THE COPPER PEACOCK AND OTHER STORIES

Here are nine vignettes of people caught in situations they’d rather not be in. A nanny marries a man she knows is murderous, a young woman inadvertently kills a crone’s prize cat, a male writer’s crush on a cleaning girl sours when she gives him a tasteless gift. Penelope Keith is in complete command here, intensifying the pace when she needs to, becoming a small boy, the Cockney cleaner, or stolid Inspector Wexford at will. Rendell’s characters favor (some-times whiny) self-justification; Keith doesn’t shrink from getting right into their personae, creepy though they might be. A perfect match of author, genre, and reader! J.B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2003 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 02]