PORTRAIT IN DEATH

Susan Ericksen depicts Lieutenant Eve Dallas with stern, businesslike tones as Eve tracks a serial killer who murders women, poses and photographs them, and then send the pictures to the newspapers. Lieutenant Dallas is portrayed as sassy and skeptical except in the arms of her new husband, Roark, where she becomes intensely female. Ericksen handles multiple accents--East Coast, Hungarian, and Scottish--with accomplished ease as Lieutenant Dallas interrogates suspects. Her portrayal of Spence, the caustic nurse-companion to crusty Somerset, a secondary character, is superb. The story is sometimes difficult to follow, but Erickson's rendering of it is outstanding. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 03/JAN 04]