Monday, September 15, 2008

Something Wicked

The only really fun thing about Something Wicked by Carolyn Hart is the constant mention of mystery writers and mystery books and characters. That's fun as long as I recognize the reference but not so much when I don't. This book won the 1988 Agatha Award for best novel.

from the back of the book:
Everyone - including mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance - loves Arsenic and Old Lace. But something wicked is poisoned a local summer stock production as cast members stab each other in the back and props are sabotaged. Worst of all, the star, aging Hollywood beach-blanket hunk Shane Petree, butchers his lines - while getting top billing in bed with wives and teenage daughters around town. No wonder somebody wants to draw his final curtain. With a little help from Miss Marple, Poirot, and Agatha the Bookstore Cat, a pompous prosecutor tries to pin a murder on Max, Annie's own leading man. Unless Annie can prove her darling's innocence, their wedding date's off! Invoking the tried-and-true methods of her favorite literary sleuths, Annie snoops around the greasepaint and glitter of the Arsenic cast's backstage life. She'll be next to star in a knock-'em-dead showstopper scene if she doesn't watch it, because theatrical murderers never play fair.


Dead Man's Island is the only other book by this author that I remember reading, and I didn't like it much either.

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