A BETTER QUALITY OF MURDER

The third book in Ann Granger’s series featuring Lizzie Martin and Inspector Ben Ross comes complete with pea-soup fog, a charismatic temperance minister, and a Ripper-like strangler, making for a tidy procedural of Victorian London. The story alternates between the points of view of Lizzie and Inspector Ross, narrated by Maggie Mash and Laurence Kennedy. The flaw in this technique occurs when Mash must portray Inspector Ross and Kennedy must portray Lizzie, and listeners have to adjust to hearing two different voices for the two main characters. This awkwardness, along with the anachronistic dialogue and lack of Victorian-era verisimilitude, keeps the listener from fully engaging with the story. F.T. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2012]