Fairbourne is a typical seaside resort in southeast England, and it has an old theater called the Victoriana. It is summer 1955 and the company is putting on several plays for the season. Nobody gets on with the leading man Arnold Brand, substituted at the last minute when the original choice was killed in an accident. But who could be responsible for killing him? When Arnold is found dead in his dressing room, Inspector Carding and Sergeant Binns are going to have their work cut out for them discovering whodunit as there are so many suspects.

If you like old-fashioned police procedurals then this is a good one; it has a fairly convoluted plot with plenty of red herrings and keeps the reader’s attention well. A small but interesting cast of characters brings it all to life, and I enjoyed the seaside setting so evocative of childhood vacations. What it lacked was much period color; I don’t think that a theater company in the 1950s would have calmly been putting on a play about a wife swapping party to start with! Although it was obvious it was not set in 2009 there was little to pin it down to the mid 1950s. This aside, I would read another if this was the start of a new series, as I enjoyed the story, but as regards the historical ambience, there is definitely room for improvement.