A MAN LAY DEAD

Sir Hubert Handesley regularly invites a small group of friends and acquaintances to Frampton, his country estate. This weekend he has something special planned--a murder game. But then one of the players is discovered with a real dagger in his back. A MAN LAY DEAD introduces us to Inspector Roderick Alleyn, Marsh's intelligent, cool, and inscrutable inspector from Scotland Yard. James Saxon narrates with a wonderful British accent--just a bit upper crust--and perfect pacing to move the story through its startling revelations and subtle suggestions. However, his attempts to create individual voices for each character fall short. His women are fairly distinct, although the servants' voices come across as stereotypes, but his male characters are too similar, leading to some confusion in following the plot. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]