I was not at all surprised to read in the author’s bio that she enjoyed reading Agatha Christie. As I read the opening banter between the Nic and her martini drinking playboy husband Nigel Martini, I was immediately transported to a bygone era the likes of which Ms. Christie would not have felt out of place, such a wonderful way to begin a book about a murder, especially one of such a universally despised character. Of course the story is set in such the modern era that Harry Potter is beautifully referenced, but it never loses that opening flavor. Also, it also takes a certain flair to write theater people the way they are meant to be read and Tracy Kiely has done a fabulous job of capturing all of the ego, insecurities, eccentricities and back stabbing that are the hall marks of theater life, providing along the way a sharp contrast to the stark tv cop drama played out admirably by Nic and her former employers. Once this mystery begins to unravel it moves fast, but the author has done a fabulous job of keeping the reader in the thick of things, while keeping classic story lines fresh. I am certainly going to have to look into previous Nic and Nigel installments.

5 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ( )