Camera…Action…Murder!

Diana Rivers #4

by Faith Mortimer

CAMERA ...ACTION...MURDER!


Diana Rivers hadn’t intended to visit England that summer but the invitation to take part in a film-shoot seemed too exciting an opportunity to miss. Life had been quiet for the last year or so and she looked forward to renewing old friendships and meeting a handful of well-known film stars.
The only fly in the ointment, was the venue. Years before, Diana had suffered a terrifying experience in Cheltenham, England – an encounter which she thought she’d resolved. Reassuring her partner, Steve that all was well and that dreadful episode was behind them, they went ahead and confirmed their acceptance.
Little did she know that the filming was only a minor part of the show about to be enacted. Once again, Diana is drawn into events which threaten to spiral out of control. When a beautiful young actress is accidentally killed, Diana’s reaction is to turn to more sinister thoughts. Was it an accident or was it…murder?
A second body leaves everyone reeling and this time there is no doubt. A callous and vicious murderer or murderers are at large. Diana is fast embroiled in discovering the hard facts, not knowing that she is placing herself in great danger. Watch out Diana! You might be next…

Genres: Mystery

ebook

First published December 1, 2012

About the author

Faith Mortimer was born in Manchester and educated in Singapore, Malaya and Hampshire, England. A Registered nurse,then changed careers to oversee a number of travel and sport related companies. Faith is happily married and has two children. She lives in the south of England and so far, has written three series of books which are also, all standalone novels.

ALL BOOKS ARE PUBLISHED IN PAPERBACK & EBOOK FORM:

NEW! PARADISE PRISON published 7th Jan 2017 #4th book in The Dark Minds Psychological Thriller Series http://amzn.to/2gD2u8G

A VERY DISTANT AFFAIR #5 book in the Very Affair series (all standalone). Set in England and Australia. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Distant...

THE GREEN ROOM #3rd book in The Dark Mind Psychological Thriller Series. Is NOW published!! Set in England http://amzn.to/1N1t7rO

THE ASSASSINS' VILLAGE,#1 Diana Rivers Series Murder mystery set in Cyprus. This novel was chosen by Harper Collins/Authonomy to be the Number 1 book. ttp://amzn.to/1DJ0s8r

CHILDREN OF THE PLANTATION,#2 Diana Rivers Series, murder mystery, set in Malaysia during the 1950s & the present. http://amzn.to/1AX0NVA

THE SURGEON'S BLADE,#3 Diana Rivers Series A tense psychological thriller set in England. http://amzn.to/1IAgrX8

THE BAMBOO MIRROR. An eclectic collection of short stories, covering ghosts, murder, mystery, romance and greed. http://amzn.to/1xOEeB1

THE SEEDS OF TIME BOOK 1 THE CROSSING. Set in Europe. Romance/Drama/Action. http://amzn.to/1AFLC43

HARVEST BOOK 2 THE CROSSING. Set in Europe. Romance/Drama/Action http://amzn.to/1shmqhs

CAMERA ACTION...MURDER! #4 Diana Rivers Series Mystery/suspense. Set in England. http://amzn.to/1tVdq2y

A VERY FRENCH AFFAIR,Edgy romantic drama.Set on the south coast of France. http://amzn.to/17taQH1

CHILDHUNT #5 Diana Rivers Series. Psychological Suspense Thriller, set in Cyprus. http://amzn.to/1AX02Mg

ON DEVIL'S BRAE #1 in the Dark Minds Series, set in Scotland: Psychological Suspense Thriller http://amzn.to/14FJqMY

ON CHRISTMAS HILL A Seasonal Romance in The Very Affair Series, set in England. http://amzn.to/1y2LJn0

A DEADLY LEARNING,The 6th #Diana Rivers Mystery suspense, set in Portugal. http://amzn.to/1y0q6GU

A VERY ENGLISH AFFAIR - Edgy romantic drama, set in England. http://amzn.to/14FJfRQ

BEHIND A TWISTED SMILE - #2 Dark Minds Psychological Thriller, set in England. http://amzn.to/1AWYEcy

NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS - Edgy romantic drama in The Very Affair Series, set in England. http://amzn.to/1y2Lpog

THE GREEN ROOM #3rd book in The Dark Minds Psychological Thriller Series. Set in England http://amzn.to/1N1t7rO

A VERY DISTANT AFFAIR Taut romantic drama, set in England and Australia. http://amzn.to/2hqySYN

NEW! PARADISE PRISON published 7th Jan 2017 #4th book in The Dark Minds Psychological Thriller Series http://amzn.to/2gD2u8G

I'm always glad to talk to readers & answer questions...contact me:

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Happy reading and thanks for dropping by!x

Reviews

[Ciclochick · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’re always in good hands when you have a date with Faith and her Diana Rivers mysteries.

Not quite the same age as our very revered Miss Marple, but equally shrewd in the sleuthing department, Diana is considerably younger and—no offence to dear Jane—very attractive.

You do of course know that the minute Diana and her husband, Steve, and toddler, Poppy, head off for a short holiday in England from their home in Cyprus, that it will certainly be an eventful one. And it is. As amateur dramatics' enthusiasts, the opportunity to be part of a film version of a play they both formerly acted in seemed a good enough excuse to have a break and catch up with old friends and fellow actors.

They stay in a beautiful large house—the venue of the photo-shoot—in the stunning Cotswold countryside in the middle of an uncharacteristically hot British summer. Perfect conditions for a much-needed holiday; until one of the actresses involved in the shoot has a tragic accident, closely followed by the murder of the owner of the manor.

Diana, in top form as always, pieces together the jigsaw; she is a step ahead not only of the police, but of the reader too. Faith, in her own inimitable style leads to a climactic ending, leaving no stone unturned, and keeps you on your toes until the last minute.

Faith’s novels are always well balanced; there is just enough detail to paint a picture, her style is precise and clear, and I’m always entertained and can click the last page with complete satisfaction.

Diana deserves a short break from sleuthing, but I can’t wait for her next adventure.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Camera...Action...Murder is the fourth book in the Diana Rivers series.

In this book Diana and her husband Steve get an invitation they can't refuse to return to a film shoot in Cheltenham, England. Even though we miss out on the glorious sunshine and stunning scenery of Cyprus where Diana and Steve live the author still describes some fantastic views and places in this wonderful book.

Even if you haven't read any of Faith's books in this series you could easily read this one as a stand alone though the other three books are great so I highly recommend to read them also.

Camera...Action...Murder to me is a mixture of Midsummer Murders and Murder She Wrote, rolled into one. We have Diana the writer and also amateur sleuth who aids the police in picturesque settings where murders seem to occur. Faith does a wonderful job in that as a reader I haven't once guessed the murderer correct once up until Diana herself has worked it out.

For any lovers of murder, mystery and suspense books, Faith Mortimer's Diana Rivers series is a must read. Faith really is the modern day Agatha Christie.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book and/or an invitation by Duncan and Isabelle Macpherson takes Diana and her husband Steve to Cheltenham for a photo shoot as a stage play they once participated in was to be turned into a film. The death of a young actress triggers Diana's inner sleuth. As a reader, I automatically tried to solve this strange case - and enjoyed it!

With Camera...Action...Murder!, Faith Mortimer has once again created a thrilling suspense story with local flair. The story comprises a broad variety of believable characters with sufficient depth, nicely woven situations and interesting interactions to solve a set of crimes. I had a great time reading Camera...Action...Murder! - it is a very intriguing read. I was drawn into the story right away, thrilled to solve the mystery alongside Diana. This is for you if you like female sleuths, crime writers, suspense with twists and local flair.

A suspenseful book and/or series to read again. I'm eagerly waiting for the opportunity to read the previous volumes of the series.

Recommended.

[Diane Rapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diana Rivers explores her past

If you're a fan of the Diana Rivers mystery series (I am), then you'll really enjoy this book. The author gives us two stories for the price of one. Diana investigates the drowning of a fellow actress while memories of her past intrude into the story. She meets an old lover and revisits the failure of their romance. Will Diana discover the killer before she falls into the cross-hairs of the villain? Can she avoid the romantic advances of an old flame and keep her marriage intact? As Diana solves a new crime she runs headlong into danger and learns who attacked her long ago.

It's a riveting mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, lots of suspects, and many twists and turns in the plot. I recommend this book to mystery lovers and fans of theater. You'll love it too.

[Joey Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

CAMERA...ACTION...MURDER! is the fourth in the Diana Rivers series and another great one at that. Heading back to England to take part in a play promotion, Diana is forced to confront some old ghosts that have haunted her since leaving for Cyprus all those years ago. She is also forced to deal with her former fiance as he is called in to investigate not one, but two murders on the well known estate belonging to some friends of Diana. The plot thickens as it seems that pretty much everyone had some motive for at least one of the murders and you'll not want to put the book down until you're sure that you know who killed the two women and why!

Another great book from Faith Mortimer and I look forward to reading the next two in the series! Well written and excellently grafted to give you bread crumbs of a clue! Highly recommended to all those who love a good mystery!

[Barb Taub · Rating 3 out of 5]

With its echoes of Agatha Christie, the premise of Camera…Action…Murder! sounded promising. Amateur sleuth Diana Rivers is a writer but has been having trouble actually finishing her next book following the birth of her daughter. She’s bored. So when she and her husband are invited to travel from their home in Cyprus to attend a reunion of their old theater company at a posh country house estate in England, she’s thrilled, despite her memories of a still-unsolved assault fifteen years earlier. In best Christie style, we meet Diana’s old friends, and are introduced to the simmering brew of old resentments and new tensions at some length before the first murder occurs, followed by the second killing.

The story certainly seems to follow the Christie “formula”. First Mortimer gives us the setting, then we see the murders. Wound around those are the three story strands—the main murder whodunit, the hint of romance as happily-married Diana encounters former lover/current police inspector Adam, and the touch of evil as it becomes clear that multiple transgressions (including that never-solved assault) have been committed by various characters.

But for me, reading Faith Mortimer’s Camera…Action…Murder! is like entering a time warp. I know it’s supposed to have a contemporary setting, but everything feels like it’s in what TV Tropes calls Genteel Interbellum Setting, that vaguely between-World-Wars era of women in furs and cocktail dresses, men in dinner jackets, country houses and estates, and sophisticated banter. So on the rare occasions when Diana or another character gets a text message, it feels as out of sync as if Darth Vader and Obi Wan had whipped out their light sabers in McDonalds. With the country house setting and the (to my American ears) stilted posh British conversation, it seemed that nothing significant occurred that couldn’t have happened in a 1930s drawing room (or in a game of Clue/Cluedo).

I admit that it’s probably unfair to come in at the middle of the series, and then blame the author for not providing basic information about characters or setting. But I went through much of the book with the only information about Diana’s husband Steve being that he’s “handsome” and that they met while both were actors in the same theater company. Her daughter Poppy is “adorable”, and Diana herself apparently has “long glossy hair”. I have no idea what any of them look like, what Steve does (other than repair old lamps), or what their life is like.

The setting for the story, England’s Cotswolds district—one of the most beautiful and charming areas of that or any other country—is described like something out of a slightly-stuffy travel guide (“The Cotswolds were well known for gentle hillsides (wolds), sleepy villages, and for being so typically English. She loved the non-cemented dry-stone walls everywhere. The eighteenth- and nineteenth-century walls represented an important historical landscape and were a major conservation feature.”) I would have loved to have the characters experience these details themselves and share that with readers. For example, what if their investigations or even just their travels could have taken them into one of the local churches, where they marvel at finding something that rivals a cathedral located in a tiny village. Or perhaps as they examine a medieval church ceiling covered with carvings, they could learn some tiny fact that helps resonate later in the story. Instead, we’re treated to a passage that sounds like it could have come straight from a history textbook: “During the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries—the medieval period—native Cotswold sheep were famous throughout Europe for their heavy fleeces and the high quality of wool they produced. Cotswold wool commanded a high price, so the wealth generated by the wool trade enabled wealthy traders to leave their mark by building fine houses and wonderful churches, known as wool churches.” Not only is this a lot of tell instead of show, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the story.

For me, Agatha Christie’s books succeed on two levels. Level One is first and foremost the characters. Each of them, but especially the detective, is fully rounded and fleshed out with charming idiosyncrasies or ominous foibles. But in Camera…Action…Murder, I had a difficult time feeling like I knew anything at all about amateur detective Diana, so I never felt any connection with her.

Level Two is that surprise ending. Christie herself caught readers with the twist at the end by systematically breaking almost every rule of detective stories. There’s a story—perhaps apocryphal—that Agatha Christie was almost kicked out of the Detection Club for breaking their rules of detective fiction, and only saved by the single dissenting vote of then-president Dorothy L Sayers. (Yep, there was such a club and they actually did write down rules for detective fiction.) And it’s pretty indisputable that Agatha Christie—who served as its president from 1957-1976—also regularly broke most of those detective story rules. Of course readers are attracted to different types of mystery and detective stories. But one thing most agree is that they enjoy looking at the clues and trying to figure things out with—or before!—the sleuth. That’s why “You’re probably wondering why I’ve asked you all here” is a trope that’s kept working so well for so long. Sadly, for me the twist in Camera…Action…Murder! was telegraphed almost immediately, and so the surprise factor was lacking.

In trying to assign a rating, I’m a little torn. On the one hand, I enjoyed the way the story unfolded and the interactions of the various players. On the other hand, the actual denouement seemed forced. I didn’t see a clear reason for something that had smoldered for years to suddenly drive the murderer to act. Saying that the murderer is insane is easy, but would someone that out of touch with reality have the ability to engage in such meticulously premeditated actions?

For readers who’ve already followed this series from its beginning, of course, it’s possible that none of my issues would apply. For them, or for any readers who aren’t as skeptical about motives, Camera…Action…Murder! is an undemanding and entertaining read. For those reasons, I’d give it three stars and I’d definitely read more from Faith Mortimer. But I’d be pretty excited if the next book steps out of Christie’s shadow to not only let us get to know Diana, but challenges Diana grow and change in ways Christie’s Poirot and Marple never achieved.


**I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diana and her husband are caught up in a country house murder. Classic English style mystery.