The Lady of Sorrows

This audiobook, seventh in the mystery series featuring a beguiling fat man named Hermes (who may or may not be a god), is a mixed blessing. The Aegean backdrop is evocative, and echoes of Greek mythology enrich Zouroudi's clever plotting. Gildart Jackson is perfection in voicing Hermes and the other men on the island, where an icon of the Lady of Sorrows is said to work miracles. But the icon is not what she seems, and neither, at times, is Jackson. To voice a child or many of the woman, he just pitches his voice up to countertenor, which, to put it mildly, does not get the job done. Too bad, as the book has many charms, and so does the rest of Jackson's performance. B.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine