DARK ALCHEMY

When you can't even trust your partner, conducting a criminal investigation takes on a new set of challenges. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Sylvia Strange must find the key to a multiple murder case in which scientists around the world are being killed by deadly neurotoxins. Her partner, Edmund Sweetheart, won't give her all the information she needs. Joyce Bean keeps up with the story in fine style, maintaining energy throughout a fast-paced plot. Bean employs a narrative style even in dialogue, a choice that proves competent enough to accommodate her lack of overt characterization. A few players, such as Strange's foster daughter, receive voices of their own, and these touches provide the needed points of light in a very dark thriller. R.P.L. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 03]