Moira Quirk's performance of this novel, set in 1895 Kracow, bristles with period politics and feminist viewpoints while offering a complex mystery and an appealing heroine. When the raped, stabbed body of Zofia Turbotyska's maid, Karolina, is found washed up on a river bank, the police assume Karolina was a prostitute since her body was found in an unsavory area of Kracow. Quirk handles the Polish names and places with ease, adding atmosphere to Szymiczkowa's original plotting. As Zofia moves into Kracow's seedy underworld to investigate, she rubs shoulders with gangsters, ladies of the night, politicos, and socialists. Quirk deftly delivers all the subtleties, conflicting attitudes, and even bits of humor in this unusual mystery.
Pub Date: March 23, 2021
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780358449478
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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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