Lethal
Legacy: A Novel ,
by Linda Farstein (Read by Blair Brown)
When a young woman is assaulted in her
apartment, sex crimes unit assistant district attorney
Alex Cooper is called to investigate. Although the woman
agrees to go to the hospital for an examination, she
disappears, and Alex is left without a victim. Shortly
after, another is found murdered in the woman's apartment,
and Alex adds the role of homicide detective to her
job of sex crimes investigator. She and her partner,
Mike Chapman, follow clues that lead them to the rare
book collections at the New York Public Library and
into the private libraries of several wealthy and eccentric
collectors. In addition to the cast of villains and
victims in this book, the New York Public Library emerges
as almost more a character than a setting. The identification,
collection and preservation of rare documents and maps
are explained in great detail. The interior design of
the library and the function of the many rooms are also
dealt with thoroughly.
Fairstein gives the listener a double whammy
of wonderful in this audio book. She not only tells
an intriguing story, filled with suspense, terror and
multiple surprises, she educates the listener about
art history, art collection and preservation and DNA-related
police procedure. By having most of the action center
around the vast special collections in the New York
Public, she demonstrates that libraries are an exciting
and necessary part of our culture, both in appreciating
the present and in studying and preserving the past.
Blair Brown is, once again, the prefect narrator for
a Fairstein novel. She captures the authority and the
vulnerability of the police personnel, the innocence
of the peripheral characters and the depravity of the
villains.
Lethal Legacy is an important addition
to the mystery-thriller, police procedural genres of
audio books. It offers a variety of pleasures for a
wide range of listeners. Because of its extensive coverage
of legacy collections at libraries as well as the collection,
restoration and value of literary and art treasures,
it warrants rereading multiple times. Even if listeners
have little interest in this aspect of the novel, the
story is a first-rate whodunit. Numerous clues lead
the amateur detective on a captivating adventure from
the opening pages to the surprising conclusion.
Ruth
Mormon
5/22/09
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