Cover Her Face

Sally Jupp, unmarried mother and parlor maid, announces that Stephen Maxie, surgeon and heir, has asked her to marry him. That night she is strangled in her bed. When Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgleish is called in to investigate, he finds that there is a plethora of motives because Sally had a mischievous ability to annoy and provoke. The play is a mix of narration from Mrs. Maxie, read by Sian Phillips with gentility and grief, and a full-cast drama led by Robin Ellis as Dalgleish. Ellis has one of those superb BBC Radio voices--every word is clear and crisp but with wit and empathy. Members of the large cast play their parts well. They cross class and national boundaries ranging from a working-class lad, a middle-class village merchant, and the upper-class family and friends. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine