CROSS BONES

Montreal-based forensic pathologist Temperance Brennan finds herself in Israel, trying to solve the murder of an antiquities dealer that may or may not be all about some two-thousand-year-old bones unearthed at Masada. The archaeology is deeply interesting, the plotting is tight, and Michele Pawk is borderline brilliant at adjusting the pace of her reading to reflect tension, excitement, or fear--you won't soon forget Tempe in a pitch-dark tomb with a panicked hyena. One quibble: Someone should have paid heed to French pronunciation, given that half the story takes place in French-speaking Canada. This publisher wouldn't print a book in which the word "musée" appears scores of times without its accent. Why does the audio merit less care? B.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 05]