DEAD RINGER

After attorney Benedetta Rosato loses her wallet, she receives bills for identical dresses she didn't buy and is arrested for a robbery she didn't commit. Bennie's evil twin, Alice, an ex-con and sociopath, is back in town and wreaking havoc. To make matters worse, the client who's about to save Bennie's firm from bankruptcy is murdered. Narrator Barbara Rosenblat is giddy and girlish when the cynical, wisecracking Bennie meets a hunky Navy SEAL and hard as nails as Bennie solves her client's murder. When Bennie almost drowns trying to save her dog from Alice's attempts to murder him, Rosenblat's performance leaves the listener gasping for breath, relieved to be on dry land. Her witty take on the irrepressible Bennie and her snide asides make the occasionally unlikely plot gimmicks and character inconsistencies almost disappear. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]