Narrator Daniel York Loh sounds refined and reserved as academic Lao She in this atmospheric twist on the cases of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Lao admiringly recounts the feats of Judge Dee Ren Jie, who is investigating a series of murders of Chinese men in 1920s London--murders the police seem uninterested in solving. Dee has a prodigious intellect and advanced fighting skills, and he's addicted to opium. As Lao finds himself embroiled in the dangerous case, listeners learn about the victims, who aided British soldiers during WWI and who faced persisting racism and xenophobia in England. Loh performs a range of accents for the cast of side characters, from real-life figures Bertrand Russell and Ezra Pound to the thief Jimmy Fingers, and pronounces Chinese names perfectly.
Pub Date: April 2, 2024
Duration: 8 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798891783126
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
For someone whose vocal palette contains so few colors, Edward Asner is a surprisingly effective narrator. His familiar, pleasant growl compels attention and bespeaks authority. He has his faults though. As an audiobook performer, he has but one personality, whatever the narrative voice of his text. One gets the impression that he enters the studio underprepared, taking his time to discover the book as he reads it. Thus it is with An Isolated Incident, a taut, suspenseful murder mystery set in Puget Sound. Other readers could better explore all the beats of this rich page-turner, but few could hold an audience as effortlessly.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Time Warner AudioBooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kay Scarpetta takes on more than routine investigations as her job of medical examiner involves her once again in a search for an unknown killer. The story is riveting from the opening chapters, and Sheila Hart never lets the intrigue subside. However Hart doesn't use enough vocal range, and male voices sound tinny and high-pitched. The dialogues with tough yet, endearing, Lt. Pete Marino have perfect cadence, accent and speech pattern, but sound somewhat thin and insubstantial. Telephone conversations and flashbacks are set off by effective sound enhancement, a useful addition. The overall presentation is very good driven strongly by the author's contribution.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 9 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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