PAWN IN FRANKINCENSE

Dorothy Dunnett's captivating series of historical novels about the worldwide adventures of a witty, devil-may-care seventeenth-century Scotsman named Francis Crawford was a success when published in the late 1960s. It has never been out of print because it's replete with ferocious excitement, sparkling repartee, and fearsome sword thrusts. Scotsman Andrew Napier has the right accent, but he does not have the articulate energy needed to carry off the lively action of this fourth book in the Lymond Chronicles. Neither is he much able to differentiate among the wealth of characters, who range from Scotsmen and women to all manner of citizens of the Ottoman Empire. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 04]