Charlotte
Fairfax is the costume designer for the Catskills Shakespeare
Theater Company. It’s time for the troupe to perform
at the annual fund-raiser sponsored by Paula Van Dusen. It’s
a special performance this year, as Mrs. Van Dusen’s
daughter, Belinda will be getting married the very next day.
Since
both events are held on the Van Dusen property, and the show
will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it will be a case
of life imitating art, since the show is about a marriage,
and a wedding is set to take place in the morning.
When the groom, Adrian’s, rival for
Belinda’s affections, Hugh Hedley, is found murdered
with a show prop, a donkey’s head, Charlotte finds herself
once again tapping into her skills as an amateur sleuth. She
solved a murder previously and is ready to do so again.
The first thing I love about this book is
that the murder didn’t come to light until the eleventh
chapter, giving the reader a good build up into who the characters
were, how they interacted and what might really be going on.
Right away that kept me reading and reading until the body
was discovered and the action moved to a new level. I so enjoyed
this change of pace from the typical mystery novel, where
the murder takes place early on in the story.
The next thing I love about this book is that
while characters from the first in the series are brought
back to join Charlotte, there is a whole new cast involved.
It is great that Charlotte still has her little dog, Rupert.
The middle age romance with her police chief boyfriend, Ray,
is endearing. Aaron is still her assistant in the costume
department, and the very British Bruce, who Charlotte has
known since their time together there, is on the scene, too.
What a fantastic cozy! The premise is unique,
the setting ideal, and the characters well-rounded and true
to life. Charlotte’s a great sleuth with a nose for
clues and yet level-headed enough to keep herself out of too
much trouble. This is a satisfying read and should capture
mystery lovers from the very first page. I can’t wait
for the next book!
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Untimely
Death #1
[review 1] [review
2]
Ill
Met by Murder #2
Much
Ado About Murder #3
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