THE PEOPLE WHO WALK IN DARKNESS

Narrator Daniel Oreskes's resonant baritone establishes the dark, often-cold tone of this mystery, set partially in Siberia. After a brief sabbatical, the plodding Inspector Porfiry Petrovich is back. In his fifteenth mystery, it's unclear to whom the biblical reference of the title applies—the one-legged Petrovich; the cutthroat Russian gangsters; the émigrés, women, and guest workers who serve as prey; or the mysterious child who dwells within the Siberian diamond mines, but all of them see the light in one way or another. Kaminsky's yarn-spinning skills and Oreskes's low-key dramatic style combine to produce an audio mystery that casts a long, dark winter shadow. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2009]