Mystery, Drugs, Unstoppable Sex & Rachel Maddow: Nine Audio Books You Should Listen To

As we head into holiday season, many readers are gearing up for road trips. Best way to get through one? Audio books — they can be downloaded on your iPod or MP3 player or bought as CDs from several companies including the powerhouse Audible.com (which works with Amazon and offers a variety of price plans including one book a month for $14.95) and the fiesty newcomer AudioBooks.com (which lets you stream as many books as you like for a flat monthly fee of $29.95). Here are just nine of our fave audio books with LGBT content.

BY Diane Anderson-Minshall

October 25 2012 7:07 PM ET

A Sticky End, The Secret Tunnel, Hot Valley, The Back Passage, and The Palace of Varieties by James Lear ($19.95, Audible.com)

The most exciting thing to happen to gay mystery loving audiophiles was when all of James Lear's Cleis Press novels were released by Audible.com. Like gay reimagings of Agatha Christie's murder mysteries (The Back Passage is a sexy and witty must-hear gay version of Murder on the Orient Express), all of Lear's books are worth a listen. The wonderful Daniel Carter, whose accent alone draws readers in to the storyline, narrates Lear's audio books including A Sticky End, The Secret Tunnel, Hot Valley, The Back Passage, and The Palace of Varieties. Murder, mystery, and unstoppable sex — if you have a long flight over the holidays, you'll want to download this incredibly skilled author's books and just listen. (Audible.com)

Listen to an excerpt of The Back Passage at Audible.