Stage Fright

Jane Lawless #3

by Ellen Hart

Aging theater actor Torald Werness's last curtain call is as a corpse. Murdered after his last performance in his last theatrical production, Minneapolis restaurateur-sleuth Jane Lawless finds his body onstage, impaled on a part of the set. Before long, a series of coincidences places Jane in the role of prime suspect.

Determined to clear her name, Jane turns to her best friend, Cordelia, for help. Together, their intuition leads them to the dead man's family, a glamorous--and appropriately melodramatic--Midwestern theatrical dynasty. Jane and Cordelia must separate the theatrics from reality before Jane takes the blame for someone else's crime, and their search for the true killer uncovers a tangled and dangerous web of deceit. All in all, Stage Fright is another engaging, dynamic installment in Ellen Hart's award-winning series.

Genres: Mystery, LGBT, Fiction, Crime, Queer, Lesbian Fiction, Lesbian

261 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Ellen Hart is the author of twenty-eight crime novels in two different series. She is a five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award in several categories, a recipient of the Alice B Medal, and was made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. In 2010, Ellen received the GCLS Trailblazer Award for lifetime achievement in the field of lesbian literature. For the past fourteen years, Ellen has taught "An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery" through the The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation. Ellen's latest Sophie Greenway mystery is No Reservations Required (Ballantine). Rest for the Wicked, the twentieth Jane Lawless mystery, will be released by St. Martin's/Minotaur in October 2012. Bella Books has recently revived the out-of-print books by publishing them in both trade paperback and E-book. Ellen lives in the Minneapolis area with her partner of over 35 years.

Reviews

[Jhosy · Rating 4 out of 5]

And again a good book in the series.
Cordelia is still wonderful and every time she says something I see myself laughing.
Jane finds a woman whom she is romantically interested but I believe that only in the next volume will I learn more about this possible relationship.
Meanwhile, her aunt and father are still on their fight, and Jane tries to get them closer or at least to a truce.
The mystery was good, however the resolution still lacked something to be satisfactory.
Undoubtedly the narrative with each volume is getting better, one can observe the author's growth, but it is still necessary to arrive at a resolution of the mystery in a satisfactory way ... At least for me.
4.2 stars

[Shan( Shans_Shelves) 💜 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow the author went in hard with mystery in this one. My jaw dropped! Still loving this series. This one was definitely darker so far.

I continue to absolutely ADORE Cordelia, she is my favourite and who I want to be!!
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Rep: Lesbian main characters, sapphic side characters, bisexual side character.

Content Warnings: Mentions of Rape, childhood physical and sexual abuse by family member, mentions of forced incest, anti-Semitic comments, gaslighting, misogyny, homophobia.

[Brenda Faucon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellen Hart is an AWESOME author, and the Jane Lawless mysteries are fabulous reads, one by one. I hate that in the bookstores these are pigeonholed under GLBT, they really need to be in the mystery section so more mystery booklovers can discover these stories. Jane Lawless is a pretty awesome protagonist, and the dramatic Cordelia, the funniest and most formidable sidekick EVER. Highly recommend!

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not certain how I missed this 3rd book in the Jane Lawless series, but perhaps it was for the best. I am a big fan of these mysteries set here in Minneapolis. This book was a great disappointment. I found the story line to be trite and the characters over dramatic. Jane did not even solve the murder. I did like finding out more about the conflict between Jane's father and her British aunt Beryl, but that was the only redeeming factor. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Picture Perfect · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow start/middle. It's redeeming quality was in the second half perhaps, though Jane isn't the true detective in this one towards the end and the soap opera (horrific) plot twist was a heavy end. Still some things I didn't see coming and I liked the side plot of Jane trying to patch up the relationship between her dad and aunt.

[Tink · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 down.

[Shoshana · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW: rape, incest, drug and alcohol abuse

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good mystery but I did feel like the last second plot was just so… I don’t know. Explicit and shoehorned in maybe? I do like that the abuser pisses himself at the end though. Always a plus.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good mystery.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Stage Fright, by Ellen Hart, b-plus, Narrated by Aimee Jolson,Produced by Audible Inc., downloaded from audible.com.

