A Private Business

Narrator Paul Thornley memorably renders East London as a melting pot of ethnicity, age, station, and personality in this first Hakim and Arnold mystery. When PI Lee Arnold hires Bangladeshi Mumtaz Hakim as his assistant, he's greatly rewarded by her intelligence, compassion, and desire to become a detective. Arnold takes the case of former comedien Maria Peters, known for her vulgar jokes, who thinks she's being stalked. As portrayed by Thornley, all the characters--Middle Easterners, Afro-Caribbeans, scheming preachers, cell-phone-wielding kids, and the desperate Maria--sound fascinating and believable. Thornley's pace also ensures that listeners will remain engaged. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine