OUT OF THE BLACK LAND

Kerry Greenwood won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Crime Writers Association for her delightful 1920s Phryne Fisher mysteries. Now she diverges dramatically from that series with new suspense in a new setting—1335 B.C. Egypt. With Pharaoh Akhnaten's ascension to the throne, political turmoil abounds, etched into stark relief by religious conflict. Worship of the people's traditional deities is banned. Paul Michael Garcia and Emily Bauer perform the youthful voices of Ptah-hotep, the peasant aspiring to become a royal scribe, and the child princess Mutnodjme, the half-sister of Nefertiti. Both narrators exude an air of artless naïveté and stilted awkwardness that hinders the story's flow. Fans of Greenwood's previous mysteries may be disappointed in this less-than-gripping thriller but will appreciate the author's vivid description and well-researched period detail. A.W. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2013]