Author: Victoria Gilbert
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781639101306
Crooked Lane Books
336 Pages
$13.99; $26.99 Amazon
December 6, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's early summer, and while Richard Muir and his dance partner, Karla, are preparing their new choreographic piece, Richard's wife, Amy, is gathering the dance's source materials. Based on folktales and the music of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the production is set to premiere at an old cinema that has been converted into a theater. But when dancer Meredith Fox -- Richard's former fiancée -- is found dead backstage, Amy is once again propelled into a murder case that threatens the careers and lives of those she loves.
After Amy teams up with Chief Deputy Brad Tucker and the sheriff's department to discover the killer, they find that there's no shortage of suspects. Meredith's wealthy ex-husband, several fellow dancers, a romantically spurned accompanist, and others whom the talented but haughty dancer dismissed or betrayed over the years.
With Richard's and Karla's help, and information gleaned from locals who know a wealth of small-town secrets, Amy desperately tries to unveil the killer before the premiere. But she's pursuing a ruthless murderer who's willing to kill again -- and who might just be waiting for Amy in the wings.
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Amy and Richard Muir are settling nicely into married life, while Richard pursues a new dance choreographic piece based on their home -- the Blue Ridge Mountains. Unfortunately, Richard has hired his ex, Meredith Fox, and she makes it known that she doesn't think anyone in the cast is up to her own abilities. She heaps disdain and nasty remarks on anyone who happens to be within distance, and she's making new enemies right and left. When she's paired to dance with sixteen-year-old Connor, she makes it known she won't do it.
But Richard insists, and Meredith resists. Who is going to win? In the end, it doesn't matter, as Amy finds Meredith dead in one of the rehearsal rooms, and now anyone who was in the theatre is a suspect. Except for a few with solid alibis, of course. But when the police arrest someone Amy and her friends and family know can't be the suspect, she's asked by Chief Deputy Brad Tucker to listen to conversations and see if she can uncover information that he can't.
This leads her into another investigation, whether she wants it or not, and finding more suspects who weren't seen anywhere near the crime scene. Amy's entering the equestrian set and garden set, neither place interesting to her, but hoping to gain intel. Fortunately, she also has Kurt Kendrick to help, an enigmatic art collector with a shady past. While he's been helpful and generous to Amy, she still keeps him at arm's length. But it will be an unlikely source that draws her to the killer...and with another unlikely source to keep her out of danger...
This is the seventh book in the series and I have read them all. I am not going to tell you too much more about the book, because I do not want to spoil it for anyone (indeed, I have basically only expanded on the blurb itself); but I will say that this book is written very well, and draws us into the mystery quickly. As anyone who's read the other books, Meredith won't be missed, but still, as Amy states, no one deserves to die like that.
Watching Amy gather her information is effective, with people giving up what they know easily to a woman who seems merely intrigued by the murder. But then there is the killer who seemingly knows otherwise. With a few red herrings thrown in for good measure, we work our way through the story looking for clues as much as our protagonist.
I still like Kurt the best of all the characters; he seems secretive and protective, and intelligent as well. Amy should learn to give a little and not be so judgmental. Regardless of his past, he has true feelings for her and her family, and is a good man. But the other characters are great nonetheless, and they make the story definitely worth reading. When it all comes together and the killer is revealed, the climax is almost the best part of the story. I loved this and look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Victoria Gilbert's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/victoria-gilbert/
No comments:
Post a Comment