Murder By Other Means is Out on Audible + The World Premiere of “The Dispatcher” by Ted Leo
Posted on September 10, 2020 Posted by John Scalzi 25 Comments
Today’s the day! Murder By Other Means, the second installment of the the “Dispatcher” series, is now available on Audible! Like The Dispatcher, it is performed by the estimable Zachary Quinto, and once again the story is filled with intrigue and danger, in a world where murder is a near-impossibility.
What is this one about? I’m glad you asked! Here’s the promotional text:
Welcome to the new world, in which murder is all but a thing of the past. Because when someone kills you, 999 times out of 1,000, you instantly come back to life. In this world, there are dispatchers – licensed killers who step in when you’re at risk of a natural or unintentional death. They kill you – so you can live.
Tony Valdez is used to working his job as a dispatcher within the rules of the law and the state. But times are tough, and more and more Tony finds himself riding the line between what’s legal and what will pay his bills. After one of these shady gigs and after being a witness to a crime gone horribly wrong, Tony discovers that people around him are dying, for reasons that make no sense…and which just may implicate him.
Tony is running out of time: to solve the mystery of these deaths, to keep others from dying, and to keep himself from being a victim of what looks like murder, by other means.
Pretty exciting stuff, if I do say so myself. As with The Dispatcher, Murder is novella length, which means it’s the perfect size for listening to around the house, and keeping you company on short trips and exercise.
How do you get it? Well, if you’re currently an Audible Premium or Audible Plus subscriber, all you have to do it hit up that Audible page I linked to above; it’s available to you as part of your subscription (as is The Dispatcher, the first in the series). You can download it instantly and be good to go. If you’re not an Audible Premium or Plus subscriber, or live somewhere the new Audible Plus service is not yet available, you can still purchase it from Audible, either with an Audible credit, or with actual money. Yes, actual money is still a thing!
I’m hugely excited to have this new installment of the Dispatcher series out in the world. I love writing this series and I love the fact that Zachary Quinto brings protagonist Tony Valdez and his world to life with his audio performance. I think you are going to like Murder a whole lot. I can’t wait for you to listen it.
Speaking of listening, I have a very special treat for you: “The Dispatcher,” the theme song for Murder By Other Means, written and performed by none other than indie music superstar Ted Leo. It’s having its world premiere right here and right now, for you, yes, you!
Can I tell you just how geeked out I am about Ted doing this song? I am super geeked out. I’ve been a fan of Ted’s for years, in pretty much all of his musical iterations. To have him make a song for Murder is just about the Best Thing Ever. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Happy release day to Ted, and Zachary, and me — and to you too! Come get a taste of Murder By Other Means. It’s ready for you to try!
— JS
To answer two questions that will inevitably be asked:
1. Yes, there will be a print/ebook edition. That will be by Subterranean Press, and in 2021. More details on that will be coming. However, inasmuch as Audible commissioned Murder By Other Means, they get it as an exclusive for a bit.
2. As far as I know it should be available wherever Audible is available; they have the world rights to the audio in English.
Neat! Loved the first installment.
I have an audible premium plus subscription. One click and Murder by Other Means is now in my library.
It’s available on Audible UK, but it’s 20 pounds (or a credit), so I’ll wait for it to show up in a sale.
Will this book ever be available to libraries? At this point, much as I enjoy audiobooks, I have relied on libraries enough that if libraries can’t buy it, I won’t buy it (and I know libraries are not even allowed to buy audible exclusives in general).
Brian Quirt:
If your library purchases the print/ebook edition, then yes.
I am very pleased to hear that about the print/ebook edition, especially because Subterranean Press usually pays so much attention to the typesetting and formatting of all of the versions they produce.
Downloaded! I’m not usually an audiobook guy. The last one I added to my Audible library was The Dispatcher! :)
Hurrah! I have a long car trip coming up next week, and now I know what will be keeping me entertained. So glad Zachary Quinto is narrating again, as I thought he did a magnificent job the first time.
“I think you are going to like Murder a whole lot.” Seems legit, especially this year.
I look forward to the print edition (hopefully Tor or someone else will collect them into a volume with 2-3 novellas per book). I liked Lock-In – I think you do Mystery well.
btw, when you set out to write a mystery, were there any resources you used to figure out “how to” do a mystery? Or was it just a function of you being a writer, so when you read something you automatically desonctruct the technique and see what the author’s trying to do?
John, will Subterranean Press have “the Dispatcher” in a paperback pocket or even trade print edition in time for holiday gifting? I have a deaf friend who is both a Scalzi fan and a thriller aficionado, and I’m thinking it would be perfect. Even better if they do a combined edition with “By Other Means” but I understand that won’t be available to the deaf for a while based on the exclusivity thing. So just The Dispatcher… that may be all I could afford in print edition this year anyway, as the hardcover is priced at $45.
Cool beans. Added it to my Audible library. By the way, the whole reason I signed on to Audible in the first place years ago was to listen to the Dispatcher. Now I have a second reason! (Okay, okay, I have other books in my Audible library, not just Scalzi books. It’s just that dispatcher started this crazy ride.)
uleaguehub:
The SubPress edition isn’t until 2021, and they specialize in collector’s editions. There will be an ebook edition, however.
$24.95?????????????
This might be an odd question, but did you read an excerpt from this on the 2019 JoCo cruise? Or was it the first book maybe? Because now that I see this post, I remember listening to that reading and thinking “gosh, I definitely want to know the rest of that story” and then promptly forgetting what the book was, and, by the end of the cruise, the entire reading, which I have only just remembered now.
The theme song reminds me of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album.
I’m not an audiobook fan, but I know a LOT of people are, and thus I know that it’s smart you are doing this as an Audible exclusive (as much as I will grumble about having to wait for a print version). Will the SubPress print version be signed/numbered, or is it too soon to know?
Conveniently just finished listening to The Dispatcher day before yesterday; and managed to get thru Murder today, thanks to a longish car trip.
In a word: Excellent.
Now the hard part: waiting for book 3!
John, Have you ever done a Big Idea on one of your own books? I would love to know how the world of The Dispatcher came about and how you went about developing the rules that would govern the resurrection process.
Jeff K:
I don’t do Big Ideas because I can write about any of my books at any time (and have). The Big Ideas are for other authors.
So just to be clear, when I finish listening to this and cancel Audible before the free trial runs out (possibly for the second time–I may have committed the same shenanigans for The Dispatcher), you still get paid?
I did eventually pick up The Dispatcher ebook from Amazon, and I’m sure I’ll do the same for this one, so I’m not TOO worried about Amazon getting paid. I love Zachary Quinto’s voice, but I am seriously deficient in audio comprehension. Reading The Dispatcher after listening to it was very much like having it for the first time TWICE.
I am new to your books. Since I am a member of Audible I am going to try. BTW It is awesome that your Audiobook is included in the new Plus catalog. Kind regards
Audible is not an option for me, unfortunately as I am Deaf. Shame. If only they would be willing to caption or provide transcripts for folks like us, and podcasts should do the same.
Congrats on the release day, John! I’ll probably wait until the ebook edition comes out. I don’t know what it is but I’ve not really gotten into the audio world yet (I’ve listen to a few, but it’s just not my thing).