiptoe towards a full fledge partnership was fabulous fun and I do hope Quinn and Benedict carry on!

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