Not Safe After Dark and Other Stories -- (3 Compact Discs - Unabridged - 2 Hours, 17 Minutes)

Creator of the international, top-selling Inspector Banks series, Peter Robinson is as deft and imaginative in these succinct and tightly-plotted stories as he is in his novels. This grouping of four tales includes two Inspector Banks mysteries, "Summer Rain" and "The Good Partner," set in his usual Yorkshire habitat. Also included are "The Duke’s Wife," a macabre Renaissance murder tale, and the title story, creepy enough to convince many people to forego the pleasures of an evening stroll. Peter Robinson has received the Arthur Ellis, Macavity, and Edgar Awards.

Each of the three narrators on this program is an Audie award winner. Stephen Hoye starred in the British TV shows Crossroads and Shelly. Gabrielle de Cuir is a multiple recipient of AudioFile’s Earphones Award, and his extensive stage and screen credits include The American President. Stefan Rudnicki, narrator on numerous audiobooks, is also a Grammy award-winning audio producer.

These four short stories by the author of the British police procedural series about Inspector Alan Banks are a pleasure. Two of the stories are about Inspector Banks, and two are non-Banks stories in the suspense genre. They should appeal to all mystery-lovers, and listeners who already know the Banks series will be intrigued by the different side of the character revealed in these stories. Stephen Hoye reads the Banks entries adequately, with perfectly good pacing but not a lot of imagination. Gabrielle de Cuir delivers a wickedly wonderful reading of "The Duke's Wife," and Stefan Rudnicki has a terrific time with the title story, the juiciest morsel of the set. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine