The Information Officer

December 7, 2009
The prolonged and intense Axis bombing of Malta and the British efforts to deliver squadrons of new Spitfire fighters in aid of the strategic Mediterranean island's defense provide the dramatic backdrop for Mills's WWII spy thriller. Maj. Max Chadwick negotiates a narrow path feeding info via his weekly bulletin in the Maltese newspaper Il-Berqa
, putting a positive spin on Malta's depressing situation, and seeking to separate rumor from fact. When Chadwick learns that a British submariner may be a serial killer targeting “sherry queens” (e.g., “dance hostesses who worked the bars and bawdy music halls” in the capital city's disreputable quarter), he has to consider carefully what to reveal. If the murders become public, they could tip the precarious balance of local support against the British. Mills (Amagansett
) paints a vivid portrait of a tenacious people, embattled and besieged troops, and a principled man trying to resolve the conflict between duty and justice.

Robin Sachs's upper-crust British accent works perfectly for Max Chadwick of the Ministry of Information in Malta during WWII as he whitewashes the war for the local community--native residents and high-ranking Brits. His job turns deadly when he encounters a series of murders of Maltese women that are covered up by British authorities. Sachs's deadpan delivery of the villain's thoughts makes his inventory of rape and murder more chilling and is a sharp contrast from the droll patter of the Brits playing at war and infidelity. Sachs's vocal transformations from the upright Chadwick and his circle to the perverse mind and actions of the killer are excellent, as is his narration of the German air attacks that endanger Chadwick's search for justice. D.P.D. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine