I agree with you about Jim Dale. I love his Snape voice.

As for recommendations, I think the reader is crucial. I recently picked up a copy of 'A Study in Scarlet' (first Sherlock Holmes novel) from my local library, and the author spoke as if he were half-drunk, the words all slurred together. Nigel something. NOT recommended.

I DO recommend anything (written and) read by Neil Gaiman. I could listen to him reading the phone book, and it would be exciting. I'm currently listening to 'Neverwhere', which is both creepy and hilarious, and as much as I loved reading the book in 'book-form', I'm loving have Gaiman read his words to me in audio version. Along that vein, I recommend his readings of 'Stardust', 'M is for Magic' (short stories), and 'Graveyard Book'. I recently listened to his novella 'MirrorMask', but it was read by a woman, although in this particular case it made definite sense, as the story is told in the first person by a teenaged girl. Hearing NG's voice would have been...off. It was read by Stephanie Leon-something. I think.

I recommend almost anything read by Michael Page. He's a British reader, and has a great talent for differentiating voices and making them 'jump-off-the-audiopage'. His reading of 'Ivanhoe' (Sir Walter Scott) I very strongly recommend. His reading of 'Great Expectations' (Charles Dickens) is great too, but what a whiner of a protagonist. Can't exactly recommend. I began listening to Page's reading of "Lies of Locke Lamora" (Scott Lynch), but the book was just so over-the-top filthy, that I gave up a third of the way through. I realize there are some folks here who love that book, so if you're one of them, you will definitely like MP's reading of it, because his reading was great.

Then there's Anna Fields. I listened to her read 'Bel Canto' (by Ann Patchett), which was a good story, and moving at the time, but not a favorite. But recommended if you like singing, romance, and music. I so liked AF's voice that I next listened to her read 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' (Betty Smith), and I absolutely loved the book. I liked it so much I went out and bought it in paperback, so that I could savor my favorite sections.

Other recommendation:
Dog On It, by Spencer Quinn--four paws up! Very, very funny detective story told from the point of view of the detective's dog.

Try various Detective Adam Dalgleish mysteries by P.D. James, starting with 'Cover Her Face'. Very well crafted mysteries, but honestly, someone either drinks tea or coffee, or is offered tea or coffee, or thinks about drinking tea or coffee in every single scene of every single book. Sometimes, cocoa is also offered. But it's often poisoned.