[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Berkley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
The Athena College production of Careless Whispers is turning into quite the event for the community. Charlie’s daughter, Laura, is the female lead, and her husband is directing. But the guest actor they had hired had to cancel, so they ended up with Luke Lombardi. Lombardi is known for his tantrums and disruptive behavior. Only the promise of a prominent director possibly coming to the performance is keeping the actor somewhat in line. Some “pranks” targeting Lombardi have unraveled his composure and put his histrionics on display for everyone to see.
Charlie’s daughter, Laura, is often the target of Lombardi’s tantrums. So when he’s killed, she’s the primary suspect. But she’s hardly the only one who had conflicts with Lombardi. First of all, there’s something weird going on with the playwright. There’s also a woman in town with an old grudge. And then there’s Lombardi’s mistress who travels with him and fumes as other women throw themselves at the actor. Also Lombardi’s personal assistant is his mistress’s ex-husband. With no shortage of suspects, Charlie’s on the case to find a murderer and protect Laura who could have been killed when the murderer struck.
Review
Book 12 in the Cat in the Stacks series. I always enjoy spending time with Charlie and Diesel. And this was no exception. The mystery was twisty. While Lombardi was a jerk, there was no strong motive for the murder, so Charlie had to keep spinning through his suspects until new details started to break through. There was no huge confrontation at the end, but most of the threads were wrapped up at the conclusion.
I was frustrated by one of the clues in the case. The “pranks” on Lombardi started at the first introduction to the character, but sometimes the book would only talk about the second and third. At first I thought maybe this was on purpose and the first, “forgotten” prank would prove to be the detail that broke the case wide open. Instead, when the prankster was unmasked, we never really tied the person to the first prank. Why did the person start there, with that prank at that time? It never really felt like it fit with the other two.
There’s a sizable core cast in this series – 16 or so including babies and pets. And I love how everyone ties into each book – filling in details about Charlie’s life, providing insight into characters and cases, etc. Once readers know the main players, I think these books can be read in any order. Fans of the series should be sure to check out this latest installment. The scene where Charlie is lurking in the theater trying to get some clues was a highlight for me. So out of character in some ways, and completely in character in others. The playwright situation was also a highlight of this book in my opinion – unexpected and twisty. (LGBTQ+)