Inspector Lewis

From the victim's unhappy wife to a classmate who clearly had the hots for him to--no surprise here--a troubled tarot-card reader, the well-woven episode teases all the possibilities.

The real pleasure comes from watching the partners inhabit their characters' strengths and frailties.

The second of the new Lewis mysteries is even better plotted than "Soul of Genius."

All in all, it's astounding how many plot elements can be packed into 90 or so minutes and how well all of them can be resolved in the hands of a competent writer like Stephen Churchett.

The case involves a body found in a wood and the mysteries of a Lewis Carroll manuscript, all of it strangely satisfying in its own familiar, unsuspenseful way.