Bad Blood

Barbara Rosenblat has a field day with this entertaining thriller, the ninth installment of Fairstein's series featuring Alexandra Cooper, New York prosecutor. Mike Chapman (Cooper's beloved colleague) is particularly funny; Rosenblat plays him like a good-hearted thug from "The Sopranos." Cooper is prosecuting businessman Brendan Quillian for murdering his socialite wife when an underground explosion unexpectedly links Quillian to a very rough family of "sandhogs" and a very old murder. Fairstein lards in plenty of New York City lore, plenty of action, and a boffo underground finale in the decommissioned City Hall subway stop. Rosenblat does tough Irish, black street cop, girl prosecutor in jeopardy, and flibberty gibbet Nantucket bride with enthusiastic finesse. Great fun. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine