From the first episode of “Bond Beyond Blood” this audio drama sets the tone and expectations of its story — a supernatural murder mystery where the devil’s in the details both in the world of the story and outside of it.

Logical Consistency and Quality Details

Sometimes details are important for an audio drama. Other times it adds a nice touch to the soundscape where simple might have been better. There are examples of both in “Bond Before Blood” and they happen in close proximity to each other on paper. The first is hearing rain fall when there’s a slight reverb on the background chatter before the press conference. The echo implies they’re inside so why is it raining? This didn’t bother me, but it’s an example of details that make a scene less immersive.

A lot of indie fiction podcasts have a similar decision to make regarding sound design. The more detailed you try to make a scene, the more chances you give the listener to find discrepancies within that scene. The reverberated background noise of people conversing could be embedded in the audio file used and hard if not impossible to remove. That’s fine. I’ve heard my share of audio dramas with the same qualities and if the stories engaging enough I can look past them.

The sound mixing for most of the episodes could you use a good compression or limiter on the dialogue as the sound effects were often louder than the words the actors spoke. The dialogue overall is hard to understand. Adjusting the volume in a lot of scenes can affect the enjoyment of the audio drama as a whole.

Supernatural Settings and Unsettling Atmospheres

Episodes three and four amp up the supernatural and add an unnerving quality to the story. This lasts until the end, but not at the same intensity. This works in the story’s favor for one reason and against it in another. Most of the time, having ups and downs in the potency of a storytelling tool is a good thing. However the closer to the end it happens, the less effective the actual effect is. This obviously depends on the story and genre, but in this particular instance, the story’s climax feels a bit dull. A story set in WWII about the supernatural and starring a reporter and new detective has a good setup. If only the setup had a better conclusion.

The story is set during WWII. It’s not explicitly stated in the podcast’s description, but mentions of the Great War (WWI) and referring to germans as enemies narrows it down to between 1939-1945. All that said, the setting is the least important element of the audio drama. In terms of tone, “Bound Beyond Blood” borrows the aesthetic feel from the movie “Nightmare Alley” staring Bradley Cooper and released in 2021. The supernatural murder mystery podcast set in the south isn’t full-on noir in the classical sense, but something with one foot in that space to give the podcast the same flavor. It’s the difference between using a spice from one company vs a store brand. When properly portioned and used, they’ll taste the same for most people.

Bond Beyond Blood: Red Herrings and Dropped Plot Threads

A story opening with a murder mystery where everyone in the crime scene is dead is one thing. It can work with this story’s plot and tone. When you add in a red herring and focus on that false clue, people are going to believe it to be true. The whole mob rivalry angle in the first episode has little to do with how the three victims were murdered. They know whodunit by the end, but the answer isn’t satisfying.

The abundance of dropped plot threads in this audio drama and the mention of an optional prequel series in the show’s description makes me wonder if the mob war story started and ended in the prequel podcast, but had its conclusion in this one. The amount of time spent on it early in “Bond Beyond Blood” makes we question the intent of the decision. I did listen to the one-episode prequel to this show, confusingly titled “Bond Beyond Death” and I can see why it’s not required according to the creator Zachary Larsen as it kind of spoils some parts of the mystery.

Overall, this is a good period piece with great characters and amazing attention to some details. The scene in the newspaper building where the two main characters meet for the first time is the perfect blend of not too much detail and not too little. I just wish the rest was as consistent.

8/10 Stars