HARRY LIPKIN, PRIVATE EYE

"I might not be the best, but I am certainly the oldest," Harry Lipkin, as voiced by Arthur Morey, tells listeners. He's almost 88 and, yes, there are jokes about aches and dentures as the detective seeks a thief in Coral Gables, Florida. Morey delivers Lipkin's lines in a lightly grizzled self-deprecating voice that shamus fans will immediately accept. A slight formality in Lipkin's words keeps the gumshoe effect from being perfect, but Morey makes it work nonetheless. The novel puts noir touches to a story that's more about the effects of aging than a mystery. Even so, crime fans will find something likable about the persistent private eye. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2012]