The Knowledge

May 28, 2018
West’s melodious British baritone smoothly sorts through the complicated plot and numerous characters in Grimes’s 24th Richard Jury mystery. Det. Supt. Richard Jury is hunting for the man who shot and killed American physicist David Moffitt and his wife, Rebecca, in front of London’s Artemis Club, a swanky art galley cum casino. The investigation leads Jury and his team to Africa following a tip from one of the kids in the Filth, a rough-and-tumble pack of kids, who spotted the murderer boarding a plane to Nairobi. West effortlessly transitions from one quirky character to the next. He gives delightful accents to British gentry such as Jury’s sidekick, Melrose Plant, as well as to Plant’s servants, Ruthven and Martha. He’s even credible as the boys and girls of the Filth, particularly 10-year-old Patty, a competent schemer who tails the murderer as far as Nairobi and Tanzania. West is just as convincing when providing the voice of the hip owner of the art galley as he is in rendering the cool and confident cabbie who knows the streets of London backwards and forwards. West’s mastery of Grimes’s wit, twisting plot, and zany characters will keep listeners hooked from start to finish. An Atlantic Monthly hardcover.

This well-realized novel, narrated by Steve West, was inspired by "The Knowledge"--the encyclopedic information about the city of London that its most prestigious cab drivers possess. When a couple is murdered outside an exclusive casino, Detective Inspector Richard Jury calls his usual sidekicks, Melrose Plant and Marshall Trueblood, into action. West makes both sound appropriately aristocratic and witty. Shortly after, when a cab driver is kidnapped by the murderer, he secretly alerts fellow cabbies and street kids (like the Baker Street Irregulars) to follow his car. Listeners will feel they're in the cab and at the airport when the killer departs. Most riveting is 10-year-old Patty Haigh, who manages to board the flight and follow the killer all the way to to Kenya. West's delivery of her street smarts is mind-blowing and hilarious. Genuine sound effects and West's impressive accents add to the listening pleasure. S.G.B. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine