^evíew AUDM
well in the stiff question and answer
Audio
Fiction
Corduroy Mansions
Alexander McCall Smith, read by Simon
Prebble. Recorded Books, unabridged, 20
CDs, 23 hrs.. $39.99 iSBN 978-1-4498-3939-0
McCai! Smith's latest is cut from the
same doth as the 44 Scotland Street series
iinJ follows the residents of a three-story
Pimiico flat. William, a wine merchant,
is a London Angus Lordy, both philosoph-
ical and innocent in regard to the ways of
women. Freddy de la Hay, a "Pimiico Ter-
rier," is a smaller version of Angus's dog,
Cyril. As in all McCall Smith's series,
most characters are kind, ifa bit befud-
dled by che curves life throws them. The
talented Simon Prebble narrates the vi-
gnettes with vigorous aplomb. In particu-
lar, he captures parliamentary member
Oedipus Snark's innate nasciness, Wil-
liam's altruistic temperament, and his
friend Marcia's hopeless attachment to
him. Though the characters are less well
individualized than in previous series,
[here are still many mirthful moments
that will entertain McCalt Smith fans. A
Pantheon hardcinxr (Rei'ieus. May 24).
(July)
lAr We Have Always Lived in the
Castie
Shirley Jackson, read by Bernadette Dunne.
Blackstone Audio, unabridged, five CDs, 5.5
tirs., $19.95 ISBN 978-1 4417-3426-6
Since the mysterious death ot four fam-
ily members, the superstitious Mary
Katherine "Merricat" Biackwood, her ail-
ing uncle Julian, and agoraphobic sister
Constance have lived in a bizarre but con-
tented state of isolation. But when cousin
Charles arrives in search of the Blackwood
fortune, a terrible family secret is re-
vealed. Bernadette Dunne's reading is
flawlessly paced and suspensetul. The
voices she provides the cast of characters
are spot on: precocious Merricat is haunt-
ed and increasingly desperate; Constance
is doting but detached; Uncle Julian is
both pleasantly dotty and utterly unnerv-
ing; and Charles is the conniving villain
listeners will love to hate. A treat for fans
of mystery and suspense. (June)
new cast of eccentric characters (and dogs).
^ Oiiver Twist
Charles Dickens, read by Martin Jarvis. BBC
Audio, unabridged. 14 CDs. 16.5 hrs., $29.95
IS8N 978-1-6028-3876-5
The inimitable Martin Jarvis brings his
talenrs to bear on Charles Dickens's clas-
sic in an audiobook that will delight lis-
teners with its superb recreations of gritcy
19th-century London. To escape Mr.
Bumble and life in the workhouse, Oliver
flees to London where he meets the Artful
Dodger and becomes embroiled with Fa-
gin's ragtag band of thieves. Jarvis simply
dazzles: his performance captures both rhe
humor and sorrow of che text, his narra-
tion is crisp, and his characterizations—
his rendition of the terrifying district
magistrate, Mr. Fang, is particularly
memorable-—are as varied as they are en-
ergetic, befitting, and enjoyable. (June)
in the Name of Honor
Richard North Patterson, read by John
Bedford Lloyd. Macmillan Audio, unabridged,
12 CDs, 15 hrs., $39.99 ISBN 978-1-4272-0947-
4 crammed full of quotations, letters, found
A dramatic military trial is at center
stage in this engrossing mystery. Lieut.
Brian McCarran, a member of a distin-
guished military family, is on trial for
shooting and killing his commanding of-
ficer. Capt. Paul Terry, an excellent trial
lawyer who is on his way out of the mili-
tary and into a lucrative job at a civilian
taw firm, is brought in as defense counsel.
McCarran is claiming self-defense, but
Terry knows there are secrets being kept
and more to this killing than he's being
told. John Bedford Lloyd reads with clear,
almost clinical intonation, and this works
WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM
phases of che erial, but not quite as well
when the book moves outside the court-
room. These sections could have used a
little more passion in rheir delivery. Still,
this is a small quibble; this book is Pat-
terson at his best, and the listener is in for
asuspenseful and thought-provoking lis-
ten. A Henry Holt hardcover (June)
Crashers
Dana Haynes, read by David Ledoux.
Macmillan Audio, unabridged, 10 CDs. 11.5
hrs.. $39.99 ISBN 978-1-4272-1215-3
A commercial airliner goes down in
Oregon with more than 100 people on
board and within minutes, the Crashers,
the team of specialists of the National
Transportation Safety Board, are on the
way to reconstruct the crash and deter-
mine the cause. Despite a few overly dra-
matic moments that leave a listener in-
credulous, the thriller gains momentum
as the details of the investigation are re-
vealed. David Ledoux has a fine reading
voice and does an excellent job of main-
taining the pace. His characterizations
and accents are appropriate and easy to
differentiate, and keep the 1 istener en-
tranced and in keen anticipation as the
Crashers investigate whether it was me-
chanical failure, pilot error, or terrorist
sabotage that brought the plane down. A
St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 5).
(June)
iiustrado
Miguel Syjuco.read by William Dufris. Tantôt
Media, unabridged. 10 CDs, 12.5 hrs., $34.99
ISBN 978-1-4001-1720-8
Syjuco's novel investigating the myste-
rious death of a beloved writer is
documents, and all sorts of devices and
flotsam that translates better on the page,
where it can be read or skimmed, than in
audio, where everything must be given
equal attention. William Dufris does his
best with this material, but he cannot
prevent the addenda from bogging down
the flow of the narrative. Dufris gamely
tries to navigate his way through the
thickets of Syjuco's prose, but the con-
stant interruptions and stylistic embroi-
dery does not lend itself to fruitful listen-
ing. A Earrar, Straus, and G ¡roux hardcover
(Rei'ieu's, Feh. ! ). (Jtme)
67
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