TRANSGRESSIONS, VOL. II

This anthology matches five novellas by prominent mystery writers with appropriate readers. Gravelly voiced Richard Ferrone reads Ed McBain's gritty story of purported hate crimes. Irish-accented John Keating delivers Anne Perry's story of an Irish politician held hostage. Wise-guy David Prete narrates Donald Westlake's caper story, starring New York City thief Dortmunder. And nerdy-sounding Robert Fass portrays Jeffrey Deaver's twisty tale of a police statistician investigating suspicious suicides. Nothing obvious ties Carrington MacDuffie to Sharyn McCrumb's story of a slave at a medical school in pre-Civil War Georgia, but her command of voices and accent makes her a good choice. Perry's "Hostages" is preachy and farfetched, but in general this well-performed mix is solid entertainment. W.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]