Thud! by Terry Pratchett (2005, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

Pratchett’s latest Discworld Novel gets its title from a centuries-old strategy game played by Dwarves against Trolls, where the successful competitor must win a match on each side of the table. That Dwarves do not think like Trolls and Trolls do not think like Dwarves – and, in fact, that Trolls and Dwarves don’t think much of each other, either – cause much dissension in the city of Ankh-Morpork. And with a thud of a wholly different sort, someone has clubbed a Dwarf to death.

Everyone knows that Trolls always carry clubs, so Ankh-Morpork is on the verge of civil war. It is up to Sam Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, to solve the crime and stem the ill-will. He does so with a hilarious band of Equal-Opportunity Watchpersons, none of whom naturally likes or trusts each other any more than do the Dwarves and Trolls. Pratchett’s perversely clever satires are populated with creatures who are preposterous exaggerations of our own frailties. Briggs, the official reader of all the Discworld novels, brings them to life with style and pleasure