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Untimely Death

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
This cozy mystery series debut dials up the charm with an Upstate New York setting, delightful twists, and fascinating insights into Shakespeare plays and costume design!

A Catskills resort’s production of Romeo and Juliet takes a wickedly ironic turn when the leading lady drops dead . . .
 
When actress Lauren Richmond is first poisoned and then stabbed, the locals are left to wonder: Who would extinguish the life of such a beautiful young thespian? Who wouldn’t? It seems like just about everyone had a motive to pull the ropes on her final curtain call.
At the center of this Shakespearian tragedy is Charlotte Fairfax, formerly the costume mistress of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Upstate New York is a long way from the royal stage, but Charlotte is always the queen of her domain. As this small production’s costume designer, she has stitched her way into everyone’s lives, learning more than anyone could possibly imagine about the rise and fall of Lauren Richmond. But curiosity killed the cat. And it might well kill the costume designer.

Witty and wise, Untimely Death, the first in Elizabeth J. Duncan's charming cozy series, is sure to delight.
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 7, 2015
      What could have more charm than a cozy set in the Catskills? Why, a cozy about a Shakespearean theater company at a vintage resort in the Catskills, of course. This appealing series launch from Agatha Award–finalist Duncan is perfectly accessorized with a has-been British actor, Brian Prentice; his imposing wife, Lady Deborah; and costume mistress Charlotte Fairfax, who turns amateur sleuth after her college-age assistant, Aaron Jacobs, becomes the chief suspect in the poisoning and fatal stabbing of Lauren Richmond, the theater company’s ingenue. Could the real killer be Prentice, with whom Charlotte shares a complicated history? Or Lady Deborah? Or maybe it’s young Aaron after all? Amid the bucolic backdrop of springtime in upstate New York, Duncan (The Cold Light of Mourning and five other Penny Brannigan mysteries) drops just enough clues and red herrings to keep the reader guessing whodunit to the end. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency.

    • Kirkus

      September 1, 2015
      A costume mistress helps solve a dastardly murder. British-born Charlotte Fairfax's romance with actor Brian Prentice ended, along with her stint as a designer for the Royal Shakespeare Company, with his announcement that he was marrying Lady Deborah, an aristocrat with the right connections. Now Charlotte's made a home for herself and Rupert, her beloved corgi, at the failing Jacobs Grand Hotel in the Catskills, where she runs the costume department for the hotel's annual Shakespeare festival. Coincidentally, new director Simon Dyer has been able to hire Brian on the cheap for his latest play because the actor has a reputation as an unreliable drunk. Brian's already celebrated by starting a romance with Lauren Richmond, the arrogant, young, and foolish actress playing Juliet to his Romeo. When the unpopular Lauren is found comatose, Charlotte learns from her assistant, the hotel owner's nephew Aaron Jacobs, that Lauren had driven his cousin to suicide. Lauren recovers from her overdose of Tylenol just in time to get stabbed to death as she awaits her next scene on the balcony improvised for dress rehearsals. Although the state police are in charge of the case, Charlotte insists that her boyfriend, Walkers Ridge Chief of Police Ray Nicholson, needs her help. Charlotte's snooping leads to more questions than answers, but she finally figures it all out. In a departure from Wales and her Penny Brannigan series (Slated For Death, 2015, etc.), Duncan introduces a charming new sleuth and plenty of quirky characters sure to appeal to her base and to cozy fans in general.

      COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      September 15, 2015
      Fortysomething Charlotte Fairfax works as a costume designer for the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company, located at the now-shabby Jacobs Grand Hotel. As rehearsals begin, she is trying hard to avoid Brian Prentice, who is the star of this summer's productions. Brian, a once-promising actor, dumped Charlotte for the daughter of an earl. When the actress who is to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Lauren Richmond, is found dead, Charlotte's intern, Aaron Jacobs, nephew of the hotel's owner, is one of the suspects. Other suspects include Brian, who was having an affair with Lauren; Brian's wife, Lady Deborah; and the owner of the hotel. Although Charlotte's current boyfriend, Walkers Ridge Chief of Police Ray Nicholson, is careful not to share details of the investigation, Charlotte and Aaron work to solve the crime on their own. Sympathetic, well-drawn characters and fascinating details on Shakespeare's plays and costume design add to what is a satisfying mystery. Pair this one with Jill Paton Walsh's The Bad Quarto (2007).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

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