MR. DARNBOROUGH INVESTIGATES Volume 1

Take a bit of P.G. Wodehouse, a smattering of Agatha Christie, and add the ambiance of 1940s radio, and you'll get the tone of these streamlined little mysteries. David Natale as Freddie Darnborough and Gary Schwartz as his valet, Cecil, don their best PBS English accents as they take on spiritualists and séances in "In the Tea Leaves" and mummies and ancient curses in "The Curse of Ozymandias." Jim French's sound effects, music, and transitions are clean and simple. These recreations harken back to the "golden age" in both substance and style and have the enthusiasm and earnestness of whodunit dinner-theater fare. They may not be high art, but they're certainly fun. B.P. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]