NIGHT AND DAY

Most crime novels begin and end with murder, the more grisly the better. Robert Parker's NIGHT AND DAY is a little less predictable, a crime novel in which no one gets killed. James Naughton is the perfect voice for Jesse Stone, an alcoholic retired L.A. detective (played by Tom Selleck in the TV movies) who is now the police chief in the coastal Massachusetts town of Paradise. In this latest adventure, a peeping Tom is disturbing the tranquility of the place, and he's getting bolder. Naughton brings a laid-back attitude to the work with a smooth voice that entices and soothes. He's also a strong enough performer that the listener would know who's talking if the all-too-frequent "he said" and "she said" attributions were eliminated from the text. M.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2009]