THE FEAR SIGN

With a hint of danger and international politics at stake, Albert Campion travels from the French Riviera to a small village in Essex, England, trying to solve a one-hundred-year-old riddle. With his British accent, narrator Francis Matthews finds exactly the right tone for Campion--very proper, sometimes alert and sharp, but usually (intentionally) vacuous and foolish. His three upper-crust companions are harder to differentiate at times. Matthews does well with the Cockney accents and Midlands dialects and with the supporting cast, especially the pugnacious Lugg. Additionally, he gives Amanda all the enthusiasm, intelligence, and lack of self-consciousness that charms Albert completely. In keeping with Allingham’s prose, Matthews brings the reader unhurriedly along, slowly building towards the tense but satisfying end. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 01]