DEATH OF A DREAMER

Graeme Malcolm gives a nuanced portrayal of diverse characters inhabiting or visiting a remote village in northern Scotland. Various characters stride across the canvas, and Malcolm essays them all, including a grumpy American, and Englishmen and women from down south. Malcolm succeeds without going into falsetto or mumbling incoherently; it's all in the pacing and accent and cadence. His vaguely Scottish narrative voice binds the story together. Constable Hamish Macbeth, who has starred in 20 previous mysteries, must cope with a delusional female visitor whose fantasies lead to murder. The voice and the setting are so compatible that one settles back and enjoys the story, scarcely noticing the narrator's expertise. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]