Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, Set 2
Anyone familiar with the thin, cruel features of Patrick Malahide fromThe Singing Detective(or any other movie in which he so vividly plays someone venomous or unpleasant) will have some trouble adjusting to his role as the hero ofInspector Alleyn Mysteries, based on the popular mysteries by Ngaio Marsh. But Malahide, a keenly intelligent actor, will win you over. As the gentleman turned police inspector Roderick Alleyn, Malahide is genteel and almost dandyish, but his ferocious intensity underlies his gracious manner and gives it teeth. Though Marsh's mysteries are whodunits, they play out more like police procedurals, with Alleyn and his right-hand man Inspector Fox (William Simons,Heartbeat) doggedly piecing together the clues.The second set ofInspector Alleyn Mysteriesincludes the final episode of the first series,Death in a White Tie--in which Alleyn asks a good friend to assist an investigation, leading to that friend's death and Alleyn's fierce pursuit of his killer among the upper crust--as well as the three episodes of the second series.Hand in Glovefeatures Sir John Gielgud (Prospero's Books) as a stuffy aristocrat caught up in a plot featuring forged paintings and a letter of condolence sent before the murder is even discovered.Dead Watersends Alleyn and his beloved Agatha Troy (Belinda Lang,To Serve Them All My Days) to a Scottish island where a waterfall is believed to have healing powers--at least, until a dead body turns up in it. But the strongest of them all isScales of Justice, which coolly observes British social schisms as Alleyn tries to unravel a mystery featuring stray cats, stray arrows, Nazi skullduggery, and a very large trout. Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom) gives a wonderfully nuanced performance as a petty, lecherous creep who values his family's name more than a woman's heart. A satisfying collection for any mystery fan.--Bret Fetzer