Unknown Means

Why has a Cleveland socialite been strangled, raped, and taped into a chair? With no possible entrance or escape route for the killer, how exactly was she killed? When forensic specialist Evelyn James is called to the crime scene, listeners are immediately pulled into the suspense. The case becomes personal when Evelyn's best friend is threatened. With a perfect amount of vocal tension, Bernadette Dunne conveys both the worry and increased sense of urgency surrounding the case. Author Elizabeth Becka, a working forensic scientist, keeps the forensic details of her second novel both interesting and believable. Although Dunne's Mexican accent sounds Russian, that is her only flaw. Her consistent performance keeps the dialogue as realistic as the evidence processing. J.T. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

November 5, 2007
Forensic scientist Evelyn James of the Cleveland Medical Examiner's office returns for this welcome second novel, following Becka's debut, Trace Evidence
. Single mother Evelyn must manage her relationship with her sullen teenage daughter, her sputtering romance with homicide detective David Milaski and the demands of a job she loves. As the book opens, a wealthy woman is found murdered in a locked apartment; soon, Evelyn's friend and colleague Marissa Gonzalez, who lives in the same high-security building as the murdered woman, is attacked twice, and another woman is murdered elsewhere. Evelyn works with Milaski and his partner, Bruce Riley, to find the connection among the victims. In addition, claustrophobic Evelyn must collect trace evidence following a salt mine explosion under Lake Erie. Becka, a Cape Coral, Fla., forensic scientist formerly with the Cleveland coroner's office, keeps the details of this gripping procedural vivid all the way up to the harrowing finale. Fans of Patricia Cornwell's prickly Kay Scarpetta will find Evelyn a complementary contrast.