This is thethird installment in the Jane Lawless series. In general I don’t like the ones based on theater productions as well as the others, and that is true for this one. But Cordelia is in rare form and Jolson continues her wonderful onarration.
Publisher’s note:
Aging theater actor Torald Werness' last curtain call is as a corpse. Murdered after his last performance in his last theatrical production, Minneapolis
restaurateur-sleuth Jane Lawless finds his body onstage, impaled on a part of the set. Before long, a series of coincidences places Jane in the role of
prime suspect. Determined to clear her name, Jane turns to her best friend, Cordelia, for help. Together, their intuition leads them to the dead man's
family, a glamorous - and appropriately melodramatic - Midwestern theatrical dynasty. Jane and Cordelia must separate the theatrics from reality before
Jane takes the blame for someone else's crime, and their search for the true killer uncovers a tangled and dangerous web of deceit. All in all, Stage Fright
is another engaging, dynamic installment in Ellen Hart's award-winning series.

[Thomas Bruso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theater, suspicious family secrets and cold-blooded murder drive author Ellen Hart’s absorbing Jane Lawless Mystery, “Stage Fright.”

In a dark Minneapolis theater, restaurateur and amateur sleuth Lawless stumbles across the dead body of actor Torald Werness. His body was impaled on part of a set. The local police interview Lawless, but the detective does not believe her story. Lawless finds herself a prime suspect in the ongoing investigation.

As she investigates to help clear her name and find a motive for the aging actor’s murder, Lawless discovers a string of shady secrets within the Werness family, and shocking revelations. There is a chain of family members who have motive for Torald’s death — not many people liked him — and any one of them could be the killer. Gathering clues, Lawless discovers many years worth of skeletons hidden in each of their closets.

In her signature, deft hand, Hart delivers a thoughtful, intricately plotted whodunit, imbued with a solid, cunning mystery that readers will devour in one sitting. “Stage Fright” is an oldie but goodie told from one of the best mystery writers working today.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third outing of Jane Lawless. Most critics liken Jane and her friend Cordelia to Nancy Drew and her sidekick George. It's hard to keep the flamboyant Cordelia in the sidekick background. There's always an undercurrent of sadness in Jane's life as she continues to mourn the death of her lover several years before.

The Werness family are the theatrical legends of St. Paul and beyond. Antonia's play is being produced and her brother Torald is starring. It is revealed that the young male lead is her long-lost son. Family secrets threaten to emerge and the past rears up to reveal the evil secrets of the past. Torald is murdered and more secrets are threatened.

Well-written, wise, and witty, this series of books portray the seamier secrets of life with dignity and respect.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little darker than I had anticipated, though there was plenty of humor as well. Suggested for those who can handle dark and twisted family relationships. The third in the Jane Lawless series, this follows the resterateur and lesbian as she is drawn into a mystery surrounding the local theater crowd. While Jane does some amateur detecting, in the end, she is only peripherally involved with bringing events to a head. While I would eventually like to read more in this series, it's not high on my priority list.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another mystery by Ellen Hart with her main character of Jane Lawless. I liked this one. More character development of all the main people in the series. The mystery was solid and there were enough red herrings to keep you guessing. The main character Jane and her friend Cordelia are lesbians, but there is little reference to their lifestyles beyond some stating of the obvious. I love the Twin Cities references and the series just seems to get better as each book comes out. Will look to read #4

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I'm really enjoying this series! I love Jane (and her family) and Cordelia and following them throughout their lives in each book. The ending of this book was a bit darker than the others which I liked. Initially I thought the ending was anticlimactic and predictable, but then it took another turn and was very interesting. The play theme comes up a lot in the novels because Cordelia works in theater and each novel starts with a cast of characters like a play.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder and Theatre-These are a few of my favorite things! I really enjoyed this one-lots of tension and twists. I think I've read other Jane Lawless mysteries-but I'm not sure. If not, I'll have to.

[Nancy Larsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A somewhat convoluted plot and an anticlimactic ending.

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just didn’t enjoy style of writing.