Starring Jerry Lacy and Lara Parker, with Sydney Aldridge, Anna-Maria Everett, Brendan O’Rourke, Greg Patmore and Julia Duffy

Written by Philip Meeks, Zara Symes, Alan Flanagan and Aaron Lamont

Directed by David Darlington, Darren Gross and  Joseph Lidster

In which hard-bitten lawyer-turned-private-eye Tony Peterson (Lacy) once again crosses paths with the witch known as Cassandra Collins (Parker). After settling their differences, they decide to make their professional partnership official, and continue to investigate infernal incidents – for a fee, of course…

Consistently one of the most popular ongoing storylines in Big Finish’s Dark Shadows audio dramas, the adventures of Tony and Cassandra have succeeded through solid writing and the back-and-forth banter between the two leads. Their chemistry remains peppery as ever in this boxed set, and now they are joined by Tony’s hard-bitten, old-school secretary Rita (Lacy’s real-life wife and Newhart star Julia Duffy). Unsurprisingly, Rita locks horns with the imperious Cassandra, but has a soft spot for her “Tonykins”; she also makes surprisingly keen observations about her boss’s true feelings for his new partner. It’s a winning combination which readily calls to mind detective procedurals of old, but with paranormal twists – Remington Sapphire & Steele, if you will…

Compared to many of their previous cases, though, the four making up The Tony & Cassandra Mysteries don’t particularly linger in one’s mind after listening to them. Philip Meeks’ “The Mystery at Crucifix Heights” is largely a rehash of their first pairing (The Death Mask), involving an auction of supernatural items at a rambling mansion cut off by extreme weather conditions, with guests gruesomely picked off one by one. “The Mystery of La Danse Macabre” takes the duo to Busby Hall, a possibly-haunted music hall in downtown Boston that’s seen better days. Is this a simple insurance scam like Tony thinks, or are more sinister things afoot? Sadly the weakest of the bunch, this meandering tale contains two of the least convincing Boston accents ever recorded.

Alan Flanagan’s “The Mystery of Flight 493” takes the well-worn cliché of a time loop and gives it a fresh twist by splicing elements of Stephen King’s tale “The Langoliers” into the proceedings. It’s a tense tale which starts off promisingly, but ends weakly, its disparate elements never quite integrating into a satisfying whole. Things build to a head in Aaron Lamont’s “The Mystery of Karmina Sonata”, in which the titular femme fatale – a self-confessed fraudulent medium – seeks Tony and Cassandra’s services. During her last séance, she managed to summon a malevolent entity which has been picking off her clients one by one, and she’s probably next on the list!

Normally, Big Finish does an excellent job of using actors with wide vocal/accent ranges to stretch a story’s budget. But this box set uses the same small company of actors on all four stories, and more often than not, this is painfully obvious – especially when they’re attempting accents outside of their normal ones. While this doesn’t stretch one’s willing suspense of disbelief to the breaking point, it jolted this listener out of his “groove”. I don’t know what circumstances these stories were produced under, but overall things don’t seem up to the usual polished caliber.

Verdict: Is this set horrible? No, not at all – Jerry Lacy, Lara Parker and Julia Duffy are all on point, and it serves as a good “jumping on” point for newcomers to Tony and Cassandra’s adventures. Longtime fans will appreciate their return while hopefully realising that not every release can be a solid success. Hopefully, this will be the first of many more mysteries to come! 7/10

John S. Hall