In this twelfth mystery featuring Laotian Doctor Siri Paiboun, narrator Clive Chafer performs his usual magic. This time, “Doctor Sili” (because the “r” sounds like an “l”) is team physician for Laos’s motley, hastily assembled athletes in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. When one of the athletes secretly replaces another, Dr. Siri and his colleagues set out to avert murder, while dodging Russian and Laotian security. As ever, Chafer’s unhurried pace and pleasant, amused tone perfectly channel Dr. Siri’s personality. His other portraits, including those of Laotian peasants, Russian officials, and the Laotian forest witch inside Dr. Siri, are subtle—sketches instead of oil paintings—and just right. May Cotterill and Chafer continue forever.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2017
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781501957208
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ayla, one of the "others," is adopted by a clan of Neanderthal cave people. She struggles to conform to their ways, but her advanced human traits overwhelm and threaten their primitive culture in this initial installment of an immensely popular series. Although the story might benefit from abridgment, Rowena Cooper easily carries out the formidable task of enlivening the mostly silent and stereotypical characters with consistent, diverse personalities and human dimension. Through skillful phrasing and inflection, she maintains the reader's interest and suspense, especially with Ayla and her plight, throughout this rambling and imaginative story.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America/ Chivers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This lyrical, sensual novel of woman's lot in Manchu, China, is as well researched as it is well written. Authentic in tone, it's nonetheless written for Westerners by a Western expert on China. Moreover, Susan Clark performs the demanding text superbly, with only occasional signs of fatigue. For the most part she not only sustains the quaint diction and Asian atmosphere, but also, creates whole worlds with her voice. She acts the book, rather than reads it, and, in so doing, turns a pretty trifle into a stupendous beauty.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Literature
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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