SHELBYVILLE, Ky. - eTradeWire -- Indie mystery author Amethyst Drake has released an audiobook edition of The Scheme, the first novel in her Carson Crime Files series, narrated using an AI-generated clone of the author's own voice.
The Scheme follows Katherine Carson, a former intelligence operative turned Baltimore private detective, as a routine missing-persons case unravels into a web of espionage, financial crime, and old grudges. The novel is a B.R.A.G. Medallion honoree and the first entry in a series built around a small, fiercely loyal team of ex-intelligence operatives working cases the system alone can't always resolve.
The audiobook edition is confirmed available on Audible, Libro.fm, audiobooks.com, Kobo, and Spotify.
The audiobook was two years in the making. Drake was told by an audiobook producer that her novel, at roughly four and a half hours, fell short of the length most listeners are willing to spend a credit on: "If your finished book is less than seven hours long, it isn't worth your time or mine," the producer told her. Rather than pad the book to hit an industry benchmark, Drake waited until AI narration made producing the audiobook herself both feasible and affordable.

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"I've been disclosing AI use in my books since before it was the industry argument it is now," said Drake. "This is the most personal version of that yet — hearing Katherine's world read back to me, in my own voice, feels like a strange kind of full circle."
Drake has publicly disclosed her use of generative AI tools as part of her writing and production process since her first novel, and includes a plain-language AI use statement on the copyright page of each book.

About Amethyst Drake Amethyst Drake writes traditional mysteries with a small-town heart and a big-city body count — fair-play whodunits where the puzzle plays straight and the people are worth coming back for. Her detectives are ex-spies carrying damage that made them sharper: a found family bound by loyalty and dangerous precisely because nobody sees them coming. The quiet ones always are. The Scheme and Framed, the first two novels in the Carson Crime Files series, are both B.R.A.G. Medallion honorees.
https://amethystdrake.com/