Audition For Murder (Morgan Taylor Mysteries)

Rating:
Summary: Brava!
Review: Although this is a very difficult book to really get into, it's well worth the struggle for the reader. The writing is crisp and witty, and first person narration in a mystery (or in anything, as far as I'm concerned) makes for wonderful reading. Theatre drips from every page, and it's obvious that the authors know a good bit about that world. So what makes it so difficult? It's in present tense! Makes for a very strange reading experience. In fact, I think it must be the first book I've ever been able to complete, written in that tense. ('We walk down the street', rather than 'We walked down the street.') It's a perfectly valid method, but it does take some getting used to.

Any mystery lover who persists, however, should find the experience well worth while. And a mystery lover who also loves theatre will find it an absolute delight. One can only be thankful that most theatres are not quite so murderously inclined. Morgan Taylor nee Miriam Tiersky, is an Equity actress plying her craft in Chicago, with its abundant theatre life. Beginning with her audition for the part, and continuing through opening night and then some, we're introduced to all the hangers-on, the veterans, the novices, the entire panoply of the biz. The atmosphere is wonderfully detailed. Morgan's wonderfully ditzy family isn't ignored, either.

When the aging actress who is Morgan's audition partner is found dead backstage, the cases is assigned to Detective Frank Roblings, and Morgan's life begins to perk up. It is sometimes a bit confusing as to which one is the real detective, but Morgan's theatrical bent stands her in good stead, as she slowly but surely figures out who dunnit.

This is a must-read for theatre buffs, especially, as well as cozy mystery fans. I'm off to find the next book in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Brava!
Review: Although this is a very difficult book to really get into, it's well worth the struggle for the reader. The writing is crisp and witty, and first person narration in a mystery (or in anything, as far as I'm concerned) makes for wonderful reading. Theatre drips from every page, and it's obvious that the authors know a good bit about that world. So what makes it so difficult? It's in present tense! Makes for a very strange reading experience. In fact, I think it must be the first book I've ever been able to complete, written in that tense. ('We walk down the street', rather than 'We walked down the street.') It's a perfectly valid method, but it does take some getting used to.

Any mystery lover who persists, however, should find the experience well worth while. And a mystery lover who also loves theatre will find it an absolute delight. One can only be thankful that most theatres are not quite so murderously inclined. Morgan Taylor nee Miriam Tiersky, is an Equity actress plying her craft in Chicago, with its abundant theatre life. Beginning with her audition for the part, and continuing through opening night and then some, we're introduced to all the hangers-on, the veterans, the novices, the entire panoply of the biz. The atmosphere is wonderfully detailed. Morgan's wonderfully ditzy family isn't ignored, either.

When the aging actress who is Morgan's audition partner is found dead backstage, the cases is assigned to Detective Frank Roblings, and Morgan's life begins to perk up. It is sometimes a bit confusing as to which one is the real detective, but Morgan's theatrical bent stands her in good stead, as she slowly but surely figures out who dunnit.

This is a must-read for theatre buffs, especially, as well as cozy mystery fans. I'm off to find the next book in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Quite a nice little mystery
Review: Not bad for a mystery. There is a bit of humour thrown in, the premise for the murder is nicely twisted and the whole investigation of it throws up lots of red herrings. We are certainly given all of the clues but it is hard to put them together because Sussman has some of them as quite innocent incidents right at the beginning of the book and unless you have the memory capacity of an elephant (or at least a reasonable reader of crime fiction) you will probably be like me and not be able to figure the thing out by the end.

I found the main character - Morgan Taylor, a bit grating at first but she definitely grew on me as time went on. I think I disliked her because she is an actress and so has to be a bit pretentious. However she definitely has more to her than a bit of play-acting and she does prove to have many layers of character beyond her acting persona which was nice.

The whole thing starts when an actress is found dead in the toilets during an audition - and in fact there is no suspected murder until someone tips the paper off that the death might have been less than above board. So Morgan becomes one of the chief suspects - and in fact quite possibly a future victim as well.

There is a bit of romance in this, and while not Evanovich it definitely has enough sass in it to be an enjoyable side trip.

Rating:
Summary: A Standing Ovation
Review: This is must read for anyone who's interested in the theater. The author captures all the joy and pain from the auditions to actual performance. While there are murders galore, the characters are so enjoyable that they distract the reader from solving the crimes. I loved the romances and family conflicts that fill out the plot. And Grandma Belle is like a cherry on the ice cream sunday.I adored her and the book.