This Body of Death

British stage actor John Lee proves an excellent match for George's long and very convoluted new crime novel. A richly detailed murder mystery with more subplots than a soap opera, the story follows a trio of New Scotland Yarders—series favorites Det. Insp. Thomas Lynley, Sgt. Barbara Havers, and a newcomer, their boss, temporary department chief Isabelle Ardery—as they investigate the slaying of a young woman in a London cemetery. Plus, George adds chapters referring to the actual 1993 torture and murder of toddler James Bulger to the mix. Lee possesses the concentration necessary to keep everything straight and maintain at least a fair amount of tension for 26 hours; his is less a narration than a bravura vocal performance. Using dead-on accents, he becomes each of the characters, be they British swells like Lynley and his friends, working-class like Havers, East Indian, Irish, African, young, old, male, female, straight, gay, and everything in between. He even manages to make the token American sound authentic. A Harper hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 1). (May)