THE BARBAROUS COAST

One of the “Big Three” in American hard-boiled detective fiction (with Chandler and Hammett), Macdonald makes a routine story of oceanside murder among the rich take on a hard-edged, glistening solidity. The listener knows the characters. Tom Parker reads with great skill, shading primarily by accent rather than by tone or volume. A prissy character sounds prissy, a Mexican-American has the faintest of Spanish accents, and the first-person protagonist sounds a little weary, a little cynical, a little lonely. This is an excellent presentation of an excellent crime novel. D.W. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 02]