Crime dominates Audible's 2016 audiobook charts

Crime and thrillers were Audible's most popular audiobooks in the UK in 2016, Amazon has said.

Its charts show more than half of the top 20 new releases downloaded in 2016 fell into that category.

Bestselling titles spanned both established names, such as Peter May’s Coffin Road (riverrun, narrated by Peter Forbes) and Stephen King’s End Of Watch (Hodder, narrated by Will Patton), and debuts, including The Widow by Fiona Barton (Transworld, narrated by Clare Corbett) and I See You by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere, narrated by Rachel Atkins).

Paula Hawkins’ Girl On The Train (Transworld) topped the overall download chart, having spent eight consecutive months in the Audible number one spot.

Hawkins beat all seven Harry Potter titles, narrated by Stephen Fry, which however took bestseller spots two to seven and nine overall, as well as George RR Martin's Game of Thrones books, narrated by Roy Dotrice, which came in at 10 and 20 for Book 1 of a Song of Ice and Fire and Book 2 of A Song of Ice and Fire (Harper Voyager).

Tracey Markham, country manager at Audible, said: “Having combed through our listening data for this year’s best-seller chart, our figures show that stories about murder, scandal and intrigue continue to grip the nation. Having a voice piped directly into your ear, that’s an intensely intimate experience, one that makes listening to a good thriller all the more terrifying.” 

Comic memoirs were also popular. In the top 20 are Nomad by Alan Partridge (Trapeze), Spectacles by Sue Perkins (Michael Joseph) and Amy Schumer’s The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo (Simon and Schuster). Ruby Wax’s A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled (Penguin Life) was the most downloaded new title of 2016, tapping into the enduring popularity of the mindfulness trend. It appeared at number 18 in Audible's overall bestsellers list. 

David Walliams, who this week scooped Christmas number one, made Audible's number 20 for new releases with The World's Worst Children (HarperCollins Children's Books).

Amazon said two billion hours of audio had been downloaded globally from Audible in 2016, doubled from one billion  in 2014.