Bluegate Fields

Perry's Inspector Pitt novels are steeped in a meticulous, if somewhat grim, Victorian atmosphere. In this society, aristocratic parents can flat out refuse to answer police questions when their son's naked, violated body turns up in a London sewer. The frustration felt by the investigating detective as he is thwarted at every turn, not the least by his own superiors, translates to the listener. Add to this the conviction of the wrong person as a cover-up, and the pace seems a bit glacial at times. However, there's no denying Perry's work is true to the time period. And then there's Davina Porter, a performer par excellence. Porter makes the material her own in a way few others can. She gives just the right pitch, accent, and presence to the characters to make them utterly believable. Despite its weight, she moves the story forward and turns in her usual stellar presentation. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine