What do you think?
Rate this book
Susan Wren #4
Murder: Take Two
Lights, camera, murder !
The folk of Hampstead, Kansas are all of a flutter. There’s a Hollywood crew in town, shooting a movie in creepy old Lockett Mansion.
The leading lady emerges from her trailer and there’s a gasp of excitement. Scream queen Laura Edwards.
On day one of the shoot, Laura’s stunt double, Kay, must film a brutal murder scene. When the cameras stop rolling, Kay’s left lying in a pool of blood. The crew race over — to find there’s nothing fake about this murder!
Anyone can see Kay was a dead-ringer for blonde bombshell Laura. Was Laura the true target?
Police chief Susan Wren is determined to find out.
Can she solve the case before the killer returns for the final cut?
The folk of Hampstead, Kansas are all of a flutter. There’s a Hollywood crew in town, shooting a movie in creepy old Lockett Mansion.
The leading lady emerges from her trailer and there’s a gasp of excitement. Scream queen Laura Edwards.
On day one of the shoot, Laura’s stunt double, Kay, must film a brutal murder scene. When the cameras stop rolling, Kay’s left lying in a pool of blood. The crew race over — to find there’s nothing fake about this murder!
Anyone can see Kay was a dead-ringer for blonde bombshell Laura. Was Laura the true target?
Police chief Susan Wren is determined to find out.
Can she solve the case before the killer returns for the final cut?
- GenresMystery
346 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 15, 1998
35 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Charlene Weir
12 books17 followersCharlene Weir was born in Nortonville, Kansas. She grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas. After graduating from nurses' training she attended the University of Oklahoma and worked as a public health nurse. She is the creator of "Susan Wren", police chief in Hampstead, Kansas.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 22, 2023
I thought this series would improve, but not so far, unfortunately.
The plotting is poor, for one thing. There are a lot of issues not tied up by the end of the story. We learn about characters' life stories, but it doesn't lead anywhere. In a few of the earlier books, some characters could have been inserted into later books because the characters were interesting or seemed worth using again, but that hasn't happened. We learn facets of characters' personalities, their inner thoughts, but to no purpose. It's all just suddenly solved towards the end.
Secondly, the detectives don't solve anything. They question suspects, but people just keep getting murdered. They consider people as suspects who obviously are not, but pay no attention to others. The detectives accidentally stumble upon the murderer.
The main character needs a personality. She's pretty flat. Her second-in-command is a little more interesting, but still rather one-dimensional. In fact, in this book, many of the characters are just stereotypes, especially the people involved in the movie being filmed. One teenager has possibilities and one of the police officers and his family seem intriguing, but we'll probably never see them again. The setting is a small town. Shouldn't more people re-appear as the series continues?
I guess I'll keep reading the series, but only because I get them free.
The plotting is poor, for one thing. There are a lot of issues not tied up by the end of the story. We learn about characters' life stories, but it doesn't lead anywhere. In a few of the earlier books, some characters could have been inserted into later books because the characters were interesting or seemed worth using again, but that hasn't happened. We learn facets of characters' personalities, their inner thoughts, but to no purpose. It's all just suddenly solved towards the end.
Secondly, the detectives don't solve anything. They question suspects, but people just keep getting murdered. They consider people as suspects who obviously are not, but pay no attention to others. The detectives accidentally stumble upon the murderer.
The main character needs a personality. She's pretty flat. Her second-in-command is a little more interesting, but still rather one-dimensional. In fact, in this book, many of the characters are just stereotypes, especially the people involved in the movie being filmed. One teenager has possibilities and one of the police officers and his family seem intriguing, but we'll probably never see them again. The setting is a small town. Shouldn't more people re-appear as the series continues?
I guess I'll keep reading the series, but only because I get them free.
June 15, 2021
Not a big Hollywood fan. I love this series, but this one is filled with Hollywood games that took some of the glitters from a KS Sheriff. Pity. Still looking for more in books from this series to follow, I hope.
December 20, 2023
Murder takes Two
Everyone has a past rather good or bad.. Parkhurst ex was a piece of work. Susan kept her feelings in check. I was so surprised who the killer was, your past always have way of catching you!!
Everyone has a past rather good or bad.. Parkhurst ex was a piece of work. Susan kept her feelings in check. I was so surprised who the killer was, your past always have way of catching you!!
August 30, 2025
Excellent mystery. This is s new to me author. I have the set and am thoroughly enjoying it. It was written at the start of cell phones and before the internet. Procedures were different. Very exciting. Susan is a compelling character.
June 3, 2018
An interesting series. Keeps me coming back for more.
August 25, 2025
more like 3.5
kind of a weak entry in the series. did enjoy learning more about Yancy's family.
kind of a weak entry in the series. did enjoy learning more about Yancy's family.
October 23, 2009
This series just keeps getting better. Chief of Police Susan Wren is still in Kansas and wondering if she should go back to San Francisco. Then Hollywood comes to town and people start dying, on set or from the cast of the film. One of Susan's younger cops, Yancey, is assigned to the film crew for the duration and soon is embroiled in the mystery. There are all kinds of interesting twists and turns in this one, both with the mystery and will all the personal relationships that get tangled up while "Hollywood" is visiting. I'll admit I didn't figure out who the killer was but I was pretty sure it wasn't the obvious suspect!
I'll be reading the next in the series.
I'll be reading the next in the series.
August 25, 2009
Chief Susan Wren # 4
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews