MURDER ON THE LEVIATHAN

1878. Paris. The Crime of the Century sends Papa Gauche of the Paris police on the maiden voyage of the luxury liner LEVIATHAN. Somewhere on the ship is a murderer. Boarding in Port Said is Erast Fandorin, the handsome, clever detective/diplomat first seen in Russian writer Boris Akunin’s THE WINTER QUEEN. Michael Kramer displays impressive vocal pyrotechnics, bringing Akunin’s eccentric group of sleuths and suspects to life. He is genteel as Fandorin applies meticulous logic, and terribly French conveying Gauche’s gaucherie. In this Christie- like period piece, personal revelations come via interior monologues from an unstable baronet, a much maligned officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, a neurotic pregnant woman, and a drab English heiress. Thanks to Akunin’s cerebral, mischievous wit and Kramer’s bravura performance, stereotypes become originals, and nothing is ever dull. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 04]