THE DEADHOUSE

Linda Fairstein, real-life Manhattan prosecutor, continues her increasingly popular series starring Assistant DA Alex Cooper and NYPD Detective Mike Chapman. The investigation of the murder of a college history professor involves drugs and even treasure-hunting amid the ruins on Roosevelt Island. Rich in New York history and geography, Fairstein's story delivers her intricate, suspenseful plotting and very real characters. Dissapointment comes with narrator Blair Brown, however, who is badly miscast. Her soft-spoken, sensitive approach just doesn't cut it with New York cops, and the quick-paced banter between Chapman and Cooper completely eludes her. Brown's facility with pacing and dramatic emphasis is clear, She's fine with Alex's first-person narrative, but she fails to enliven the people. R.F.W. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]