THE AMBITIOUS STEPMOTHER

In a series of tongue-in-cheek novels, the impecunious Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her maid servant scramble for a living and solve mysteries in lusty Restoration England. In this rollicking episode, the two are hired (or gulled) to chaperone an eligible and waspish maiden as she hunts husbands among exiled British nobles in France. Author Fidelis Morgan also happens to be an actor. In both capacities she contributes considerable zest, adventure, wit, suspense, and delightful characterization to her heroines' trials and tribulations. Is she over the top? Yes, but in a way controlled by her excellent performance technique. Her fondness for and extensive knowledge of the period and its theater inform even her (intentional) anachronisms. Altogether an unusually literate and unique contribution to the genre of detection. Y.R. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]