THE SECRET ADVERSARY

Originally published in 1922, the story finds Tuppence and Tommy reacquainting themselves and grappling with various spies in their first adventure. While neither a very well-known nor very well-respected series, the two are rather cute, and Penelope Dellaporta portrays a sense of this without going over the edge. She gives an enthusiastic reading, and if her rendition of an American accent occasionally becomes distracting, she otherwise bounds happily around this complex story, admirably tackling the many different forces that were part of England between the Wars. She does an especially effective job with the spirited Tuppence, although when the plot falls into the particularly improbable, she is unable to raise it with her narration. S.F. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 00]