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A Murder Is Rehearsed
"A witty, wonderfully entertaining mystery that fizzes with humour, theatrical mayhem and clever plotting."
Hannah Dennison, author of the Honeychurch Hall mysteries
Nothing says an English Christmas like a pantomime, and in December 1952, the MiddleFox Players celebrate fifty years of panto by staging Cinderella. Middle Foxton, a picturesque Kent market town, mostly keeps itself to itself, but not this year as the panto takes on a life and death of its own. At the final dress rehearsal, Fairy Godmother—played by Terrence Mitten, second-rate actor on his way down—fails to heed shouts of “Behind you!” from the audience and is killed when Cinderella’s coach falls on him. Before Prince Charming can pull the glass slipper from his pocket, Detective Sergeant Arno Mackerell is on the scene—literally, because he is playing Grizelda, one of the Ugly Stepsisters. Arno—who botched a bank robbery enquiry the year before and wants to clear his name—takes the case, promising the cast, his superintendent and the town that Cinderella will open on Christmas Eve as scheduled. But motives for the murder abound—Terrence Mitten couldn’t have made more enemies if he had tried. The enquiry becomes a slog as Arno is helped—or is it hindered?—by the rest of the cast members as well as an overly enthusiastic local reporter—but the murderer isn’t finished yet. Who is next on the list—Prince Charming? Cinderella? Or Arno himself?
Hannah Dennison, author of the Honeychurch Hall mysteries
Nothing says an English Christmas like a pantomime, and in December 1952, the MiddleFox Players celebrate fifty years of panto by staging Cinderella. Middle Foxton, a picturesque Kent market town, mostly keeps itself to itself, but not this year as the panto takes on a life and death of its own. At the final dress rehearsal, Fairy Godmother—played by Terrence Mitten, second-rate actor on his way down—fails to heed shouts of “Behind you!” from the audience and is killed when Cinderella’s coach falls on him. Before Prince Charming can pull the glass slipper from his pocket, Detective Sergeant Arno Mackerell is on the scene—literally, because he is playing Grizelda, one of the Ugly Stepsisters. Arno—who botched a bank robbery enquiry the year before and wants to clear his name—takes the case, promising the cast, his superintendent and the town that Cinderella will open on Christmas Eve as scheduled. But motives for the murder abound—Terrence Mitten couldn’t have made more enemies if he had tried. The enquiry becomes a slog as Arno is helped—or is it hindered?—by the rest of the cast members as well as an overly enthusiastic local reporter—but the murderer isn’t finished yet. Who is next on the list—Prince Charming? Cinderella? Or Arno himself?
279 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 2, 2026
About the author
Marty Wingate
45 books718 followersUSA Today best-selling author Marty Wingate writes The First Edition Library series (Berkley) set in Bath, England, about the curator of a collection of books from the Golden Age of Mystery. Book one, The Bodies in the Library, concerns murder among an Agatha Christie fan-fiction writing group, and in book two, Murder Is a Must (October 2020), an exhibition manager is found dead at the bottom of a spiral staircase. Marty also writes historical fiction: Glamour Girls (Alcove Press, January 2021) follows Spitfire pilot Rosalie Wright through both the physical and emotional dangers of the Second World War. Marty writes two further mystery series: the Potting Shed books (Alibi) feature Pru Parke, a middle-aged American gardener transplanted from Texas to England, and the Birds of a Feather series (Alibi) follows Julia Lanchester, bird lover, who runs a tourist office in a Suffolk village.
Marty prefers on-the-ground research whenever possible, and so she and her husband regularly travel to England and Scotland, where she can be found tracing the steps of her characters, stopping for tea and a slice of Victoria sponge in a café, or enjoying a swift half in a pub.
Marty prefers on-the-ground research whenever possible, and so she and her husband regularly travel to England and Scotland, where she can be found tracing the steps of her characters, stopping for tea and a slice of Victoria sponge in a café, or enjoying a swift half in a pub.
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