Ghostwalk

Like so many good mysteries, this audiobook creates a tangle of characters and conflicts and asks the listener to pull strings until it all unravels to reveal a solution. The story in GHOSTWALK involves historical fact--Isaac Newton's interest in alchemy--and adds complicated characters and modern-day intrigue. When Lydia Brooke is asked to ghostwrite the final chapters of a Cambridge University historian's book on Newton, she becomes involved in a conspiracy that involves the past and the present. Rosalyn Landor performs with terse precision. Her lovely British accent suits the setting of the novel, although a clearer distinction between characters' voices would help listeners trying to keep up with the brisk pace. This audiobook keeps one engaged until the last string is untied. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Starred review from February 26, 2007
British historian Stott makes a stunning debut with this hypnotic and intelligent thriller, the first fiction release of a new Random House imprint. The mysterious drowning death of Elizabeth Vogelsang, a Cambridge University scholar who was almost finished writing a controversial biography of Isaac Newton, leads her son, Cameron Brown, to recruit Lydia Brooke, his former lover, to complete the book. That request plunges Brooke into probing two ostensibly separate series of murders: one in the 17th century claimed the lives of several who stood between Newton and the fellowship he needed to continue his studies at Cambridge; the other in the present day appears to target those who have offended a radical animal rights group. Brooke's work may be haunted by a ghost from Newton's time who guides her to a radical reinterpretation of the role of alchemy and the supernatural in Newton's life. Much more than a clever whodunit, this taut, atmospheric novel with its twisty interconnections between past and present will leave readers hoping Stott has many more stories in her future.