The Secret Parts By Eve Brook

(5 stars; 3 reviews)

Romance and political skulduggery combine in David Edgar's witty murder mystery starring Celia Imrie Counsellor Helena Kerr, Chair of the Social Services Committee on Birmingham City's Council, discovers the body of her young gay clerk, Ben Logan, lying in a council house corridor bludgeoned to death. Helena has immediate suspicions about the identity of the murderer as she suspects her main political opponent, Councillor John Malcolm, and sets out to prove it. Enter Detective Sergeant Michael Batalocco, described as "the hunk with the curly hair and naughty grin". After Helena’s initial attempts to entice the detective sergeant are deliciously thwarted, the romantic comedy is woven into, and overlaps with, the criminal investigation. As Batalocco goes about things by the book in search of the perpetrator of not one, but two murders, she follows the more unorthodox route. While this most definitely produces results for Helena, it also gets her into a whole lot of trouble! Romance and political skulduggery combine in this witty murder mystery, dramatised by David Edgar (Eve Brook's husband) from her unpublished novel, "The Secret Parts", written two to three years before her death from cancer in 1998. Director: Jonquil Panting Helena: Celia Imrie Michael: Nathaniel Parker Nina: Frances Barber John: Nicholas Woodeson Rosemary: Victoria Wicks Pearce: John Rowe Dave: Kim Wall Vera: Jillie Meers Max: Roger Walker Mary: Beverley Hills Stringer: Richenda Carey Rajinder: Nitin Chandra Ganatra Afternoon Play: The Secret Parts Mon 29th May 2000, 14:15 on BBC Radio 4 FM

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.