BRYANT & MAY AND THE MEMORY OF BLOOD

Bryant and May fans, rejoice! This is one of Fowler’s goofiest concoctions, and Tim Goodman’s Arthur Bryant is a masterpiece. Every time Bryant speaks, the listener can see his jowls and wattles flapping and imagine the mess in his pockets. This time, Bryant and May’s Peculiar Crimes Unit is solving a locked-room mystery in which a Victorian Mr. Punch doll appears to have thrown a real baby out a window. The cast of suspects is a theater company, full of the kind of English eccentrics Fowler does so well, and it’s a feast for Goodman. Even better, an unsolved murder unrelated to the theater plot sets up Bryant and May’s next case. You’ll finish wanting more, and for once be sure that more will come. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2012]