Death On Blackheath

This new entry in Perry's Victorian crime series featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt is a story of murder, infidelity, and treason, skillfully narrated by Davina Porter. Her smooth, nuanced performance transports the listener back to an earlier time and place--ferry boats on the Thames, elegant drawing rooms, and offices on Downing Street are vividly described. Porter's stylish reading demonstrates excellent pacing, empathy for the characters, an understanding of class differences, and the ability to express emotions subtly by changes in tone or intensity. This mystery begins with evidence of violence--blood, glass, and strands of auburn hair--and ends with espionage. Let's hope both Anne Perry and Davina Porter bring listeners more about the Pitts. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

June 1, 2014

Perry's latest series installment (after Midnight at Marble Arch) begins with a chain of unpleasant events (which even include mutilated bodies) that are only cursorily investigated by the police. Since these events keep happening near the home of a naval weapons expert, Pitt, who as head of Special Branch deals with sensitive political crimes, is tasked with finding out who is responsible and why. With the assistance of his retired boss Victor Narraway and aunt-by-marriage Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould, both of whom move in high political circles, Pitt puts the strange story together, finds the missing maidservant, the traitors, and the family secrets behind it all. The plot moves as slowly as the investigation but then ends suddenly with a number of far-fetched explanations. The likable characters and turn- of-the-20th-century setting, rather than the story, will keep the listener engaged. VERDICT Davina Porter has perfected the voices of confident Charlotte, her perpetually worried husband, and all the familiar cast members. Porter's portrayal of Aunt Vespasia, usually so cool and unflappable, but now in a turmoil as she tries to understand her suspicions and feelings, is particularly good.--Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Colonial Williamsburg Fdn. Lib., VA

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