A WALK WITH THE DEAD

Narrator Penelope Freeman does a stellar job with this sixth Deputy Chief Inspector Monika Paniatowski mystery. The confident detective is also a nurturing mother who is helping her 13-year-old daughter recover from being kidnapped. When two girls are murdered, Paniatowski takes it personally as she embarks on the painful case. Freeman also excels at distinctly portraying the numerous cops in the story, deftly reflecting their personalities and backgrounds. The most interesting is George Baxter, Paniatowski's driven boss and former lover, who is on a difficult assignment involving the suicide of an imprisoned pedophile. Fascinating interviews with long-term prisoners take listeners into a believable setting. The two investigations--perhaps a bit unbelievably--converge in a complicated conclusion. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2015]