Ill Met by Murder

October 17, 2016
Duncan’s lightweight sequel to 2015’s Untimely Death finds costume designer Charlotte Fairfax involved in the preparations for a special performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to accompany the wedding of the daughter of Paula Van Dusen, the chief benefactor of the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company, who hosts an annual fund-raiser for the company. Various misfortunes undermine the play, which features an all-male cast, and the wedding plans, including a stolen donkey’s head prop, a kidnapped poodle, cutthroat real estate deals, and, worst of all, a murder, which involves the donkey’s head and a missing guest who seems to have made an ass of himself. Fortunately, Charlotte can turn to Aaron Jacobs, her talented design assistant, for help in sorting everything out. Duncan fans are sure to enjoy this cozy, but some aficionados of the Bard may find the Shakespeare background too superficial for their tastes. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency.

October 1, 2016
A Shakespeare play, a pre-wedding party, and a murder are all in a days work for a clever costume mistress in upstate New York. Charlotte Fairfax works for the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company, based at Jacobs Grand Hotel, whose survival depends on the extra business the company brings. Charlotte and her corgi, Rupert, live on a cottage on the grounds. Lately, however, shes been entertaining thoughts of sharing a new home with her boyfriend, Ray Nicholson, the local chief of police. The companys most reliable donor is Mrs. Paula Van Dusen, a wealthy, well-connected widow whose daughter, Belinda, is about to marry Adrian Archer, a top Manhattan real estate agent, even though Mrs. Van Dusen would much prefer a match with Hugh Hedley, the Ivy League scion of another old New York family. Mrs. Van Dusen has arranged for the company to perform A Midsummer Nights Dream at her estate right after the dress rehearsal. Shes also asked Charlottes assistant, Aaron, to design and make the bridesmaids dresses. All these careful preparations go by the wayside when the body of Hedley, wearing a donkeys head stolen from the players, is found in the garden of the Van Dusen estate. Both Hedley and Archer may have been involved in some crooked real estate deals with a wealthy but dishonest social climber. And Archer, it turns out, was having a fling with one of the bridesmaids. But the motive may be more obscure and harder to uncover. Duncans second Catskills mystery (Untimely Death, 2015, etc.) is a delightful cozy with plenty of interesting characters and a touch of midlife romance.

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