KINGDOM OF SILENCE

Detective Sergeant Keen Dunliffe is having a heck of a time in this eagerly awaited sequel to Lee Wood's first British police procedural. Thank goodness he has such an able narrator in Ralph Cosham to give him voice. Seconded to an unwelcoming Yorkshire station to help cope with violent animal rights activists, Dunliffe chases leads for three cases while trying to resuscitate a romance. Around him, farmers cope with a hoof-and-mouth epidemic. Cosham's thoughtful portrayals of the book's many characters, from Yorkshire coppers to London ladies, offer insight and enjoyment in equal measure. But it's his pacing that is most remarkable. As the tension grows, Cosham's narration builds from "bored-cop relaxed" to panic without ever overdoing it. A terrific job. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2009]