Rainbow's End

Rainbow's End, the thirteenth Felse Investigation, brings Superintendent George Felse to the sleepy English village of Middlehope, shaken awake by the arrival of brash antiques magnate Arthur Rainbow. He buys the manor, joins every local organization, and displaces the church organist — all while being quietly despised by almost everyone. When his body turns up in St. Eata's churchyard, the community's collective distaste makes the suspect list almost absurdly long, and Felse must sort conviction from prejudice.

Simon Prebble's narration suits the English village atmosphere with precision, giving each character a distinct social register. Peters's 1978 novel has the unhurried pace of its genre's golden era, and Prebble honors that tempo without allowing it to drift. The sharp character work that defines the Felse series carries particularly well in audio, where the gradations of small-town social hierarchy land with their intended comic bite.