A DEAD MAN IN BARCELONA

In 1910 an English expatriate is found poisoned in a Barcelona prison. Inspector Seymour from Scotland Yard is sent to find out who killed the man and why. Michael Pearce is known for historical mysteries set in exotic locales. This story, like many of his others, has a clever plot and is filled with colorful images of time and place. His characters are deliberately stereotypical, depicting British attitudes during the period. Narrator Clive Mantle portrays the characters exuberantly. He gives us the whining voices of nagging wives, the sycophantic voices of Arab traders, and the bombastic voices of Spanish police officials. Everyone has a theory about the murder, but only Seymour leads us to the murderer. Listeners who love mysteries of the Golden Age will especially enjoy this. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2010]