THE ANGLO-IRISH MURDERS

A group of political activists on all sides of the British-Irish issue gathers for a conference and proceeds to air their imperialist and victimized views. Part way through the agenda, however, conferees begin to die, in apparently accidental, then certainly homicidal, ways. On paper, this book would be a certain sedative. In the hands of Bill Wallis, however, it comes alive. Wallis proves himself a master of several Irish and British dialects, as well as Hindu, Japanese, and Brooklynese. He also conveys, by the use of nuance and pacing, the personality quirks that define stereotypes and add depth to each character, right down to the waitress in the restaurant. Who cares what happens to these people? We might not like most of them, but we'd recognize them on the street in a second. R.P.L. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 01]