RASHOMON GATE

I.J. Parker's mysteries, set in ancient Japan, follow the adventures of Sugawara Akitada, who was born into nobility, but due to a reversal of the family fortunes, works at the Ministry of Justice. In this, the first of the series, Akitada vies with court nobles as he investigates blackmail and murder. The story drags occasionally, but in general this is a fun blend of police procedural and history lesson. One wishes that Roy Vongtama could have helped it along. Yet his American-accented voice sounds young and inexperienced, and his tone is uninflected. Although he reads with evident emotion and assays a few "voices," the result is stilted and one-dimensional. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2008]