Genre: Mystery
Hardcover' Trade Paperback
ISBN #: 9781635115352; 9781635115353
Henery Press Publishing
296 Pages
$31.95; $15.95 Amazon
September 24, 2019
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Classic movies, ghostly mischief, and murder! Nora Paige is settling into her new life as manager of the Palace movie theater. She only has a few things to worry about. Like keeping the theater safely out of the clutches of an evil real estate developer, dealing with her staff of movie-obsessed misfits and their daily meltdowns, and hiding the fact that her new best friend Trixie is the ghost of an usherette who died in 1937.
It would also be helpful if she could figure out whether she wants to take her charming-but-cheating husband back.
But when someone close to the Palace is murdered, the only thing Nora really needs to worry about is finding the killer before they strike again.
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Nora Paige is an ex-Hollywood wife who was dumped by her movie-star husband and moved to San Francisco to manage the Palace Theater, which shows classic Hollywood films. She's decided to move out of her friend's cottage and buy her own home when she discovers that her almost-ex-husband is supposedly broke (not that she believes it for a minute). But there are even worse things afoot: her employee Callie's boyfriend Warren has been killed, and even though the police aren't saying, she thinks he might have been murdered.
Warren was a newly-minted real estate agent in the office of her realtor June Howard. While everyone is stunned at the news, it's even more disturbing when they find out Callie wasn't the only girlfriend Warren had. Now Nora learns that high-end real estate developer, Stan McMillan is trying to buy up their entire block, and she not only is panicking at the thought, she's wondering if he's the killer. Since the lead detective won't tell her anything, she does a little investigating on her own. Everything she finds points in his direction. When someone else is gravely injured, she's positive she's on the right track. But is she? Or are there other clues but she's just not looking in the right direction?
First off, I'm going to say that I am a huge classic movie fan - in the sense that I don't watch any other movies. I own thousands of them and can name any actor, any film, any plot, any year. It's one of my superpowers. So this book was made for me. I loved all the references that Nora spouts at any given moment, and it actually enhances the plot of the book.
For you see, while Nora is still somewhat feeling sorry for herself - like the movies she references at the beginning of the book when she hasn't decided what to do about Ted, by the end of the book the movies reflect her feelings and the fact that she knows everything will be just fine. It's a lovely nuance about life.
We also have returning - literally, from Colombia - the enigmatic Hector Acosta who is obviously interested in Nora but is allowing her time to figure out that she's interested in him. Which she is. But she's not ready to let him know how much. It makes for a nice romance, the kind in classic movies, where romance was paramount. I can't wait to see how it all plays out.
But back to the murder - now we have a cheating dead boyfriend, which makes it less tragic for Callie (although death is always sad), and Nora is convinced he was 'done in' by Stan but can't prove it. So she assigns her ghost-in-residence, Trixie, to keep an eye on him during a real estate conference that's being held at the theater; and she does her job admirably, sticking with him like Velcro. However, something happens that startles Trixie so much she temporarily disappears from Nora's life, and so she'll have to fly solo if she's going to get to the truth.
[For those who haven't read the first in the series (a true loss), Trixie is an usherette who was killed in the theater back in the 1930's and can't leave; she's thrilled that Nora can see and hear her. The unfortunate thing is that Nora is also the only one who can see and hear her, which means she needs to keep it to herself so they don't have her committed. Still, Trixie is an endearing character, forever trapped in the past as she knew it, trying to understand the present, and with a sparkling personality to boot.]
This is the second book in the series, and just as delightful as the first. Nora is a hoot, with her witty banter (much of it to herself) that has me laughing throughout. (It's a good thing that she's not saying aloud much of what she's thinking). We've come to see a new side to grumpy Marty, and while I liked him in the first book, I'm glad to say he's still like that one sarcastic friend you have but don't spend a lot of time with, for obvious reasons. He's warming up (reluctantly) to Nora, only because he thinks she almost knows as much as he does about classic movies.
When the ending comes and murderer is revealed, you realize just how far someone will go to achieve their ends - and how far they're willing to go still. When it's finished, you can close the book and feel satisfied that everything is just the way it should be. There's even a teaser (just a small one) that makes you realize the next book can't arrive too soon, and I loved reading it.
Ms. Dumas has spun a terrific tale of murder that nabs you from the moment you open the book and keeps you happy until the end. Her characters are animated and believable, the plot nicely done and well-thought out, with just the right amount of clues to lead you where she wants you to go.
The descriptions of the theater are wonderful, making anyone who's ever been in an old, majestic theater long for the lost opulence and grandeur, when it was magical and exciting as you watched life on the screen. For anyone who actually loves classic films this series is made to order. I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Balcony-Movie-Palace-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07V58JRT2/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2841566282
More on Margaret Dumas's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/margaret-dumas/
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